PHL 251 African Philosophy

COURSE
GUIDE
PHL 251
AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
Course Team Dr. Tunde Akande (Course Writer) -

University of Abuja, Abuja, FCT
Prof. Ebun Oduwole (Course Editor) -
Olabisi Onabanjo University
NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

PHL 251 COURSE GUIDE
© 2022 by NOUN Press

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form
or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed 2022
ISBN: 978-978-058-254-8
ii
CONTENTS PAGE
Introduction……………………………………………………….. v
Course objectives…………………………………………………. vi
Working through this course……………………………………… vi
Study units………………………………………………………… vi
Presentation schedule……………………………………………… vii
Assessment………………………………………………………… vii
How to get the most out of this course……………………………. viii
Facilitation………………………………………………………… viii
References and further reading……………………………………. viii
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION
This course undertakes critical and analytic look at the African

traditional thought, its historical origin, background, key concepts,
religion, basic beliefs and general worldviews. It introduces the
student to a descriptive and analytic examination of the main
characteristics of African traditional thought. African philosophy has to
do with what the African person is, what he believes in, and what his
general values, norms, taboos, and entire life represents from cradle to
grave. Therefore, African philosophy is the study of that philosophy
which though being peculiarly native to the African, shares the basic
features that can be attributed to philosophy universally (Sogolo, 1963
xi).
The study of African philosophy was necessitated by the desire of

Africans to tell their own story and take their place in the world stage in
issues of worldviews and civilization. If philosophy is described as
“love of wisdom”, then it simply means that anyone who loves and
pursues wisdom anywhere in the world could be said to be engaged in
philosophy. This means that as Mbiti (1982, p1) noted, the study of the
actions and words of the people provide us a mirror into what their
philosophy is, and African philosophy embodies the entire religion,
proverbs, ethics, oral traditions, morals and way of life of the African
people (ibid,p2).
There have been serious debates as per the authenticity and what
qualification of the African worldview that could be labeled
“philosophy”. Many African philosophers like OderaOruka,
KwasiWiredu, PlacideTempels, Godwin Sogolo, T. Uzodinma Nwala, to
mention a few, have all had their say concerning the ability of the
African to philosophize. But as Sogolo (1963, xii) describes it, the
denial of the existence of any form of philosophy in and by Africans is
more or less rational. Rationality is the defining quality of man, so
when it is said to be lacking in a people, those people have been subtly
reduced to a level lower than human.
However, it is no doubt that the study of African philosophy has further

enriched the intellectual space of the world, and has given Africans a
pride of place in world civilization. But despite every research that has
been conducted on the subject matter of African philosophy, there still
remain issues that constitute the ongoing discourse in the discipline.
Those issues and others will form the main topics of discussion in this
course.
v
COURSE OBJECTIVES
In order to achieve the primary aim of this course, the following

objectives have been set:
• To understand the meaning, nature and characteristics of African
Philosophy;
• To examine the African ontological notions of force, being and
spirits;
• To make a philosophical analysis of African cosmological
notions, the concepts of life, death, mystical power, destiny,
nature; and
• To examine the notions of rites and institutional structures
embodying African traditional thoughts and relating African
traditional thought to the African environment.
WORKING THROUGH THIS COURSE
For maximum efficiency, effectiveness and productivity in this course,

students are required to have a copy of the course guide, main course
material, download the videos and podcast, and the necessary materials
for this course. These will serve as study guide and preparation before
lectures. Additionally, students are required to be actively involved in
forum discussion and facilitation. You are also going to write a final
examination at the end of the course.
STUDY UNITS
This course has 16 study units which are structured into 4 modules.
Each module comprises of 4 study units as follows:
Module 1 Understanding African Philosophy
Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy

Unit 2 Meaning, Nature and Structure of African Traditional
Thought
Unit 3 Approaches in African Philosophy
Unit 4 Historical Background of African Traditional Thought
Module 2 Some basic concepts in African Philosophy
Unit 1 African Ontological Notions

Unit 2 The Concept of African Socialism
Unit 3 Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery in African Philosophy
Unit 4 Rituals and Festivals in African Philosophy
vi
Module 3 Some African worldviews and Ethics
Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in African Worldview

Unit 2 Destiny and Fate in African Philosophy
Unit 3 Moral Thinking in African Philosophy
Unit 4 The African Traditional Religion
Module 4 Some Schools of Thought in African Philosophy
Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African Philosophy

