Rethinking John Dewey’s Instrumentalism Vis a Vis the Igbo Notion of “Akonucheism”

Abstract

This work examines John Dewey’s instrumentalism postulate against the Igbo notion of “Akonucheism”. Dewey proposes instrumentalization of man, morality and knowledge in order to pragmatically solve human problems. He prescribes the experimental method for all disciplines and insists that science be allowed to operate without a moral umpire. This overemphasis on the scientific method constitutes one of the problematics of his pragmatism and engenders the receptivity of the sciento-technological rationality among strictly cultural societies such as the Igbo. On the other hand, the term “Akonucheism” is a coinage, which derives from Igbo words for intelligence (Ako or Izu) and thought (Uche). It describes the employment of intelligent thought, which entails the pragmatic integration of the positive elements found in the moral charter (culture) of the Igbo people of Nigeria, with acquired learning, knowledge or technical skill (amumamu and nka-na-uzu) to produce problem-resolving or relevant knowledge (now styled wisdom). This wisdom, contextually solves existential problems and the process of its extraction is what is called “Akonucheism”. Our aim in this paper, therefore, is to propose a balanced and rational integration, which makes it possible for the positive moral elements locatable in cultures to readily and complementarily fuse with the sciento-technological rationality in order to produce problem solving wisdom (Amamihe). However, we observe that among the Igbo, the circuit of knowing gets only completed when humane solutions are achieved without loss of human dignity, personhood and moral values hence, our rethinking Dewey’s instrumentalism. The analytical and comparative methods of enquiry are adopted for this research.

Key Words: Instrumentalism, “Akonucheism”, Experimentalism, Wisdom, Knowledge