The “Paranormal”: African Philosophy Questions Science

Abstract

Modern science and its underlying philosophical doctrine, physicalism, have persistently denied reality to a set of phenomena they refer to as “paranormal”. However, belief in the occurrence of these events is common to many non-Western cultures. This essay addresses the question of the reality of these events and advance the view that science, on its own methodology, can neither sustain the denial of their reality nor justify its rejection of the “paranormal” as sources of knowledge.