Difference of Approaches to the Concept of Equality: Western Tradition and L.S. Senghor

In this paper, the authors present a comparative perspective of the notion of equality in the Western school of scientific thought—a notion that became the cornerstone for specific scientific concepts in Western social and political philosophy—and the non-Western approaches to equality, taking as an example of the latter the ideas of the Senegal politician and philosopher L.S. Senghor. Such a comparison is of interest because the African thinker, although he had studied in France and enjoyed political recognition there, understood the concept of equality in postcolonial context quite differently from the Western philosophers. Other African postcolonial political figures (e.g., J. Nyerere) have also addressed the equality concept, but it is Senghor’s ideas that demonstrate so openly the African alternative to the Western approach. Senghor’s concept of equality is inseparable from his postcolonial political activities: during this period of his life, he introduced a notion of Civilisation de l’Universel, Civilization of the Universal, which was based on this concept. According to Senghor, such a civilization should evolve through the use of dialogue on equal terms, integrating the values of different civilizations of the West and East. He juxtaposed this notion with the one of civilisation universelle, Universal Civilization, the evolution of which is based exclusively on Euro-American values and can, in its technocrat rush, distort human nature, leading to the demise of humankind. Trying to resolve the dichotomies of Eurocentric approach, born of the gap between rational and intuitive thinking, Senghor adopts a concept of equality as unity, which brings him close to the Eastern Christian tradition of interpreting equality. It is in sharp contrast to Euro-American social tradition, which focuses solely on rational and ideological conceptualizing.