Summary Of Not Out Of Africa By Mary Lefkowitz

In Mary Lefkowitz's Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History, the author argues against the claim that Greek culture and philosophy was stolen from Ancient Egyptians. She also targets the views of Afrocentric historians such as George G. M. James and Dr. ben-Jochannan. In response to Dr. ben-Jochannan specifically, Lefkowitz refutes his claim that the Greek philosopher Aristotle had forged his philosophies by stealing Egyptian knowledge from the Library of Alexandria, by using insubstantial and in-factual evidences. Lefkowitz's reasoning and given evidence do not properly dispute Dr. ben-Jochannan's claim. For them is evidence of Aristotle being alive during the Library's opening, that Aristotle had in fact visited Egypt and that Aristotle could have received the Egyptian knowledge from Alexandria from many other sources.

Lefkowitz leads her claim be first stating that "[the] Library [of Alexandria] had only been built after [Aristotle's] death" thus he could not have gotten his from there. She continues be stating that "... so far as [she] knew... Aristotle never went to Egypt" to further Dr. ben's point.(2) Lastly Lefkowtiz points that it is impossible for Greek philosophy to base their theories on Egyptian philosophy because they would not be able to understand their