Group Mind in Anyiam-Osigwe’s Development Philosophy
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Published:
Dec 15, 2022
Keywords:
Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe, Group Mind, Development Philosophy
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Abstract
This work deals with the philosophical reflections of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe (1921-1988). He was a sage philosopher (a concept employed here in contradistinction to the term ‘professional philosopher’), whose philosophical reflections, apart from having metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical dimensions, address certain socio-political issues. An important idea in his corpus is subjected to critical interrogation in this paper. This is the idea of the group mind, a concept which is an embodiment of his reflections on how a group of people can develop institutions that can foster cooperative living. The idea further addresses how the individual can position himself for reorganisation of society by keying into social aspirations through adherence to norms, values and development of spirituality. The individual is to de-emphasise the self in relation to the others, and live the group’s vision. To achieve this, the individual is to through introspection, self-searching, self-analysis, self-awareness, and self-knowledge, gain access to their innate endowments and bring these to bear on group cohesion. In Nigeria’s case, lack of a sense of nationhood militates against patriotism and, in a democracy, denies the group a collective basis for holding politicians accountable for actions. There is, thus, the issue of distrust which makes consensus tough or nearly impossible. Anyiam-Osigwe’s notion of the group mind addresses this problem in Nigeria, if understood and applied.
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Oladipo, Temidayo David. 2022. “Group Mind in Anyiam-Osigwe’s Development Philosophy”. ABUAD Journal of Social and Management Sciences 3 (1), 78-108. https://doi.org/10.53982/ajsms.2022.0301.06-j.
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References
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Oladipo, O. (2000). Values and national rebirth. Recall: A Chronicle of Nigerian Events 1.
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Oladipo, O. (2008). Thinking about philosophy: a general guide. Ibadan: Hope Publications Ltd.
Oladipo, O. (2009). A critique of the entrepreneurial spirit in governance. The development Philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 2. Ibadan: Hope Publications Ltd.
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https://doi.org/10.15640/jppg.v4n1a1
Oladipo, T.D and Offor, F. (2021). Social Capital and the management of Ethno-Religious Differences in Nigeria. Bodija Journal: A Philosophico-Theological Journal, 11, 36-52.
Osaghae, E.E. (2006). Colonialism and civil society in Africa: the perspective of Ekeh's two publics. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisation, 17(3). 233-245.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-006-9014-4
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Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (2003). The cosmopolitan expression of the group mind principle: patriotism and group mind; spirit of the team, spur of the nation. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (2005). The mindset factor in creative transformation: all minds at work: all hands on deck. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
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Salami, Y.K. (1991). Human personality and immortality in Traditional Yoruba Cosmology. Africana Marburgesia XXIV.1.
Steiner, R. (1997). Education as a force for social change. New York: Anthroposophic Press.
Stumpf, S.E. (1994). Philosophy: history and problems, fifth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
Unah, J. (2009). Values and development. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds.: Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Unah, J.I. (2004). Some perennial questions of metaphysics. Metaphysics, phenomenology and African philosophy. Ed. Jim I. Unah. Lagos: FADEC Publishers.
Afolayan, A. (2009). Patriotism as a core national value in Anyiam-Osigwe's political philosophy. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Agbakoba, J.C.A. (2009). Personal values and democratic ethics. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Agulanna, C.O. (2009). An exposition of Anyiam-Osigwe's Metaphysics. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Allport, F.H. (2007). The group fallacy in relation to social science. https://www.brocku.ca/MeadProject/Allport/Allport_1927.html.
Amadi, I. R. (1991). Human rights in pre-colonial Igbo society of Nigeria: an analysis. Africa: Rivista trimestrale di studie documentazione dell'Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, 46, 3.
Anyiam-Osigwe, E.O. Reflective Writings.
Anyiam-Osigwe, M. (2009). Foreword. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Anyiam-Osigwe. M. (2009). Foreword. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe. 2. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Anyiam-Osigwe. M.C. (2004). Child of the universe; citizens of the world; the state, patriotism and the group mind principle. Man, the state and a better world order. Proceedings of the fifth session of the Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe lecture series, 2003. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Arrow, K.J. (2000). Observation on social capital. Social capital: a multifaceted perspective. Eds. Parthal Dasgupta and Ismail Serageldin. Washington DC.: The World bank.
Avoseh, M. B. M. (2000). Philosophy of Education. Issues and problems of Philosophy. Ed. K. A. Owolabi. Ibadan: Grovacs Network.
Bamisaiye, R. (1994). Education and the Challenges of Democracy. Democracy, democratisation, and Africa. Ed. L.A. Thompson. Ibadan: Afrika-Link Books.
Birch, A. H. (1977). Political integration and disintegration in the British Isles. London: George Allen and Unwin. 32. Cited in Oladipo, O. 1998. Modernisation and the search for community in Africa: crisis and conditions of change. Remaking Africa: challenges of the twenty-first century. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Descartes, R. (1997). Key philosophical writings. Trans. Elizabeth S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross. Hertfordshire: Wadsworth Editions Limited.