Unit 2 The Theory of African Humanism
Unit 3 African Political Theories
Unit 4 African Traditional Thought and Western Thought
PRESENTATION SCHEDULE
This course has two presentations; one at the middle of the semester and
the other towards the end of the semester. At the beginning of the
semester, each student undertaking this course will be assigned a topic
by the course facilitator, which will be made available in due time, for
individual presentations during forum discussions. Each presenter has
15 minutes (10 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for Question and
Answer). On the other hand, students will be divided by the course
facilitator into different groups. Each group is expected to come up
with a topic to work on and to submit same topic to the facilitator via the
recommended medium. Both attract 5% of your total marks.
Note: Students are required to submit both papers via the recommended
medium for further examination and grading. Both attract 5% of your
total marks.
ASSESSMENT
There are two segments on assessment for this course. These are:
Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs) and a written examination. You are
expected to submit your assignments to your tutor as at when due for
30% of your total course mark. Afterward, a final three-hour
examination accounts for 70% of your total course work. Together, all
of these amount to 100%.
To avoid plagiarism, students should use the followings links to test run
their presentation papers before submission to their tutors:
● http://plagiarism.org
● http://www.library.arizona.edu/help/tutorials/plagiarism/index.ht
ml
vii
Similarity index for submitted works by student must NOT EXCEED

35%.
If the student is unable to check, the course facilitator will do this after
retrieving the electronic format from their student. Similarity index for
submitted works by student must NOT EXCEED 35%. Finally, all
students taking this course MUST take the final exam which attracts
70% of the total marks.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COURSE
For students to get the most out of this course, she/he must:
• Have 75% of attendance through active participations in both
forum discussions and facilitation;
• Read each topic in the course materials before it is being
treatedin the class;
• Submit every assignment as at when due; as failure to do so
willattract a penalty;
• Discuss and share ideas among his/her peers; this will help
in understanding the course more;
• Download videos, podcasts and summary of group discussions
for personal consumption;
• Attempt each self-assessment exercises in the main course
material;
• Take the final exam; and
• Approach the course facilitator when having any challenge with
the course.
FACILITATION
This course operates a learner-centered online facilitation. To support

the student’s learning process, the course facilitator will, one, introduce
each topic under discussion; two, open floor for discussion. Each student
is expected to read the course materials, as well as other related
literatures, and raise critical issues which she/he shall bring forth in the
forum discussion for further dissection; three, summarise forum
discussion; four, upload materials, videos and podcasts to the forum;
five, disseminate information via email and SMS if need be.
REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS/WEB SOURCES
Azenbor, G. (2004). Understanding the Problems in African

Philosophy .Lagos: First Academic Publishers.
Azenabor, G. (2010). Modern African Philosophical Theories.

ByolahPublishers. Lagos: First Academic Publishers.
viii
Balogun , O.A. (2018). African Philosophy: Reflections on Yoruba

Metaphyscis and Jurisprudence. Nigeria: Xcel Publishers.
Coetzee, P & Roux, P.J. (1998). The African Philosophy Reader.

London: Routledge.
Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1987). Comparative Studies of African Traditional

Religions. Onitsha: IMCO Publishers.
Maduka, M. (2007). Introduction to African Philosophy. Nairobi:

Paulines Publications Africa.
Mbiti, J. S. (1977). Introduction to African

Religion. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
(1982). African Religions and
Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Odimegwu, Ike. (2006). Philosophy and Africa (Ed).

Nigeria:Lumos Nig. Ltd.
Sogolo, G. (1993). Foundations of African Philosophy. Ibadan:

IbadanUniversity Press.
The following links can be used to access materials online:

www.pdfdrive.net
www.bookboon.com
www.sparknotes.com
http://ebookee.org
https://scholar.google.com/
https://books.google.com/
ix
MAIN
COURSE
CONTENTS PAGE
Module 1 Understanding African Philosophy…………….. 1
Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy……………………… 1

Unit 2 Meaning, Nature and Structure of African
Traditional Thought……………………………….. 9
Unit 3 Approaches in African Philosophy……………….. 18
Unit 4 Historical Background of African Traditional
Thought……………………………………………. 26
Module 2 Some Basic Concepts in African Philosophy…….. 36
Unit 1 African Ontological Notions………………………. 36

Unit 2 The Concept of African Socialism………………… 46
Unit 3 Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery in African
Philosophy ……………………………………………. 53
Unit 4 Rituals and Festivals in African Tradition………. 62
Module 3 Some African Worldviews and Beliefs…………… 70
Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in African Worldview….. 70

