The Light and Twilight of Zera Yaekob's Philosophy for the Eminence of European Enlightenment

摘要

The objective of this paper is to scrutinize the role of Zera Yaekob's philosophy of the current existing European enlightenment period/age of reason which was claimed to be the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Zera Yaekob's philosophy is systematically ignored and neglected by Euro-philosophers because of various reasons. Underscoring the following research questions is pertinent to resolve such neglecting: Is Zera Yaekob's philosophy really hollow of the European enlightenment? Why Euro-philosophers systematically ignored his philosophy, nevertheless, his philosophical outlook still working there? To harangue these questions, therefore, the researcher employed philosophical methods of qualitative/analysis and phenomenology. Zera Yaekob's rationalistic philosophy seems to, like the ocean, have diverse echelons. The usual daily activities have been documented by philosophical philosophers, starting from his mouthpiece Welde Hewot till now according to a Canadian philosopher Claude Sumner. Now a day, several Neo-Zera Yaekobian's are emerging on the philosophical scene of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, gender and the like. The streams--the sincere pillar of the ocean that mixes water across the world and it embodies the most philosophical echelons of enlightenment. This is why Zera Yaekob's philosophy is considered as a premium spring/notebook of western enlightenment philosophy. The researcher argues that the Enlightenment culminated their climax with Zera Yacob of Abyssinia in Africa than Immanuel Kant in Europe. Moreover, the paper also takes into account how his philosophical scene governs contemporary African philosophy. Above all, surprisingly but terribly also, they (European) are there with the light of enlightenment because we (Africans) are here with the twilight of counterenlightenment.