Debate between cultural fundamentalism of “ethnophilosophers” and its progressive critics has been central to contemporary African philosophy. This text deals with a hidden disagreement among the critical camp. Against Paulin Hountondji’s scientism, it takes side for Fabien Eboussi Boulaga’s ethical and existential interpretation of African traditions. Rejecting both search for glorious ancestors and limitation of theoretical discourse to epistemology, he pleads for a revalorization of African humanness and elaborates a negativity-grounded ethics that anticipates Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu’s interpretation of ubuntu.