Unit 2 Destiny and Fate in African Philosophy…………… 79
Unit 3 Moral Thinking in African Philosophy……………... 89
Unit 4 The African Traditional Religion…………………… 99
Module 4 Some Schools of Thought in

African Philosophy…………………………… 108
Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African

Philosophy ……………………………………….. 108
Unit 2 The Theory of African Humanism…………… 119
Unit 3 African Political Theories……………………. 129
Unit 4 African Traditional Thought System………… 139
PHL 251 MODULE 1
MODULE 1 UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

Unit 2 Meaning, Nature and Structure of African Traditional
Thought
Unit 4 Historical Background of African Traditional Thought
Unit Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Intended Learning Outcomes
1.3 What is Philosophy?
1.3.1 The Nature of the African Philosophy
1.3.2 Geography of African Philosophy
1.3.3 The Debate on African Philosophy
1.4 Summary
1.5 References/Further Readings/Web Resources
1.6 Possible Answers to Self-Assessment Exercise(s)
1.1 Introduction
This unit attempts a conceptual clarification of the key term of this

module, namely; African philosophy. Firstly, it attempts an
etymological definition of philosophy and drawing from that, tries to
analyse African philosophy by attempting to discuss some of its
definitions. It then tries to define the geography of African philosophy
while discussing some of the issues in the famous debate on African
philosophy, amongst others.

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
• describe African philosophy

• explain the geography of African philosophy
• discuss the debate on African philosophy.
1.3 What is African Philosophy?

Philosophers generally agree that there is no universally accepted
definition of philosophy, because the idea of philosophy has to do with
the general worldview of a people which is somewhat difficult to pin
down. But for us to begin to understand the concept of African
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PHL 251 AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
philosophy, we have to try to get an idea of what philosophy implies.

Etymologically, philosophy literally means love of wisdom. This is
derived from two Greek words; ‘Philo’, meaning love and ‘Sophia’,
meaning wisdom. This means that taking it from the etymological
meaning, philosophy can be said to be present wherever and whenever
people curiously search for wisdom. This simply means that
philosophy is not wisdom itself but the act of loving wisdom. Sogolo
(1993: 11). Philosophy’s main concern is the human problem and
predicament. But the perception and treatment of this problem and
predicament is age and geography sensitive. The geographic sensitivity
of the enterprise of philosophy makes it possible for it to be practiced
by different people and in different locations of the world and still
remain philosophy.
Philosophy generally emanates from the people’s traditions and way of

life. Philosophy is generally described as the “mother of all disciplines”,
that is why all disciplines have the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree
as their last and highest degree (Akande and Okorie, 2012: 3).
Philosophy has also been defined as the pondering on the wonder of the
world and how man could better be prepared to make the right choices
and be able to dissolve these worries and anxieties of life (Akande and
Okorie 2012: 5). Philosophers of ancient times both in Egypt and Greece
are said to have started philosophizing as a result of their wonder and
curiosity. So in its fundamental stage, philosophy began when man
began to question the realities of his environment in order to study them
for better understanding. This is why one’s way of philosophizing is
largely dependent on one's cultural realities. There is no limit to what we
can classify as philosophical knowledge (Akande and Okorie 2012: 1),
butin recent times, some disciplines have begun to branch out of ‘mother
philosophy’.
Philosophy as an academic discipline is a critical inquiry which seeks to

investigate the assumptions of knowledge. It acts as a policeman of all
other disciplines, to ascertain the validity of their claims and its
application to reality. It frees man from the bondage of superstition,
prejudices and cultural tyranny (Akande and Okorie 2012: 6).
Therefore, when the subject matter of philosophy comes to the citadels
of academic learning, it becomes a critical and rational inquiry.
1.3.1 The Nature of African Philosophy
Drawing from how we have defined philosophy above, we can safely

understand what African philosophy is. As we have different definitions
of philosophy, so do we have different definitions of African
philosophy, depending on the school of thought one decides to align
with. Many African philosophers like Wiredu, Bodunrin, Mbiti,
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
Hountondji, Nwala, Oladipo, and so on, have described African

philosophy from their different perspectives and schools of thought. J.S
Mbiti (1982: 2) describes African philosophy as the “understanding,
attitude of mind, logic, perception behind the manner in which the
African people think, act or speak in different situations of life”. Going
by the above definition, it could be taken that African philosophy is the
entire way of reason and life of the African. Mbiti (1982) goes further to
note that these attitudes and traditions have been handed down by the
forefathers of the African, but modified specifically to suit the age and
time it is being practiced. These include myths, rituals, ceremonies,
morals, and general worldviews of the African. Azenabor (2004) has
also noted that African philosophy must be situated within a socio-
cultural paradigm. This means that the African environment influences
the thinking and reason of the African.
Kwasi Wiredu (20 04) distinguishes three levels of African

