The Akan Conception of a Person

What is the concept of a person? This has been widely argued on by many people especially philosophers for a long time. There are varieties of ideas of what the concept of a person might be. For the purpose of this essay, we will discuss Gyekye’s dualistic conception of the human person in Akan worldview. Gyekye’s idea comes from the Akan tribe in Ghana.

The word ‘Akan’ covers a large group of people in Ghana including the Fante, Akuapem, Asante, Akyem and many more.

The main language spoken by these groups are Twi and Fante. The Akan’s believe that a person is made up of three components; the soul (okra), spirit (sunsum) and body (honam or nipadua).

Gyekye’s account maintains a dualistic conception of a person in the Akan worldview: a person is made up of two elements, one spiritual and the other physical. The spiritual part is made up of ‘okra’ and ‘sunsum’ while the physical consists of ‘honam’.

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The okra is said to be what makes the innermost self of an individual. The okra is the transmitter of one’s destiny or fate. It consists of what makes the individual’s life. It is referred to as okrateasefo in the Akan language which means ‘the living soul’. The okra is the element that has a relationship with the Supreme Being. It is therefore understood to call the okra a soul in English. Gyekye also links okra to honhom (breath). In Akan when a person dies, they say; ‘ne honhom ko’ (his breath is gone) or ‘ne kra afi ne ho’ (his soul has departed from him).

though they both say the same thing they are not identical. This is because the okra causes breathing.

The sumsum is another part of the element of a person. It is referred to as spirit in the English language. It is also rendered to forces and other mysterious things in the Akan religion. Gyekye connects sumsum to the personality of an individual. According to him, there are some sentences in the Akan language which refer to sumsum as a person’s personality. For example, in Akan they say ‘owo sumsum pa’ meaning he has a good spirit when someone is generous. This sentence and many more demonstrate that sumsum constitutes the basis of a person’s personality. Thus it cannot be physical because qualities such as generous, gentleness etc. are not physical or cannot be seen.

Gyekye’s dualistic conception of a person holds that okra plus sumsum make up the immaterial part and the body makes the material part. He holds the notion that the okra and sumsum are in the blood which is a part of the body. The Akan also believe that the soul and body are interconnected in such a way that what happens to the soul affects the body and vice visa. The body is a reflection of the soul’s condition. The Akan’s believe that there are some diseases that are spiritual and cannot be only healed physically. In such cases, both the spiritual and physical aspects of a person must be taken into consideration. This is because unless the disease is healed spiritually the body will not respond to physical treatment.

In conclusion, according to Gyekye’s the conception of a person is dualistic and interactionist. It implies that a person is not just what we see but also the unseen, each of which has an effect on the other.