Published: 2026-07-29

African Indigenous Knowledge, Epistemic Reliabilism, and Environmental Conservation: A Feyerabendian Defense

Ridwan Ishola Mogaji Profil ORCID autora Ridwan Ishola Mogaji
Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae
Section: Articles
DOI https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.5900

Abstract

This article argues for the epistemic reliability of African Indigenous Knowledge (AIK) as a viable framework for environmental conservation in the face of its persistent marginalisation within dominant Western epistemology. Drawing on Paul Feyerabend’s critique of methodological monism and his defense of epistemological pluralism, the paper challenges the view that only Western scientific methods can produce valid environmental knowledge. It further employs virtue reliabilism to argue that AIK should be regarded as epistemically credible because its ecological practices have proven effective over time in sustaining human–environment relationships, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation. Using the method of critical analysis, the study shows that AIK is not merely a supplementary resource but a parallel and complementary knowledge system capable of informing sustainable environmental governance. The article concludes that African Indigenous Knowledge is both epistemically reliable and practically indispensable for contemporary environmental conservation, and that a genuinely pluralistic epistemology is necessary for a more resilient and ecologically just future.

Keywords:

African Indigenous Knowledge, epistemic reliabilism, virtue reliabilism, epistemological pluralism, Paul Feyerabend, environmental conservation, indigenous knowledge systems, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, SDG 13 – Climate Action, SDG 15 – Life on Land

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Citation rules

Mogaji, R. I. (2026). African Indigenous Knowledge, Epistemic Reliabilism, and Environmental Conservation: A Feyerabendian Defense. Studia Ecologiae Et Bioethicae. https://doi.org/10.21697/seb.5900

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