philosophy. The first is the level in which African philosophers study
the traditional background of a people. This is also called folk
philosophy. That is, philosophy at the level of traditional folktales and
myths. He refers to this philosophy as “bold assertions without
supportive arguments” (Wiredu 2004: 47). To Wiredu, this philosophy
is the collective, rather than the individualized one.
The second has to do with the thought of a class of individuals in

traditional African societies. Ezenabor (2004: 13) cites Wiredu as
having described this class as those who have not been influenced by
modern intellectual enterprise, but can still be capable of critical
reflections which are different from folk ideas of the people. Here,
Wiredu contends that the thought of individual indigenous African
people deserve critical attention from contemporary African
philosophers.
Wiredu describes the third level as the level of contemporary African

philosophy. They will be done by contemporary African philosophers
(Wiredu, 1980: 37). He describes this as the philosophy of the
contemporary Africans, using the instruments of the modern world to
tackle philosophy (Wiredu 1980: 37). According to him, this level of
philosophy is still developing, and should be the yardstick with which
African philosophy should be measured.
But it is our contention that every philosophy emanates from non-

philosophy. It is from the traditional and environmental features of his
time that Socrates started to philosophise during his time. No philosophy
is entirely divorced from cultural and traditional hangover. No
philosophy fell from the sky. Therefore, African philosophy is curiosity
and wonder which is influenced by the African environment and its
3
peculiarities. The quest to understand and systematically study the

African reality by the Africans themselves and from the perspective of
the African experience is what is known as African philosophy. African
philosophy in its academic sense has acted as a launch pad for Africa in
global affairs. This is because the study of African philosophy in
universities around the world has given the African continent a pride of
place among the comity of nations of the world. It has gone a long
way in correcting the prejudices harboured against Africa and the
ability of her peoples to embark on any form of critical reasoning by
the rest of the world.
1.3.2 Geography of African Philosophy
By geography, we mean the areas that should come to mind when

referring to African philosophy. This means that when we talk about
African philosophy, there are peoples and locations that should come to
mind. In studying African philosophy, this question has been
answered by many scholars in different ways. We shall attempt to
articulate some of these views here, while analyzing them to make a
somewhat definite argument. Where is the “Africa” that we talk about
when we talk about African philosophy? Who are these Africans? How
is ‘Africa’ conceived in African philosophy? Africa, as we know it,
today, is the creation of the Europeans and we might have difficulty
trying to use a European language to define what Africa is (Nwala,
2010: 158).
The geography of African philosophy has been limited by those who

seek to detract African philosophy. The Eurocentric researchers and
academics had tried to exclude Egypt from the geography of African
philosophy, because according to them, Egypt is not part of Africa.
However, Nwala (2010: 39) has cited ancient Greeks like Herodotus
and Aristotle arguing that ancient Egyptians were “black skinned,
“wooly haired, and “bandy legged”. Nwala (2010) went further to argue
that if Descartes, a French, and Hume, a Scottish, can claim ancient
Greeks as their intellectual ancestors, Africans of different geographies
can as well claim ancient Egyptians as their intellectual fathers.
So, the geography of African philosophy is the entire continent of

Africa, which includes the present day North Africa. As we have noted,
the present day Egypt was once occupied by black people, who thrived
under the most sophisticated civilization known to the ancient world,
and not just the current geography of black and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Makumba (2007) has observed that this attempt to remove Egypt

from the geography of African philosophy was made by those who seek
to deny the contributions of Africa to world civilization.
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
1.3.3 The Debate on African Philosophy
The debate on African philosophy centres on two issues:
 The definition of philosophy in the light of any writing coming

from African philosophy to be considered as “philosophy”; and
 The definition of what is “Africa” owing to the fact that it is not
all pieces of literature qualified as “African philosophy” that are
truly African philosophy in character (Nwala 2010: 2)
This debate raged for a long time, and continues to rage among African
philosophers and Eurocentric philosophers who are bent on denying the
existence or validity of African philosophy.
Philosophy, as we earlier noted, is defined in terms of its etymology as

