Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290104 in Books
• Published on: 1970-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 122 pages

About the Author
Born on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), the son of a goldsmith and market trader from the Nzima tribe, Kwame Nkrumah was educated in the United States and Great Britain. His earlier degrees were in economics, sociology, and theology, but he also received an M.A. and did doctoral work in philosophy. In 1945 he put aside the academic career for which he had been training under Sir Alfred Ayer and became a Marxian political activist for the cause of Africans at home and abroad. He returned to the Gold Coast in 1947 and led the nationalist movement, for which he was jailed by the British. He was released in 1952, became prime minister, and helped effect independence in 1957, renaming the country Ghana. He served as president until 1966, when he was deposed by a military coup. He died in Bucharest, Rumania, while undergoing treatment for cancer. A distinctive dimension to Nkrumah's political impact was his contribution to Marxist socialist theory, with particular application to today's Africa. In this regard, his theory of "consciencism" is the most central. Nkrumah saw Africa pulled by the three religious value systems represented by indigenous tradition, Islam, and European Christianity. This is what Nkrumah saw as the crisis of African "conscience." Ultimately, according to Nkrumah, the solution lies in the qualified acceptance of Marxist socialism, but a socialism adapted to the cultural context of Africa.

Customer Reviews

The Traditional thought
Consciencism is the philosophical justification of the historic reasoning that made African Tradtional society egalitarian and generaly humanist. This work exposes the difference between western logic and the traditional thinking that dominated even feudal society in Africa. This view sees people as the extension of society and does not attempt to explain the foundations of the world , it attempts to show how reality is used to improve the human condition. It is a major contribution to philosophy while it is sometimes considered a political perspective.

Nkrumah's Philosophical Consciencism
Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for De-colonization is without question among the greatest books ever written. It is the definitive work on the subject of the worldwide African freedom struggle. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah guides the reader to an understanding of the indispensable link between culture, society, philosophy and ideology.

He demonstrates that all societies, all peoples, have their own ideology emerging from their particular philosophical views. He shows how in the instance of the enslaved and colonized Africans some individuals succumb to the imposed philosophies and ideologies of the enslaver and colonizers, whereas others, such as Dr. Nkrumah himself, are capable of gleaning from the experience that which is useful in reconstructing the African perspective on life and reality.

His book is primarily concerned with helping the reader understand how to develop and use redemptive philosophy and ideology in the African context to overcome the immense negative consequences of the great crimes against humanity perpetrated on the peoples of Africa. He further posits that the generic approach he advocates, that is philosophical consciencism, is applicable for adaptation by other peoples similarly impacted by the monstrous systems of slavery, colonialism and its modern rendition neocolonialism.

It is a must read for all those who are really concerned with the dismal state of the world today.

I give this book a 5; if possible I would give it an exponentially higher rating. It is just that good.

Ghana's 50th Anniversary!!!
I'm fortunate to be able to review Osageyfo's book especially on a day like today. I've read biographies on Dr. Nkrumah and a myriad of essays on his work, I can state categorically that hearing his thoughts directly is incomparable. As an intellectual and philosopher Nkrumah is head and shoulders above the rest. And to paraphrase another noted President, "History has absolved him". What makes this book excellent is Nkrumah's eloquence and pragmatic analysis of the psychology, ideology and traditions of Africa vis a vis the West. It's difficult to describe just how great this book really is.