VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Soon they felt that their very existence and identity were tied up with the politicalself-determination of the African people on their African continent. They startedrewriting African history. Theirs was not merely a superficial reinterpretation, but ahistoriograhic correcting of European distortions of Africa and the identity of theAfrican in particular. Whereas Europe borrowed knowledge from the Graeco-Romancivilisation to boost her knowledge, the task of the African scholars was that ofrecovering African identity, culture, and self-determination which had been distortedby colonial imperialism. The intellectuals of the European Renaissance advanced theirthinking, progressing into the modern era. African intellectuals, for their part,progressed from a heteronomous to an autonomous view of what “Africa” means (cfMakgoba 1999: xiii-xxi, 125-134; Harbeson and Rothchild 1995:3-19).1.3.2 The focus of the humanist movementFor the European Renaissance, the humanist movement was the vehicle in which theadvancement of the individual was embodied. The humanist ideals of the EuropeanRenaissance included the pursuit of optimism, individualism, love of pleasure,scepticism, and materialism. The human being was regarded as the crown of creation,and could do anything that he (sic) conceived in his (sic) mind. For the person was themeasure of all things. The inspiration arising from the humanist movement drovepeople toward the attainment of the universal man, the “ideal person” of the EuropeanRenaissance. There was a renewed focus on the dignity and potential of a person. Thishumanist movement was widespread and manifested in all aspects of life. Humanismthrived beyond the two hundred years usually designated for the development ofEuropean Renaissance (cf Bernard 1970:231; Lee 1984:1-6; Geot 1990:1020; Carli1963:20-21; Hale 1966:15-16).In the development of an African Renaissance, there is no mention of a “humanistmovement” in the same philosophical sense as in Europe. However, the focus of anAfrican Renaissance is centred on the re-humanising of Africa. There were externalforces that contributed to the current situation in Africa. These include the prolongedand depopulating years of slavery of Africans, colonial imperialism, and morerecently the exclusionist global economic policies. The proponents of African114