Epistemological Considerations for Minority Languages and the Challenges of Development

Abstract

Philosophy and language have lots of things in common. For instance, both have one thing or the other to do with thought and reality. While philosophy is a critical reflection on our thought pattern and conception of reality, language is the vehicle through which we express the relationship between our thought and reality. Epistemology on the other hand is a branch of philosophy which deals with theories of knowledge. Knowledge is got through our thoughts and critical reflections, while language plays critical role in the acquisition of knowledge, development and transfer of knowledge. However, in contemporary African societies especially in Nigeria which has multiple cultures and languages, only three (Hausa, Yorùbá and Igbo) have been considered as official languages while the rest have been regarded as minority languages. The paper examines the result of this social inequality, social inequalities have epistemic effects on developing societies. One of the epistemic effects of language discrimination is epistemic injustice, this is because epistemic goods are distributed unjustly and information is shared within privileged classes only; while the oppressed groups are denied access to education and social amenities. This paper concludes by advocating equal consideration of all languages in order to open ways of proper development.

Keywords: Epistemology, Minority, Languages, Challenges, Development