Abstract

Moderate communitarianism is a thesis introduced into African philosophical literature by the Akan philosopher Kwame Gyekye. He suggests that this thesis better accounts for the Akan and, to some extent, African social set-up than what he calls radical communitarianism (a thesis which he attributes especially to John Mbiti and Ifeanyi Menkiti). However, Gyekye is criticised by J. O. Famakinwa and B. Matolino for offering a concept which, in their estimation, is not different from radical communitarianism. In this paper, it is argued that the position of these two critics is not sustainable and that moderate communitarianism is significantly different from radical communitarianism.

Key words: moderate communitarianism; radical communitarianism; clash of rights, primacy thesis; personhood; relationally; Akan philosophy.