Title:

Author:       Emefiena EZEANI
Published:   June 2004
ISBN:           0-9532001-8-3
Pages:         145
Cover:         PaperBack
Price:          £4.99

CONTENT SUMMARY

To philosophize is to think, and to think is to question.To philosophise is to ask a question, answer the question and question the answer to the question and continue the process until one arrives at the ultimate answer - the truth. What is the truth? I define truth as the emancipatory knowledge or liberative wisdom. Philosophy is a logical inquiry or search for truth. A philosopher is a searcher or seeker of truth or lover of wisdom, if it is defined from its Greek etymology; philos(lover) and sophia (wisdom).

To some degree, every human person is meant to be a philosopher - an inquirer; one who does not just take things at their face value, but question them. The person who does not question does not philosophise. One is a philosopher to the extent he or she thinks and asks fundamental questions that make some people sit up or give the person (the philosopher) the label rebel or radical. Think about all those who history tells us were philosophers, ancients, modern and contemporary. Philosophers do not think and question about irrelevance, though in the eyes of the ignoramus the questions a philosopher asks may be irrelevant. This is because he or she has not discovered the truth the philosopher has discovered. The person, in other words , has not gained awareness. Arguing from its Greek roots philos and sophia, two words that mean lover and wisdom, a lover of wisdom or truth ought to be necessarily a seeker of truth. It is inconceivable to think about a person who is seeking truth or wisdom but does not ask questions or engage in self-reflection or self-questioning.

Iquism Iquism is a term that stems from the phrase, intelligent questioning. By it I mean that philosophy is primarily an intelligent and pragmatic questioning or inquiry. It is essentially iquistic. For how can a philosopher(a lover of wisdom/truth) not engage in questioning? How can truth be discovered without inquiry? The end of iquism or philosophical questioning /inquiry is to discover truth with a view to bringing about a change in belief, practice or attitude. This end makes philosophy also a pragmatic inquiry with practical or social consequences.

The availability of this little but important work in colleges and universities will definitely help African teachers, lecturers or professors of various disciplines to angle their teaching/lecture from the perspectives that are beneficial to their societies. Western philosophy and their philosophers should be no more than mere examples in our classrooms and lecture halls.

Table of Content

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapters
  • 1 Philosophy: Connotation and Usage
  • 2 The Starting Point of Philosophy
  • 3 The role of the African, Nigerian or Igbo Philosopher
  • 4 Philosophy and Philosopher in Society
  • 5 The Learned or Philosopher as those who make things happen
  • 6 Colonialysis: A Mental Disease of the Colonised
  • 7 Resisting the Push to be Ihe-nkiti
  • Bibliography
  • Notes

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