Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Gyekye and Contemporary Idealism

Tartaglia, James

Authors



Abstract

I begin with a defence of both Gyekye’s universalist and African metaphilosophies. In light of these metaphilosophies, I discuss the contemporary Western hegemony of materialist philosophy of mind and its origins in Gilbert Ryle’s The Concept of Mind (1949), showing that the existence and nature of the traditional Akan philosophy, as elaborated by Gyekye, casts serious doubt on some influential founding motivations for materialism. I then argue that traditional Akan philosophy is best aligned with contemporary idealism. Gyekye’s endorsement of dualism is shown to have not been intended as ontologically fundamental, while panpsychism is rejected on the basis of the resistance it offers to the Akan commitment to transcendence. Contemporary idealism, however, is able to accommodate all the main components of traditional Akan philosophy, making both experiential primacy and transcendence central to a metaphysical understanding of reality. Sunsum (spirit) and okra (soul) are understood in terms of the distinction between the phenomenal and horizonal conceptions of experience, with consciousness always requiring a distinction between the phenomenal world within an experiential horizon and the independent being that transcends the horizon.

Acceptance Date Jan 31, 2022
Online Publication Date Aug 15, 2023
Publication Date Aug 15, 2023
Publicly Available Date Aug 16, 2025
Publisher Springer
Book Title Conversations on African Philosophy of Mind, Consciousness and AI
Chapter Number 1
ISBN 978-3-031-36162-3; 978-3-031-36165-4
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36163-0_2
Keywords Philosophy of mind; Personal identity; Kwame Gyekye; Metaphilosophy Metaphysical idealism
Publisher URL https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-36163-0_2
Related Public URLs https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-36163-0

Files

This file is under embargo until Aug 16, 2025 due to copyright restrictions.



You might also like



Downloadable Citations