Abstract:

An Inquiry into the Existence of Ancient Egyptian Philosophy. John S. Murillo; Charles C. Verharen, Department of Philosophy, Howard University, Washington, DC.

Although scholars recognize ancient Egyptian achievements in architecture, technology, and literature, they do not see, in ancient Egypt, a system of thought that can be classified as philosophy. There are exceptions to this rule, such as Egyptologist Erick Hornung and philosopher Jay Lampert, who praise the Egyptians for their sophisticated ontology and logic. Yet most scholars seem to follow classical historian Henri Frankfort, who describes ancient Egyptian thought as "mythopoeic," "inarticulate," and "primitive," and, hence, unworthy of the title "philosophy."

According to this traditional view, philosophy had its origin in Greece. Their first philosophers were the early Presocratics from Miletus—Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes. However, careful examinations of the philosophies attributed to these men reveals striking similarities to the so-called "primitive" thought of the ancient Egyptians. This study focuses on the relationships between these two systems of thought.

The study will consist of three main parts. The first part will be a brief discussion on the distinctions drawn by Henri Frankfort between "primitive" thought and philosophy in his influential book, The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man. The second and largest part will be a comparison between Egyptian and Presocratic philosophy. The purpose of this section is to see how each measures up to Frankfort’s widely accepted criteria. It will be argued in this section that since so few discrepancies exist between the two models of thought there is no legitimate justification for classifying one as philosophy and not the other. The third and concluding part focuses on the need to discard narrow, culturally exclusive definitions of philosophy. Such definitions cause us to see the world view of others in a negative light, and as a result, prevent us from tapping into possible sources of new knowledge and understanding.

Although scholars recognize ancient Egyptian achievements in architecture, technology, and literature, they do not see, in ancient Egypt, a system of thought that can be classified as philosophy. This study focuses on the criteria used to dismiss Egyptian thought as unphilosophical, paying special attention to the distinction made between ancient Egyptian thought and Presocratic philosophy.

It is argued that since so few discrepancies exist between ancient Egyptian and Presocratic thought, there is no legitimate justification for classifying one as philosophy and not the other. Not only did the ancient Egyptians have philosophy, but their philosophy can be instructive to modern thinkers.