Consciencism

Introduction

Nkrumah, then president of Ghana, published the short book in London in 1964; its full subtitle names a philosophy and ideology for decolonisation and development with particular reference to the African revolution. The opening chapters survey the history of Western philosophy and argue that every philosophy serves social interests. Nkrumah then proposes a philosophical materialism joined to an egalitarian ethics he finds in traditional African society, and even uses a symbolic notation to describe “positive” and “negative” action in decolonisation. A revised edition appeared in 1970, after his overthrow. The philosopher Paulin Hountondji discussed the book critically as an example of political ideology presented as philosophy.

Connections

Criticized in

• African Philosophy: Myth and Reality1976 · Paulin Hountondji