Kwasi Wiredu
Encyclopedia
Kwasi Wiredu is one of the foremost African philosophers
working today.
Wiredu was born in Kumasi
, Ghana
in 1931, and attended Adisadel College
from 1948 to 1952. It was during this period that he discovered philosophy, through Plato
(which weaned him from his interest in Practical Psychology) and Bertrand Russell
, and he gained a place at the University of Ghana
, Legon
. After graduating in 1958, he went to University College
, Oxford
to read for the B.Phil.
.
At Oxford Wiredu was taught by Gilbert Ryle
(his thesis supervisor), Peter Strawson (his College tutor), and Stuart Hampshire
(his special tutor), and wrote a thesis on 'Knowledge, Truth, and Reason'. Upon graduating in 1960 he was appointed to a teaching post at the University College of North Staffordshire (now the University of Keele), where he stayed for a year. He then returned to Ghana, where he accepted a post teaching philosophy for his old university. He remained at the University of Ghana for twenty-three years, during which time he became first Head of Department and then Professor
. Since 1987 he holds a professorship at the University of South Florida
in Tampa
.
He has held a number of visiting professorships:
He was a member of the Committee of Directors of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies
from 1983 to 1998. He has also been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
(1985) and the National Humanities Center
, North Carolina (1986).
He is Vice-President of the Inter-African Council for Philosophy.
, arguing that all cultures have their distinctive folk-beliefs and world-views, but that these must be distinguished from the practice of philosophizing. It is not that 'folk philosophy' cannot play a part in genuine philosophy; on the contrary, he has acknowledged his own debt to his own (Akan
) culture's history of thought. Rather, he argues that genuine philosophy demands the application to such thought of critical analysis and rigorous argument. From this it will be clear that his own work is in the 'professional philosophy' (and the Anglo-American
) mold.
One of Wiredu's most prominent discussions revolves around the Akan concept of personhood. He believes this traditional framework hosts a two part conception of a person. First, and most intuitive to Western conceptions of persons, is the ontological dimension. This includes one's biological constitution. Further, Wiredu states that the second dimension, the normative conception of personhood, is based on one's ability to will freely. One's ability to will freely is dependent on one's ethical considerations. One can be said to have free will if one has a high regard to ethical responsibilities. This then designates a person to become a person. One is not born a person but becomes one through events and experiences that lead one to act ethically. This differs from the Western conception of personhood in that people, in Akan traditional thought, are not born as willed beings.
His influences include, apart from his tutors at Oxford, David Hume
, and Immanuel Kant
, and the pragmatist John Dewey
, and the epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical resources of the Akan culture. The result is philosophy that is at once universally relevant and essentially African.
African philosophy
African philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate...
working today.
Wiredu was born in Kumasi
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
in 1931, and attended Adisadel College
Adisadel College
Adisadel College is an Anglican school for boys in Cape Coast, Ghana, modelled on the English public school.-History:Adisadel was established in 1910 in a building at Topp Yard, near Christ Church and Cape Coast Castle...
from 1948 to 1952. It was during this period that he discovered philosophy, through Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
(which weaned him from his interest in Practical Psychology) and Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
, and he gained a place at the University of Ghana
University of Ghana
The University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian universities and tertiary institutions. It is one of the best universities in Africa and by far the most prestigious in West Africa...
, Legon
Legon
Legon, a suburb of the Ghanaian capital city Accra, is situated about twelve kilometres north-east of the city center. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. The word "Legon" is derived from the indigenous Ga language of the people of Greater Accra; NI-LEY GON therefore "Hill...
. After graduating in 1958, he went to University College
University College, Oxford
.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
to read for the B.Phil.
Bachelor of Philosophy
Bachelor of Philosophy is the title of an academic degree. The degree usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects...
.
At Oxford Wiredu was taught by Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle
Gilbert Ryle , was a British philosopher, a representative of the generation of British ordinary language philosophers that shared Wittgenstein's approach to philosophical problems, and is principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "the ghost in the...
(his thesis supervisor), Peter Strawson (his College tutor), and Stuart Hampshire
Stuart Hampshire
Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire was an Oxford University philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. He was one of the antirationalist Oxford thinkers who gave a new direction to moral and political thought in the post-World War II era.Hampshire was educated at Repton School and at...
(his special tutor), and wrote a thesis on 'Knowledge, Truth, and Reason'. Upon graduating in 1960 he was appointed to a teaching post at the University College of North Staffordshire (now the University of Keele), where he stayed for a year. He then returned to Ghana, where he accepted a post teaching philosophy for his old university. He remained at the University of Ghana for twenty-three years, during which time he became first Head of Department and then Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
. Since 1987 he holds a professorship at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
in Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
.
He has held a number of visiting professorships:
- University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los AngelesThe University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(1979–1980) - University of IbadanUniversity of IbadanThe University of Ibadan is the oldest Nigerian university, and is located five miles from the centre of the major city of Ibadan in Western Nigeria...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
(1984) - University of RichmondUniversity of RichmondThe University of Richmond is a selective, private, nonsectarian, liberal arts university located on the border of the city of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia. The University of Richmond is a primarily undergraduate, residential university with approximately 4,000 undergraduate and graduate...
, VirginiaVirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(1985) - Carleton CollegeCarleton CollegeCarleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
, MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
(1986) - Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
(1994–95; 1999–2001)
He was a member of the Committee of Directors of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies
International Federation of Philosophical Societies
The International Federation of Philosophical Societies or Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie is an International Federation of Philosophical Societies, whose member-societies span pretty well every country where there is significant academic philosophy...
from 1983 to 1998. He has also been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
(1985) and the National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center
The National Humanities Center is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. It is the only major independent institute for advanced study in all fields of the humanities in the United States. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any...
, North Carolina (1986).
He is Vice-President of the Inter-African Council for Philosophy.
Philosophical work
Wiredu opposes the 'ethnophilosophical' and 'philosophical sagacity' approaches to African philosophyAfrican philosophy
African philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate...
, arguing that all cultures have their distinctive folk-beliefs and world-views, but that these must be distinguished from the practice of philosophizing. It is not that 'folk philosophy' cannot play a part in genuine philosophy; on the contrary, he has acknowledged his own debt to his own (Akan
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
) culture's history of thought. Rather, he argues that genuine philosophy demands the application to such thought of critical analysis and rigorous argument. From this it will be clear that his own work is in the 'professional philosophy' (and the Anglo-American
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
) mold.
One of Wiredu's most prominent discussions revolves around the Akan concept of personhood. He believes this traditional framework hosts a two part conception of a person. First, and most intuitive to Western conceptions of persons, is the ontological dimension. This includes one's biological constitution. Further, Wiredu states that the second dimension, the normative conception of personhood, is based on one's ability to will freely. One's ability to will freely is dependent on one's ethical considerations. One can be said to have free will if one has a high regard to ethical responsibilities. This then designates a person to become a person. One is not born a person but becomes one through events and experiences that lead one to act ethically. This differs from the Western conception of personhood in that people, in Akan traditional thought, are not born as willed beings.
His influences include, apart from his tutors at Oxford, David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
, and Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, and the pragmatist John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
, and the epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical resources of the Akan culture. The result is philosophy that is at once universally relevant and essentially African.
Main Works
- Philosophy and an African Culture (1980: Cambridge, Cambridge University Press) ISBN 0-521-22794-1
(this won him the 1982 Ghana National Book Award) - Cultural Universals and Particulars: An African Perspective (1996: Bloomington, Indiana University Press) ISBN 0-253-21080-1
- Person and Community: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies
[edd] Wiredu & Kwame GyekyeKwame GyekyeKwame Gyekye is a Ghanaian philosopher, and an important figure in the development of modern African philosophy.Gyekye studied first at the University of Ghana, then at Harvard University, where he obtained his Ph.D. with a thesis on Græco–Arabic philosophy...
(1992: New York, Council for Research in Values and Philosophy) ISBN 1-56518-004-6 - A Companion to African Philosophy (2003: Oxford, Blackwell) ISBN 0-631-20751-1
Sources
- Prof. Wiredu's on-line c.v. (defunct)
- Peter J. King One Hundred Philosophers (2004: New York, Barrons) ISBN 0-7641-2791-8
External links
- Kwasi Wiredu's Ethics of Consensus. An African Model — introduction to and discussion of Wiredu's philosophy