“the love of wisdom”, and not even wisdom itself. This therefore means
that the exercise of love towards the pursuit and acquisition of wisdom
anywhere in the world can be described as philosophy. Sogolo (1993:
xv) has identified that the ability for self-reflection and rational
thought is a prominent universal trait of human beings. This simply
means that, man, no matter the location, culture and colour of his skin, is
capable of self-reflection and rational thinking. The human mind is
structured alike and men reason alike in all cultures (Sogolo 1993). The
cultural differences among cultures cannot be seen as deficiency, hence,
the cultural difference between Africa and other parts of the world
which makes Africans to apply reason in a different form cannot be said
not to qualify as philosophy. Sogolo (1993) goes ahead to assert that the
possibility of the human being to flip-flop on issues of consistency is a
universal one. No race is totally free from inconsistency in matters of
reason.
According to Nwala (2010: 3), those who seek to detract and malign
African philosophy are guilty of ignoratio elenchi, that is, arguing out of
ignorance and beside the point. This is because they seek to set aside
African philosophy without first setting aside the traditions of the
African peoples. They refuse to acknowledge that traditional African
philosophy is an authentic philosophy, while at the same time accepting
traditional European philosophy as an authentic one. What is the
implication of this?
If Socrates, who never wrote anything, could be considered a

philosopher even though he lived in the hay days of Greek
superstition and traditional thought, why can we not accept African
traditional thought as an authentic philosophy? As we have said,
African traditional thought is an authentic philosophy because all
philosophy began from the traditions and worldviews of the people. No
5
philosophy developed in isolation. Examining Oruka’s Sage Philosophy,

Azenabor (2009: 69) describes philosophic sagacity as an evaluation of
thought by an individual African elder who is a repository of wisdom
by the means of interviews, discussions and dialogues.
Anyanwu (1989: 271) has noted that the issue of methodology in

African philosophy is not so important. Rather, he suggests that
experience should be the yardstick to judge the authenticity of any
philosophy which claims to be African. Therefore, African philosophy
must not necessarily follow the patterns of Western philosophy to be
considered authentic, but should follow African pattern, and improve
based on the parameters of the African worldview. What Oruka called
Philosophical Sagacity is what Momoh in Nigeria, called “ancient
African philosophy” (Azanabor 2004: 102).
The debate on African philosophy is continuing as a psychological

warfare. The Eurocentric researchers who do not want to see Africa take
its place among the committee of ancient civilizations have continued to
try to sabotage African philosophy by seeking for ways to find it
wanting, but African philosophy has come to stay and will keep
improving in ways consistent with the African worldviews.
Self-Assessment Exercises
1. According to __________those who seek to detract and malign

African philosophy are guilty of ignoratio elenchi (a) Nwala (b)
Russell (c) Hegel (d) Quine
2. The following statement: “The geography of African philosophy

has been limited by those who seek to detract African
philosophy” is (a) Necessarily true (b) Necessarily False (c)
Partially true (d) Undetermined
1.4 Summary
We have tried to define philosophy and African philosophy. We have

also seen that it is difficult to give one particular definition to
philosophy, and the definition of African philosophy is also a
controversial one. For instance, Azenabor (2014: 3) has cited Momoh
that a philosopher is a child of his culture. This means that culture
plays a vital role in defining philosophy. Again, we were able to situate
the geography of African philosophy by insisting that ancient
Egyptians were Africans, hence, their philosophy qualifies as African
philosophy. The debate on African philosophy is the controversy
surrounding it, to the extent that certain Eurocentric intellectuals
question the authenticity of the discipline of African philosophy. This,
6
PHL 251 MODULE 1
we have observed, is the result of cultural hegemony and acculturation

which came with colonialism and slavery. The sum total of the
worldview of the African is African philosophy. It is unique to African,
so it must not be tailored towards the pattern of Western philosophy.
African philosophy is the sum total of the way of life of the African,
including his religion, arts, mores, sayings, and so on. Despite the
attacks against it, African Philosophy has come to stay, and will
continue to improve within the context of the evolving African
worldview. It remains a launch pad for Africa in global affairs. Just as
every philosophy began with traditional beliefs, so did African
philosophy and it is unfair for anybody to measure African philosophy
with yardstick of Western philosophy because cultures and civilizations
differ in their approaches to reality. No philosophy is ironclad;
therefore, if there are some limitations noticeable in African philosophy,
such limitations are also observable in other philosophies like Western
and Eastern philosophies.
Akande, T. & Okorie, O. (2012). The Fundamentals of Philosophy

and Logic for all Disciplines. Abuja: Remlark Publishers.
Azenabor, G. (2004). Understanding the Problems of African

