Paulin J. Hountondji

Paulin J. Hountondji

Paulin Hountondji (b. 11 April 1942, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) is a Beninese philosopher and politician.

Hountondji was educated at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, graduating in 1966, and taking his doctorate in 1970 (his thesis was on Edmund Husserl). After two years teaching in France and in the Republic of the Congo, he accepted a post at the National University of Benin in Cotonou, where he still teaches as Professor of Philosophy.

His academic career was interrupted, however, by a period spent in politics. Having been a prominent critic of the military dictatorship that had ruled his country, Hountondji became involved in Benin's return to democracy (in 1992), and served in the government as Minister of Education and Minister for Culture and Communications until his resignation and return to the University in 1994.

He is currently director of the African Centre for Advanced Studies in Porto-Novo and served as the Bingham Professor of Humanities from 1 August 2008 to 31 December 2008 at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY.