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African Philosophy. Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities PDF

157 Pages·1991·21.5 MB·English
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'he question whether or not there is African philosophy has, for too long, lominated the philosophical scene in Africa, to the neglect of substantive is ues generated by the very fact of human existence. This has unfortunately led o an impasse in the development of a distinctive African philosophical radition. In this path-breaking book, Segun Gbadegesin offers a new and >romising approach which recognizes the traditional and contemporary facets >f African philosophy by exploring the issues they raise. In Part I, the author ~xamines, with refreshing insights, the philosophical concepts of the person, ndividuality, community and morality, religiosity and causality, focusing on Phil sophy he Yoruba of Nigeria. Part II discusses, in an original way, contemporary Afri :an social, political and economic realities from a philosophical perspective. 'This is a book that should advance the discipline of African philosophy. Dr. :.:;badegesin brings his powers of clear expression and judicious reasoning to Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and :>ear on a variety of topics of the· profoundest significance for African philoso Contemporary African Realities phy in the contemporary world. I find his conception of African philosophy enlightened and his interpretations and analyses of Yoruba traditional philosophy enlightening. Equally impressive is the way he applies his philo sophical skills to the treatment of some of the social ills of his society. Here, Segun Gbadegesin quite simply, is a good philosopher at work." Kwasi Wiredu University of South Florida "A few African philosophers are ... producing contemporary philosophy by reflecting on West African traditions. If philosophy is 'reflection on intui tions,' then African philosophers should be reflecting on traditional African intuitions and thereby creating an African philosophy which is at once tradi tional and also contemporary. This is precisely what Gbadegesin is doing and his work is the best I have seen in this regard." H. Gene Blocker ()hio University Segun Gbadegesin received his B.Sc. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics with a First Class Honors from the University of Ife, Nigeria and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, where he has also served as Head of the Philosophy Department and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He was Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989-1990, and is currently Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Colgate University, Hamilton, New Yorki In addition to many contributions to academic journals, he is editor of The Politicization of Societv During Nigeria's Second Re:p1iblic1 1979,.,83. 'I l il li/ ~· 11 Segun Gbadegesin African Philosophy Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities PETER LANG N~;w York • San Francisco • Bern Friinkfurt am Main • Paris • Lo~on Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gbadegesin, Segun, African philosophy : traditional Yoruba philosophy and contemporary African realities I Segun Gbadegesin. p. cm. - (American university studies. Series V, Philosophy; vol. 134) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Philosophy, Yoruba. 2. Philosophy, African. To Adetoun and the children, 3. Yoruba (African people)-Social life and customs. 4. Africa-Economic conditions-1960- 5. Africa in love and appreciation Social conditions-1960- I. Title. II. Series. B5619.N6G33 1991 199'.66-dc20 91-864 ISBN 0-8204-1770-X CIP ISSN 0739-6392 Die Deutsche Bibliothek-CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Gbadegesin, Segun: African philosophy : traditional Yoruba philosophy and contemporary African realities I Segun Gbadegesin.-New York; Berlin; Bern; Frankfurt/M.; Paris; Wien: Lang, 1991 (American University Studies Ser. 5, Philosophy; Vol.134) ISBN 0-8204-1770-X NE: American university studies I 05 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. © Segun Gbadegesin, New York 1991 All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm, xerography, microfiche, microcard, offset strictly prohibited. Printed in the United States of America. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has benefitted from the good will, support and encouragement of several institutions, friends and colleagues. Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria granted me a sabbatical leave during 1989/90 academic year and leave of absence during 1990/91 academic year. As a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during 1989/89, I had access to excellent facilities for research. Colgate University provided the intellectual and social environment which facilitated the completion of the work, as well as some financial assistance for its publication. I am grateful to these institutions. The following persons deserve special thanks for the encouragement and inspiration I received from them: Dean Don Crawford; Michael Byrd; Linda Hunter and Fred Hayward; Andrew Levine, who encouraged me to embark on the project; Terrence and Rosemary Penner; Marcus Singer; Haskell Fain; Bill Hay; and Daniel Wickler, all of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Chris Willard, Julie Fellenz and Jacqueline Crystal helped with the preparation of the manuscript at the initial stages. I appreciate the encouragement I received from Gene Blocker, Albert Mosley and Roland Abiodun, and an anonymous reader of the manuscript. Kw asi Wiredu read the entire manuscript and offered extensive comments