In 1852, a book of philosophical enquiry was discovered in Ethiopia. But what if the Hatata Zera Yacob is a forgery? Does it matter, if the message is inspirational? Debates over its authorship rage and Jonathan Egid’s essay asks what these tell us about politics then and now.

Jonathan Egid is a New Generation Thinker on the scheme run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the BBC to put academic research on radio. He’s been a Postgraduate Fellow at the British Society for the History of Philosophy and lectures at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is writing a book about the history of the Hatata Zera Yacob debate, and runs a podcast on philosophy in less-studied languages called Philosophising In ...

Producer: Luke Mulhall