La culture scientifique et le développement de l’Afrique dans la philosophie de Marcien Towa

Abstract

This Master's thesis, focused on the theme "Scientific Culture and Africa's Development in the Philosophy of Marcien Towa," aims to analyse the contribution of the Cameroonian philosopher to the reflection on African development. This work is particularly interested in the role he assigns to scientific culture. Faced with the challenges of globalization, Africa is confronted with the question of its cultural identity and its development. Thus, should Africa return to its more or less glorious past to build its future? Or should it open up more to the influences of the modern world? Therefore, the problem linked to this theme is the relationship between scientific culture and African development according to Marcien Towa. In other words, what is the role of scientific culture in the African development project as conceptualized by Marcien Towa? Marcien Towa has devoted a large part of his work to questioning the stakes of African development. His reflection, deeply rooted in the postcolonial context, gives central place to the domestication of science as a lever for emancipation and progress. He invites us to think of an African science, which is not a simple copy of Western science. But, a science that is part of an authentic development project, respectful of African cultural identity. This work is based on a dialectical hermeneutic approach, applied to the entire work of Marcien Towa and to the secondary bibliography associated with him. This leads us to develop our analysis in three steps. First, we study the concept of scientific culture, a central concept in the thought of the Cameroonian philosopher. Then, we analyse Marcien Towa's revolutionary vision for Africa. Finally, we proceed to an evaluation of the contributions and limits of Marcien Towa's thought. However, Marcien Towa's work is of great importance. He has helped to relaunch the debate on African identity and on the paths of development. His reflection on scientific culture continues to inspire many researchers and development actors.