PAUL HORWICH’S DEFLATIONARY DEFLATIONISM AND THE IGBO CONCEPT OF EZIOKWU: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Remigius Achinike Obah ¹ & Simon Ahidjo Anaele ²

Department of Philosophy, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State ^{1 & 2}

Corresponding Email: remigius.obah@uniport.edu.ng ¹

Abstract

This is a comparative philosophical analysis of Paul Horwich’s variant of deflationism – minimalism – and the Igbo concept of eziokwu. Traditionally, there are theories of truth that have been promoted by different schools of thought which have fostered an unceasing philosophical debate about the nature of truth. Hence, the problem this research addressed is the human quest to adequately comprehend and precisely articulate what truth is or what is the nature of truth? In doing this, this paper aimed at ascertaining the epistemic pros and cons of both Horwich’s and the Igbo concept of truth (eziokwu), the former representing a variant of the Western philosophical view of truth and the latter representing a variant of African thought system on truth. This study adopted the method of content analysis and qualitative research design to articulate the Igbo concept of eziokwu in juxtaposition with Horwich’s deflationary theory of truth. The study found that eziokwu transcends the parochial or minimalist concept of truth as postulated by Horwich. The study showed that eziokwu is not merely conceptualized as a criterion for understanding and asserting the truth of a proposition or as a concept solely significant within the bounds of epistemology as a theory of knowledge and as a necessary condition for knowledge. On the contrary, the study showed that unlike the Western inflationist and deflationist theories of truth, eziokwu cuts across, the metaphysical, ontological, ethical and cultural milieu of the Igbos. Hence, the study recommended that the Igbo concept, which does not essentialize truth merely from any given perspective like the Western theories of truth, should be accorded equal attention as a broader theory of truth.

Keywords: Deflationary, Deflationism, Igbo, Eziokwu, Comparative Analysis.