Tradition and modernity : philosophical reflections on the African experience / Kwame Gyekye.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gyekye, Kwame, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social groups--Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Social groups.

Africa, Sub-Saharan--Civilization--Philosophy.

Africa, Sub-Saharan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 338 pages)

Other Title:

Philosophical reflections on the African experience

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This work offers a philosophical interpretation and critical analysis of the African cultural experience in modern times. Gyekye attempts to show the usefulness of Western philosophical concepts in addressing a range of specifically African problems.

Contents:

CHAPTER 1 Philosophy and Human Affairs; 1. The Nature and Purpose of Philosophy; 2. Philosophy: Not a System of Beliefs?; 3. Philosophy as a Conceptual Response to Human Situations; 4. Philosophy and the African Experience; 5. Conclusion; CHAPTER 2 Person and Community: In Defense of Moderate Communitarianism; 1. Communitarianism in African Moral and Political Theory: Moderate or Radical?; 2. Community, Social Relationships, and the Common Good; 3. Communal Structure and Personhood; 4. Rights, Responsibilities, and the Communal Structure; 5. Communitarianism and Supererogationism

6. Conclusion; CHAPTER 3 Ethnicity, Identity, and Nationhood; 1. Nation as an Ethnocultural Community; 2. Nation as a Multinational State; 3. Beyond N[sub(2)]: Towards Nationhood; 4. National Culture and Identity; 5. Conclusion; CHAPTER 4 Traditional Political Ideas, Values, and Practices: Their Status in the Modern Setting; 1. Observations on the Democratic Character of the Traditional African Political System; 2. Chiefship and Political Authority; 3. Democratic Elements in the Traditional Akan Political Practice; 4. Creating Modern Democratic Institutions

5. The Need for a Comprehensive Conception of Democracy; 6. Conclusion; CHAPTER 5 The Socialist Interlude; 1. The Alleged Traditional Matrix of African Socialism; 2. Private Enterprise in the Traditional African System; 3. Socialism or Humanism?; 4. The Pursuit of Marxian Socialism in Postcolonial Africa; 5. On the Concept of Ideology; 6. Conclusion; CHAPTER 6 Quandaries in the Legitimation of Political Power; 1. The Meaning of the Concept; 2. Losing Legitimacy; 3. Conclusion; CHAPTER 7 Political Corruption: A Moral Pollution; 1. Political Corruption: What Is It?

2. Political Corruption in the Politics of Traditional Africa; 3. The Moral Circumstances of Political Corruption; 4. Conclusion; CHAPTER 8 Tradition and Modernity; 1. On the Notion of Tradition; 2. Attitudes toward a Cultural Past; 3. Normative Consideration of Our African Cultural Products; 4. The Legacy of the Past in the Present; 5. On the Notion of Modernity; 6. Conclusion; CHAPTER 9 Epilogue: Which Modernity? Whose Tradition?

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 317-325) and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-19-511226-1

1-280-45362-1

0-19-535467-2

0-585-18076-8

OCLC:

466432141