According to Plato, in his ideal Republic where philosophers should be kings because it is more difficult for kings to become philosophers (democracy being out of the question in Greece as Aristotle also argued), '... the meaner desires of the many are held down by the virtuous desires and wisdom of the few.'
El Anatsui, the Ghanaian Professor of Studio Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, for more than 35 years, debunked the above undemocratic philosophy of government and insisted that wisdom is never a monopoly of the few who have to hold down the masses. He uses the Africa-centered philosophical folklore of Anansi, the trickster, to challenge the Eurocentric idea that any individual can ever set out to collect all the wisdom of the world in a pot to be monopolized by him or her alone. Fortunately for the world, according to the folklore, the pot of wisdom proved too heavy for Anansi to carry up a tree for hiding; it fell and broke into pieces so that the wisdom was broadcast all over the world for all to share.
El Anatsui, the Ghanaian Professor of Studio Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, for more than 35 years, debunked the above undemocratic philosophy of government and insisted that wisdom is never a monopoly of the few who have to hold down the masses. He uses the Africa-centered philosophical folklore of Anansi, the trickster, to challenge the Eurocentric idea that any individual can ever set out to collect all the wisdom of the world in a pot to be monopolized by him or her alone. Fortunately for the world, according to the folklore, the pot of wisdom proved too heavy for Anansi to carry up a tree for hiding; it fell and broke into pieces so that the wisdom was broadcast all over the world for all to share.
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