A philosophical exposition of Akan conception of rationality

The concept of rationality is broad and has attracted elaborate, critical discussions by numerous philosophers and social thinkers over the years. A paper such as this is thus incapable of dealing exhaustively with the concept. Nonetheless, it attempts to interpret the Akan conception of rationality. It begins with an explanation of how rational beliefs and actions are determined in Akan thought, arguing that logical rules including some of the rules that apply without exception to any subject matter of thought are respected in the assessment of beliefs and actions in Akan culture. From this practical dimension of rationality, the paper proceeds to the conceptual sense of rationality where all humans are deemed as rational (irrespective of the way they act). Here, the paper shows how Akan conception of rationality encompasses or revolves around morality, pointing out that this moral foundation of rationality makes the Akan perspective quite different from that of the West, as particularly expressed by Aristotle. In spite of the conceptual inseparability of rationality from morality, Akan thought recognizes a practical separation and possible clash between the two. In such a situation, the latter is preferred. Finally, this paper corrects some misconceptions concerning rationality in African thought that undermine the basic rational cum moral identity of the human being held in Akan thought, in favor of emotional identity.