The Roles of Philosophy for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Abstract

Philosophy is a veritable tool for all round transformation and sustainable development in every
nation. As a discipline which deals with critical and rigorous investigations into human
existence, it has branches such as Epistemology that studies the nature, sources and validity of
human knowledge; Metaphysics which studies the nature of being or reality as a whole; Logic,
which deals with the rules used to distinguish between correct and incorrect reasoning or
between correct and incorrect arguments; Ethics that deals with the issue of morality or
determination of what is right or wrong; and Aesthetics that deals with the assessment of beauty
and arts work. Thus, this captures all facets of human endeavor that enhance human and
sustainable development in the society. However, this study adopted analytic expository methods
where data were sourced from books, interviews and online search engines. This study therefor
found out that in Nigeria, philosophy as academic discipline has remained valueless and
relegated to the extent that students no longer accept it as an academic field of study in the
Universities. The neglect of philosophy has contributed to the death of economic strategy and
developmental strides in the country. So, we then recommend that for a better economic and
developmental enhancement, the philosophy discipline should be modified, re-strategized and
students be re-oriented of the values, needs and roles of philosophy in our nation.