Philosophy. Lagos: First Academic: Publishers.
(2009). “Odera Oruka’s Philosophical Sagacity: Problems and

Challenges of Conversation Method in African Philosophy”.
Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical
Association of Kenya (PAK).Vol 1. Pp 69-86.
Makumba, M. (2017). Introduction to African Philosophy. Nairobi:

Pauline Publication.
Mbiti, J. (1982). African Religions and Philosophy. Ibadan:

Heinemann.
Nwala, U. (2010). Critical Review of the Great Debate on African

Philosophy. Enugu: Hilly Press.
Sogolo, G. (1993). Foundations of African Philosophy: A Definitive

Analysis of Conceptual Issues in African Thought. Ibadan: Ibadan
University Press.
Wiredu, K. (1980). Philosophy and African Culture. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.
7
1. (a)
2. (d)
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
Unit 2 Meaning, Nature and Structure of African

Traditional Thought
Unit Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.3 Meaning of African Traditional Thought
2.3.1 The Place of Culture in African TraditionalThought
2.3.2 The Nature of African Traditional Thought
2.3.3 The gods and goddesses
2.3.4 Rituals and Sacrifices
2.3.5 The Value of Myths
2.4 Summary
2.1 Introduction
This unit attempts an analysis of the key concepts that could further
provide in-depth meaning into the concept of African traditional
thought. The meaning, nature and structure of African traditional
thought x-rays the key issues such as the gods and goddesses, rituals and
sacrifices, and the value of myth in Africa; giving the student a broader
perspective of the issue of the subject matter of African philosophy.
• explain the meaning of African traditional thought

• explain the nature of African philosophy
• discuss the place of the gods and goddesses in African
philosophy
• highlight the value of myths in African philosophy.
2.3 Meaning of African Traditional Thought
To refer to it as “traditional” thought is simply an attempt to

distinguish it from the Western thought which has so far suffocated the
African continent. The term “traditional” implies that this pattern of
thought has unique features which are native to Africa. In a thought
system, the individual must endeavour to key into the thinking of the
society. Shadrikov, et al. (2016: 565) have argued that thought is a
child of culture. This means that every civilization has its own
thought pattern which is peculiar to it and which other societies may
9
not be used to. They went further to insist that people from other cultural
affiliations may see and look at other cultures that they are not familiar
with as nonsensical and meaningless, but every thought system is useful,
especially to those who conceptualize and practice it (Shadrikov et al
2016).
Idang (2015) has expressed that these are the distinguishing factors that
map Africans out and differentiate them from other people of the world.
This thought system encompasses all that we do in Africa. As we have
noted earlier, African traditional thought is the entirety of the
system and pattern of thought of the African. It includes medicine,
myths, religion, values, morals, and the whole belief system native to
Africa. That system of thought and belief indigenous to Africans is what
is known as African traditional thought.
The African concept of reality and time, the human person, the
environment, and so, make up the whole body of African traditional
thought. As culture distinguishes a people, so do thought systems and
patterns. Some of the values of African traditional thought include:
social values, religious values, political values moral values, aesthetic
values, economic values, and so on. All these are products of thought.
Thought is systemic because it is the system of thought that helps to
attach meaning to whatever we think about. A thought system is an
established system of rules and ways of thinking, to the effect that
individual thinking within the said society, usually align with the
already established system of thought.
As Shadrikov et al (2016) have observed, there is no best or perfect

thought system anywhere. Therefore, we should appreciate the African
traditional thought and give it its deserved relevance. More so, Horton
(1967) has argued that the African traditional thought is not inferior
to the Western scientific culture, but the only difference is that of
approach and pattern. We will examine culture for a moment since we
have noted that thought is formed through it.
2.3.1 The Place of Culture in African Traditional Thought
In order to further buttress the relationship between thought and culture,

we shall look at the concept of culture briefly here. Taylor (1958)
describes culture as a complex whole of morals, knowledge, beliefs,
customs, arts, law or any other capabilities and habits required of man as
member of society. Culture is a patterned way of life shared by a
particular group of people that claim a common origin or decent (Idang,
2015, p 98). Looking critically, we will observe that culture and thought
have striking similarities in that they are particular to a certain group
of people. A pattern of culture and thought is always limited to a
10
PHL 251 MODULE 1
particular set of people who have several things in common. It is when