Descartes, R. (2005). Discourse on method and meditations on first philosophy. Trans. Elizabeth S. Haldane. Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com publishing company.
Ekeh, P.P. (1975). Colonialism and the two publics in Africa: a theoretical statement. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17(1), 91-112.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500007659
Fotopoulos, T. (1997). Towards an inclusive democracy: the crisis of the growth economy and the need for a new liberatory project. London: Cassell.
Freud, S. (1922). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. Trans. James Strachey. New York: Boni and Liveright
https://doi.org/10.1037/11327-000
Batrleby.com (2010). www.bartleby.com/290.
Fukuyama, F. (1999). The great disruption: human nature and the reconstruction of social order. London: profile Books Ltd.
Gyekye, K. (1997). Tradition and modernity: philosophical reflections on the African experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112252.001.0001
Lawuyi, O. B. (2012). Sceptical public, public managers and the decline of moral public on Nigeria's public space. An inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria on Thursday, 22 March, 2012. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press.
Lawuyi, O.B. (2009). "Thoughts are things… but this is a dream": exploring the link between religion and self-realisation in E.O.O. Anyiam-Osigwe's Reflections. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Odugbemi, S. (2001). Ethnic nationalism and the future of Nigeria. Recall: A Chronicle of Nigerian Events 2.
Offor, F. (2009). Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe on personal values, self-mastery and Africa's socio-economic transformation. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Offor, F. (2009). The imperative of sustainable development in Africa: Anyiam-Osigwe's sage philosophy as an applied example. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 10. 4.
Ogbogbo, C.B.N. (2009). The man Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Oladipo, O. (1998). Modernisation and the search for community in Africa: crisis and conditions of change. Remaking Africa: challenges of the twenty-first century. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Oladipo, O. (2000). Values and national rebirth. Recall: A Chronicle of Nigerian Events 1.
Oladipo, O. (2008). The need for social philosophy in Africa. 17th Convocation Lecture delivered at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria on the 8th of May 2008.
Oladipo, O. (2008). Thinking about philosophy: a general guide. Ibadan: Hope Publications Ltd.
Oladipo, O. (2009). A critique of the entrepreneurial spirit in governance. The development Philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 2. Ibadan: Hope Publications Ltd.
Oladipo, O. (2009). Holistic approach to existence and development. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Oladipo, O. (2009). Philosophy and social reconstruction in Africa. Ibadan: Hope Publications Ltd.
Oladipo, O. and Ekanola, A.B. (2009). Preface. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds. Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Oladipo, T.D. The crisis of democracy in Nigeria: an examination of two determining factors. Journal of Power, Politics and Governance, 4(1), 1-16.
https://doi.org/10.15640/jppg.v4n1a1
Oladipo, T.D and Offor, F. (2021). Social Capital and the management of Ethno-Religious Differences in Nigeria. Bodija Journal: A Philosophico-Theological Journal, 11, 36-52.
Osaghae, E.E. (2006). Colonialism and civil society in Africa: the perspective of Ekeh's two publics. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisation, 17(3). 233-245.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-006-9014-4
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, (1999). The search for a holistic approach to human existence and development. Proceedings of the Inaugural Session, Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe memorial lecture series, 1999. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (2000). Towards a better world order: the family as its basic building block. Proceedings of the second session of the Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe memorial lecture series, 2000.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (2003). The cosmopolitan expression of the group mind principle: patriotism and group mind; spirit of the team, spur of the nation. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (2005). The mindset factor in creative transformation: all minds at work: all hands on deck. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation. (Nd). Development philosophy: a conceptual analysis of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe's philosophical fragments (Nd).
Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe's Foundation. (2004). Introspectionism: green grasses of home; the key to development is within and around you. Lagos: Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation.
Oyeshile, O.A. (2000). The problem of mind. Issues and problems in philosophy. Ed. Kolawole Olu-Owolabi. Ibadan: Gravocs Network.
Oyeshile, O.A. (2005). Reconciling the self with the other: an existentialist perspective on the management of ethnic conflicts in Africa. Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Philippians Chapter 2 verse 5.
Salami, Y.K. (1991). Human personality and immortality in Traditional Yoruba Cosmology. Africana Marburgesia XXIV.1.
Steiner, R. (1997). Education as a force for social change. New York: Anthroposophic Press.
Stumpf, S.E. (1994). Philosophy: history and problems, fifth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
Unah, J. (2009). Values and development. The development philosophy of Emmanuel Onyechere Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe 1. Eds.: Olusegun Oladipo and Adebola B. Ekanola. Ibadan. Hope Publications.
Unah, J.I. (2004). Some perennial questions of metaphysics. Metaphysics, phenomenology and African philosophy. Ed. Jim I. Unah. Lagos: FADEC Publishers.