which enabled me to clarify my position on some of the issues. I appreciate his time and encouragement. I am also grateful to Professor Elliot Skinner who read Chapter 5 and gave very useful comments. At Colgate, several colleagues made my year a pleasant one. Dean Selleck encouraged me with the provision of vital facilities for my work. Harvey Sindima read the entire manuscript and offered very helpful suggestions. I am also grateful to Chris Vecsey and Carol Ann Lorenz, Roy Bryce-Laporte, Charles Rice and Elleni Tedla for their support in various ways. I acknowledge, with gratitudes, viii Contents the encouragement I got from the faculty of the Department of Philosophy and xi Religion at Colgate. Among my graduate students at Wisconsin, I should mention Preface in particular, Akuwa, Bob, Cuca, Anthony, Ludora, Pearl, Tokunbo, and Sauda and Part I Traditional Yoruba Philosophy Joseph Smith. Joseph helped with the technical production of the chart in Chapter 1 1. On the Idea of African Philosophy 2. Finally, my wife, Adetoun, has always been a loving and loyal wife and sister; and this has been an important source of strength for me. This time, she not only 27 2. Eniyiin: The Yoruba Concept of a Person took up additional responsibilities for the family, but while I was away from home, 61 3. Individuality, Community and the Moral Order I lost my dear father; and Adetoun played the role of a daughter, son and wife. To her and our loving children, I dedicate this volume. 4. Traditional African Religiosity: 83 Myth or Reality? 5. Causality and the Concept of Health 105 and Illness Part II Contemporary African Realities 6. The Concept of Ultimate Reality and Meaning and Contemporary African Realities: 137 The Religious View 7. Contemporary African Realities: 161 The Cultural View 8. Contemporary African Realities: 189 The Politico-Economic View 215 9. The Ethics and Politics of Work 10. Concluding Remarks: 255 Development and Human Values 263 Endnotes 283 Bibliography 295 Index PREFACE My position in this book has been greatly influenced by two central beliefs, derived from my own experience of the social, economic and cultural dimensions of life in Africa, and reinforced by years of active teaching and research in philosophy. First, I am convinced of the reasonableness of the belief that, if philosophy as an academic discipline is to mean anything to Africa in the present situation of its existence, it has to be made relevant to the realities that confront Africans. Though I have not argued directly for this view here, it represents, for me, a foundation upon which a lasting structure of an African philosophical tradition can be built. Second, from the vantage point of research in the areas of social and political philosophy and ethics, it has become clear to me that no one can ignore the importance of the cultural dimensions of philosophical reflections. Indeed, the relationship between the two is one of mutual influence. Culture influences philosophy by providing it with the basic materials for reflection, while philosophy influences culture by posing a critique, in various ways, of its foundation. This connection between philosophy and culture is not confined to modem philosophizing alone. I am convinced that if we look well enough, we will find it in all ages and all contexts. The denial of philosophical reflection to traditional Africans therefore appears to me to be a "modernist" bias without an adequate justification. From this perspective, therefore, I believe that we may approach African philosophy rewardingly by looking at the presuppositions and foundations of traditional philosophy as well as posing a critique of the foundations of our contemporary realities. This accounts for the two parts into which this study is divided. Part I deals with the foundations of traditional Yoruba philosophy by an examination of its conceptual scheme. I also attempt a comparison of some of the xii concepts with those of traditional Akan philosophy. In Part II, I develop a critique of contemporary African realities from three perspectives: religious, cultural and politico-economic, focusing on the available literature in these areas. I end with African Philosophy some remarks on the tension between the goal of development and the respect for human values which are generally acknowledged as the foundation of African social life. The approach I have adopted here represents my own understanding of the distinctive nature of African philosophy and the way to advance its frontiers. Of course, I also recognize the value of diversity and I respect other view-points. What I consider to be counter-productive, however, is what appears to be an unending dispute about the nature of the subject itself and the continued insistence by some on the myth of philosophy as something alien to traditional Africa. I am convinced there is a need to rethink that position. We need to get on with the positive task of reconstructing an authentic African philosophy which will be distinctive in the contributions it makes towards the resolution of the crisis of African existence. There will be problems along the way. Confusions will need to be clarified. There are a lot more issues to deal with, a lot more confusions to clarify and a lot more ideas that call for reconstruction. But such clarifications and reconstructions cannot be done unless we have made a start from somewhere. I therefore expect that a study such as this will provide a basis for moving forward in the kind of interest that it generates and, I think, that is how African philosophy will advance. Hamilton, New York July, 1991. Part I Traditional Yoruba Philosophy 1 ON THE IDEA OF AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY