Abstract

Why 'consciencism'? The answer is that in this concept Dr Nkrumah draws together strands from the three main traditions which go to make up the African conscience: the Euro-Christian, the Islamic, and the original African. He characterizes traditional African society as essentially egalitarian, and argues that a new African philosophy must draw its nourishment chiefly from African roots. But he reviews Western philosophy in some detail to illustrate the thesis that philosophy, however academic, is always trying, explicitly or implicitly, to say something about society. It is this relevance of philosophy to society, and to social and political action in particular, that chiefly interests him.