Overview of Akan Philosophy (Dr



Overview of Akan Philosophy (Dr. Ajume Wingo)

“The debate between Wiredu and Gyekye provides insights regarding not just the substance of the conception of personhood, but also the way empirical evidence can be used to inform philosophical analysis. In this particular case, the Akan view of personhood has, like many other metaphysical and moral conceptions, far- reaching effects on social practices and institutions. Using facts about these practices and institutions to reconstruct a conception of personhood underscores another important general theme in African philosophy: the practical implications of philosophical principles on everyday life. For the Akan, judgments about personhood are not matter of merely academic interest, but play an important role in shaping and supporting their highly communal social structure. To the extent that the Akan notion accommodates a common humanity as an innate source of value, it supports moral equality. At the same time, its emphasis on the social bases of personhood helps firmly to embed trust, cooperation, and responsibility to the community in cultural practices. The Akan philosophy of persons thus represents an attempt to resolve questions of identity, freedom, and morality in favor of a communalistic way of life that has evolved as a rational adaptation to the exigencies of survival under harsh conditions.”

“The Akan word onipa is an ambiguous term, sometimes referring to a member of a biological species and sometimes referring instead to a human who has attained a special kind of social status (Wiredu 1992). According to Wiredu, this dual meaning reflects an important conceptual distinction between a human—a biological entity—and a person—an entity with special moral and metaphysical qualities. Status as a human is not susceptible to degrees, nor is such status conferred on an individual as a ‘reward’ for her efforts. One is either a human or one is not—there is no such thing as becoming a human. In contrast, personhood is something for a human to become to different degrees through individual achievement. An individual's

human status, then, is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for personhood.”

The two interpretations of onipa (personhood) are represented by Wiredu and Gyekye.

For Wiredu: “Under this interpretation, the ‘payoff’ for attaining higher degrees of personhood is directly related to rights

and privileges that can make a significant difference between success and failure. The more rights and privileges an individual enjoys, the more social capital that individual acquires (in the form of access to lineal networks and the resources they control). A person—taken in its fullest sense—is therefore an individual who, through mature reflection and action, has both flourished economically and succeeded in meeting her (often weighty) responsibilities to her family and community.”

For Gyekye: “The distinctive qualities of this concept of persons (as interpreted by Wiredu) are brought out when contrasted to the analysis of another leading African philosopher, Kwame Gyekye, who takes issue with this graduated conception of person. Gyekye specifically objects to the role that social status plays in Wiredu's view of personhood, arguing that that is inconsistent with the natural or innate moral equality of persons derived from their common humanity. That is, we are human persons before we are anything else and it is the human person that matters from the moral point of view. Not surprisingly, Gyekye quotes Kant's categorical imperative approvingly when arguing that human persons are, as members of the ‘kingdom of ends,’ equal independent of their empirical or accidental characteristics (be they social or even genetic qualities.

According to Gyekye, it is our essentially human capacity for reason—not other fortuitous or accidental predicates—that serves as the basis for moral worth. In this respect, one cannot point to such accidental characteristics as height, gender, age, marital status, or social class as basis for personhood:

[W]hat a person acquires are status, habits, and personality or character traits: he, qua person acquires and thus becomes the subject of acquisition, and being thus prior to acquisition process, he cannot be defined by what he acquires. One is a person because of what he is, not because of what he acquires (Wiredu & Gyekye 1992, 108).”

To what degree does one’s potential for personhood (great achievements) matter compared to one’s actual achievement of personhood (great achievements)?

What are some things that get in the way of our actualizing our potential for greatness? Certainly our own laziness, which fits in here “useless person.” But there are also cultural conditions that nothing to do with our laziness or activity:

- Racism, segregation, chauvinism, etc.

o Ex: it would have been hard for a woman in 1840 America to actualize her potential for greatness in the political arena when laws, made by men, prevent her from even going to university, let alone allowing her to take political office.

The idea that a person’s success or failure is based entirely on his or her own hard work is the American Dream, in a sense, the boot-strapping mythos that we can all make it on our own in America and the only thing stopping us is our own laziness and lack of determination.

The boot-strapping myth comes from Horatio Alger, a 19th century novelist who wrote books about people achieving greatness in America who come from poverty. As appealing as this idea sounds, and yes, it does happen, it’s rare and is the exception rather than the rule. The corollary of this idea (that we can pull ourselves out of our impoverished circumstances by our own bootstraps) is that if you don’t succeed, if you fail to attain power and fame and wealth and success, it must be your own fault and you have no one else to blame. Thus, the corollary of “boot-strapping” is “victim-blaming.” This is the idea that you blame the victim of discrimination for not achieving the same level of success that someone who hasn’t been discriminated against has achieved. For example: if only white people could go to university, and universities were required to get a good job, white people blame minorities for not achieving the same level of wealth that they’ve achieved believing them simply to be “lazy” (which is an argument I’m sure we’ve all heard). This is false and based on the bootstrapping myth. Things having no bearing whatsoever on a person’s level of “laziness” can stop an individual for actualizing his/her potential.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download