Definitions of African philosophy There are at least four schools of thought regarding the question of the nature of African philosophy. For one group, it is the philosophical thought of traditional Africans as could be sifted from their various world-views, myths, proverbs, etc. In this sense, it is the philosophy indigenous to Africans, untainted by foreign ideas. To attain a deep understanding of this philosophy, then, one needs to go to its roots in the traditions of the people without the mediating influence of the westemized folks. For another group, African philosophy is the philosophical reflection on, and analysis of, African conceptual systems and social realities as undertaken by contemporary professional philosophers. The basic idea here is that African traditional thought, like any traditional thought, raises issues of great philosophical interest, and that this makes it fit for philosophical investigation. Such investigations may be rewardingly carried out by professionally trained philoso phers with the collaboration of those traditional thinkers with good knowledge of traditional beliefs, values and conceptual systems. For yet a third group, African philosophy refers to a combination of these two approaches, without suppressing or looking down on any. The point of this is the presupposition that philosophical thought cannot be ruled out of court wherever the existence of a community of rational beings is conceded or acknowledged. Thus, traditional societies must have had their own share of philosophers and philosophical reflections. Such reflections take on the form of beliefs and values, concerning life and its meaning which later 3 On the Idea of African Philosophy 2 Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities contradiction, accept the idea of a contemporary African philosophy alongside his passed through generations of survivors to become part of the communal ethos. account of Bantu philosophy. At least, he does not say anything to suggest These can now be examined by trained philosophers for contemporary relevance. Finally, there is a fourth group for which African philosophy is none of the above, otherwise. Yet he says enough to suggest to critics that he is on the wrong track. The but just any collection of texts produced by Africans and specifically described by very idea of a Bantu philosophy is a misconception because it suggests the their authors as philosophy. This group is also responsible for the view that African possibility of a collective philosophy based on recollections of oral traditions and philosophy, as presented by ethnographers and philosophers adopting their methods, this is unacceptable to his critics. We either have an individualized and written is a myth. The trend of the debate thus generated by these seemingly incompatible philosophy or we have none at all. So in spite of what he does not expressly affirm views of African philosophy appeared to have, perhaps unwittingly, identified the [that African philosophy is the philosophy of traditional Africans], for conceiving substance of African philosophy with the issue of its meaning and method. It is not Bantu philosophy as the philosophical thought of traditional Bantus, Tempels unusual, for instance, to find a course in African philosophy dealing with only the belongs to the first category. So does Kagame, one of his African collaborators. debate on its meaning. My objective in this opening chapter, is to re-examine the This is how professional philosophers see Tempels; and to describe his approach issue of meaning and method, and identify the view I consider most appropriate for 2 to the matter of African philosophy, the term "ethnophilosophy" is coined. Other an adequate understanding of the subject and content of African philosophy. 3 authors placed in the same category include Leopold Senghor and J. S. Mbiti. There is need for a clarification of the position of these people. As observed earlier, it seems quite compatible with Tempels' position that in addition to the African philosophy as the traditional African philosophical thought. traditional philosophy of the Bantu, there are also modern philosophies elaborated by individual Bantus. So he does not need to insist on a monolithic sense of Bantu First, then, we need to re-examine the positions listed above, starting with philosophy. We may imagine Senghor and Mbiti maintaining similar positions. the first which sees African philosophy as the philosophical thought of traditional Indeed, Mbiti goes out of his way to suggest that what he refers to as African Africans. This is the view attributed to the so-called ethno-philosophers, prominent philosophy ''may not amount to more than simply my own process of philosophiz among whom is Placide Tempels the author of Bantu Philosophy. Strictly, Tempels ing the items under consideration .... "4 The point, then, is that these authors may does not offer a definition of African philosophy in general, or even Bantu be willing to admit that the exposition of world-views is not all there is to African philosophy with which he concerns himself. The closest he goes in this direction philosophy; in which case they will not be properly located in our first category is in his appeal to his fellow Europeans to ''try above all to understand Bantu above. Indeed, for Tempels, Bantu philosophy, among other things, is the rational philosophy, to know what their beliefs are and what is their rational interpretation of the nature of visible and invisible things.'' 