an individual is born in a society that he/she begins to assimilate the
cultures of that society, which in turn inculcates a certain thought pattern
in him.
So culture is very vital in the process of thought formation because

without culture, we will not be able to form any kind of thought at all.
Culture is a major influence on the formation of thought and thought
system. Bello (1991, p189) sees culture as the totality of the efforts of a
particular society to meet up with the challenges of living in their
environment, which gives order to their political, economic, religious
and aesthetic norms, thereby differentiating a particular people from
their neighbours. This again, shows the influence of environmental
factors on culture and thought formation. It is the attempt by any
society to exist and create order out of apparent disorder that gives rise to
a particular culture and thought pattern. Therefore, it is practically
impossible for there be totally identical cultures since our environments
differ. Culture is simply a way a people have adopted to respond to their
environment and carve a living for survival.
2.3.2 Nature of African Traditional Thought
We have already dwelt on thought and thought patterns in the previous

section. Here, we are going to take a look at the nature of African
traditional thought. Traditional thought is the same as traditional
philosophy, because thought gave rise to philosophy. This simply
means some characteristics of this thought system is native to Africans.
What are the basic features of this thought pattern?
Oyeshile (2008: 61) has noted that thought should constitute the
entirety of the beliefs, folklores, religion and other concepts. The nature
of African traditional thought is simply the way and manner Africans
perceive and view reality. The human person, time, community,
economics, democracy, governance; are all perceived by Africans
differently from their European counterparts. Some of these features
include: Africans are emotional, we are spiritually oriented, and we
respect the ancestors.
The African is spiritually oriented because he believes that the spirit

world controls everything; there are no fundamental differences between
the spiritual and material because they are simply parts of the whole
reality. We are subject to the repercussions of our deeds, a reason why
the average African is afraid of offending against spiritual principles.
The ancestors are revered in African thought system, because they
encompass the religion and spiritism of the African. They are dead
tribesmen who lived and died at ripe ages, and are believed to be
11
watching over the clan, and providing guidance from the spirit world
(Prrinder, 1962: 57).Libations and sacrifices are made to appease and
seek the favour of the ancestors and the gods. Also, it is to commune
and acquire some spiritual ability which the traditional African craves so
much. The African is also communal in nature. Things are done in
common and the idea of individualism which the West is familiar with is
alien to African traditional thought system. The traditional African does
not think about himself alone, divorced from the society. The
community apportions roles to its members accordingly.
To enlighten the student more on this topic, we shall discuss the African
idea of time and the human person briefly. So, in essence what is it
about time and personality among Africans?
Babalola & Alokan (2013) argue that even before the dawn of Western
education in Africa, traditional Africans had an idea of time. The
traditional African society considers time as a socio-cultural
phenomenon which must be lived and experienced. Mbiti (1969: 17)
noted that the African traditional thought sees time in three dimensions;
about events which have occurred, those which are taking place now and
those which are immediately waiting to occur. According to him,
whatever that has no likelihood of taking place falls in the category
of “no time”. This means that the traditional African thought sees time
based on events. The African conception of time has to do with the
planting time, harvest time, rainy season, and so on. So, when it is not
time to do any of the things that should be done, the foreigner in
ourmidst might think that we are lazy (Mbiti, 1969: 19).
The event-oriented concept of time in the African traditional thought

system is a direct opposite of the mechanical concept of time they have
in the West. It should be noted that this Mbiti’s account of African time
has been criticized on the ground that it is doubtful whether it is a
correct representation of how time is conceived in Africa. It is said,
for example, that the claim that African have no sense of the distant
future cannot be correct about a people who value and cherish heirs and
successors, who are valued as those to carry on with the family lineage.
This is nothing but concern for the distant future. Anthony (2015) has
also argued that the African conception of time which Mbiti (1969)
narrated might actually be the reason why Africa continues to suffer
underdevelopment and backwardness. According to him, that idea of
time means that the vision of Africa about the future is very limited
since there is no clear conception of the distant future in the African idea
of time, and a people without vision will likely not witness any form of
development (Mbiti 1969: 130-131). Some scholars have also accused
Mbiti of hasty generalization, using the Kikimba culture alone.
12
PHL 251 MODULE 1
The African idea of the human person is another aspect of the thought
system we shall examine. Ezedike (2019) states that the conception of
man in African traditional thought system is simply to determine his
worth as a human person, and his relationship with others in the society.
Man is not individualistic, but a part of the whole (Ezedike 2019). The
African therefore sees a human person as that person who commits
himself to the community, and performs the functions that the
community gives him. That is where the idea of kinsmen comes in, one
is nothing without the community of his kinsmen. He cannot go against
the community, because the community is bigger than everybody.
Therefore, when an African says that somebody is not a “human being”,
it is not the literal human being, but that such a person has not
performed the functions of a human person according to the African
traditional thought system.
2.3.3 The gods and goddesses in African Philosophy
The nature of gods and goddesses in African philosophy is very

