Richard Rorty’s Philosophy of Education and the Place of Culture in the Educational Development of Africa

Abstract

The Africa of today is facing a multifaceted crisis, ranging from insecurity, poverty, and a restless feeling of apathy. Despite some laudable attempts made to curtail or eliminate these predicaments, Africa still remains in the gloom of these crises. The basics of Africa’s most topical problems remain the continuous loss of human capital due to the relentless problem of insecurity. This paper argues that Africa’s revitalization and renaissance depends on the successful utilization of her human capital through education, for only an educated people can command the skills necessary for sustainable economic growth and development. Hence, education is a necessary condition for the socio-economic development of Africa. Richard Rorty avers that for education to be utilized as a developmental tool for societal engineering, it must be both hermeneutical and pragmatic; that it must take into serious consideration the cultural peculiarity of the people, within which practical solutions are proffered to arrest the problems of the immediate society. It is our reasoned opinion in this paper that this type of education is what African societies need in order to tackle the avalanche of problems bedeviling the country.