1 One may see this as a view of what interpretation of things by the Bantus. Is there anyone who has maintained the position suggested by our first Bantu philosophy is: the beliefs of the Bantu and their rational interpretation of category then? There is a sort of ambiguity in the suggestion itself. While it may things. And though Tempels says this much, there is nowhere in his book, in which be interpreted [as has been done above] as making the claim that African he suggests that this is all there is to either Bantu philosophy or African philo philosophy is the philosophy indigenous to traditional Africans, it may also be sophy. In other words, for all we are entitled to infer, Tempels may, without interpreted as the claim that the most authentic source of African philosophy is the 4 Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities On the Idea of African Philosophy 5 traditional thought and world-view indigenous to Africans. The difference between discounts the fact that such ideas are responses to the realities that confront the the two seems clear. The first is claiming that African philosophy is either people at one time or the other and may not be adequate to contemporary traditional world view or nothing; the other is making a weaker claim that even if problems. Some of the ideas may need to be superseded because they are not even African philosophy exists in other forms, its most authentic source is the world morally adequate; while it is even possible that, though they now seem part of the view of the people. This second one is my own interpretation of the first category traditional ideas, they have in fact been taken over from other sources or above and I think it is a claim that those grouped in that category may be willing assimilated into the traditional world-view from the people's confrontation with to defend. other realities. Take the case of proverbs, for instance. It is generally agreed that Even this weaker claim has not been spared by critics. Professor Hountondji, proverbs are good sources of a people's traditional beliefs. But some proverbs find for instance, has insisted that world-view cannot be a source of African philosophy their ways into the world-view of a people as a result of their contact with other because (1) it is communal or collective thought and (2) it is unwritten. I will have peoples. Many Yoruba proverbs now include references to money, to wealth and more to say on this below. For now, the problems I have with this first view are poverty, and to master-servant relationship, all of which developed out of the two. First, the idea of defining an authenthic African philosophy in terms of only colonial experience of the people. According to one such proverb, "even if the the traditional will not do. It cannot be defended because it would then follow that eyeballs of the laborer are as red as the palm fruit, the farm owner is his master contemporary African philosophy is not authentic. In other words, it would appear and he will have his way." This may be interpreted as a realistic way of looking to mean virtually the same denial as contained in the first interpretation: that at the master-servant relationship. But two points need to be noted. First, it is not African philosophy means only traditional philosophy. Yet we need to come to a saying that is indigenous to traditional Africa because the kind of master-servant terms with the fact that even in its traditional form, we cannot expect any relationship it depicts is not indigenous to Africa. Second, it is not a saying that philosophical thought to be static. The thinkers of traditional societies have their reflects the attitude of traditional Africans to the wrongness of such a relationship. ways of responding to problems that arise for them. They could be, and indeed Rather, it is a saying which reflects the ideology of the ruling class at the dawn of have to be creative and innovative in their responses even when the majority of the colonialism. Those natives who were recruited as interpreters for the colonial members of such societies believe that they are still doing things according to laid masters and who were made to believe that they had joined the class of the masters down traditions. Without such creativity, no society can survive. So we have to had a way of putting across the harsh realities of the colonial exploitative and assume that creativity is an integral part of the endowment of the traditional oppressive relationship to their unfortunate kith and kin. If we now look at proverbs philosophic sages. If so, then it cannot be expected that their philosophical ideas as sources of authentic African philosophy, we have to be fully aware of this will be static. Therefore, identifying what is authentic with what is traditional may dynamic aspect of language. We cannot therefore just be contented with a report amount to a misplaced focus. of such thought forms. We also have to pose a critique of their adequacy. Indeed, The second problem I have with this position as interpreted above is that it it is my view that such an uncritical report does not do justice to the fact that tends to assume that, once we have identified these authentic philosophical ideas, traditional thinkers too must have reflected critically on those ideas among we need only report them without posing any critique. In other words, because they themselves, reflections which, unfortunately, are not now available to us in writing. are regarded as authentic, they provide us with the correct thought forms of the This is one reason it seems to me that we cannot insist too much O:Q the exposition people and all we need to do is to learn them, and perhaps be guided by them. This of world-view as the only authentic approach to African philosophy. It is, in effect,

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