important; this is because the African way of life is more or less a
religious and spirit-oriented one. So, the gods and goddesses occupy
prominent space. And these gods and goddesses form a hierarchy (Mbiti
1969: 76). They are conceived as God’s earthly messengers in the
creative and executive functions (Mbiti 1969). The natural phenomena
like weather, sunshine, mountains, seas, lakes, rivers and boundaries are
all associated with one divinity or the other (Mbiti 1969: 77). No one
wants to offend the gods or goddesses, as they are revered as the agents
of reward and punishment. The African pours libation and appeases the
gods and goddesses for gratitude and for the purification of the land
whenever one does something against the gods.
These gods and goddesses have their priests and priestesses who
attend to them and serve as the intermediaries between them and the
people. The traditional religion of the African cannot be complete
without due reference and regards to the gods and goddesses who are
believed to play some roles in keeping and securing the community
against evils and atrocities. There is no aspect of life in African tradition
that has no god or goddess overseeing it (Edike 2019). This means that
the sum total of the life of the African is spiritual, and these gods set
moral codes in the society which every member of that society must
abide by. Mbiti (1969) has argued that the ancestors are messengers of
the gods; the gods use them to deliver crucial messages directly to the
clans and families where the priests and priestesses are not used. The
African believes that he is not worthy to approach God directly, that is
why he decided to do that through intermediaries who are lesser gods,
in order to not incur the wrath of God. In the hierarchy of beings, God is
at the top of it, followed by the lesser gods and goddesses, then the
13
ancestors, and the human being. In this patter, the flow of information
can either be vertical or horizontal. That is, the human being can
approach the gods for a favour by appeasement, and the gods can pass
instructions to the human being through the ancestors and the priests
and priestesses.
2.3.4 Rituals and Sacrifices
Rituals and sacrifices are used to appreciate and appease the gods and
divinities in African tradition. Accordingly, all religions center their
power on sacrifices and rituals; African tradition is not an exception.
Rituals and sacrifices are ways by which Africans express their
happiness or sadness (Mbiti 1977: 61). They are ways of worship in
African religion, and provide authenticity to the worship of the
individual person. This is done through music, singing, moving from
place to another, clapping, beating of drums, in order to express the
feeling of joy, sorrow or thanksgiving (Mbiti 1977). When a
member of the clan commits abomination, these rituals and sacrifices
are needed to sanctify and cleanse the land; to avoid being punished by a
malevolent spirit.
The diviners are charged with responsibility of informing the people of

the particular ritual needed for a particular ceremony, whereas some
forms of rituals and sacrifices are performed periodically and routinely.
This is done to either invoke the anger of the spirits on someone or to
attract blessings, cure sicknesses, or appeal for progress for one’s self
(Horton, 1967). The idea of sacrifice is also done to one’s personal god
in his home. Some traditional African peoples have their shrines in
designated places in their homes, where they go every morning to pour
libations and perform rituals and sacrifices to their gods and goddesses.
For instance, it is believed that any sickness which defies the ordinary
and conventional medicine, might be a punishment from the gods,
hence, efforts are made through the diviners to find out the nature of
sacrifice and rituals to perform by the relatives of the sick person
(Horton 1967). In a situation where the afflicted person cannot afford the
items of the ritual, his relatives and kinsmen rally round to help him out,
in order to remove shame from their family. We shall treat the issue of
rituals and sacrifices more broadly in Module 2, unit 4.
2.3.5 The Value of Myths
Myths are essential aspects of African traditional thought system. A

myth is way of explaining some imaginary or actual reality which is
properly understood, and cannot be explained through normal
description (Mbiti 1977: 77). Myths are literal because they are not the
same as facts. Myths form a part and parcel of African traditional
14
PHL 251 MODULE 1
religion and philosophy. Myths are beliefs that cannot be sufficiently

explained within the ambits of reason and evidence. Many things
are simply unexplainable by the African; ranging from social, spiritual,
environmental, and even family issues.
Myths are used to offer explanations for such occurrences. People at the
level of traditional thought system are barred from questioning the
authenticity of these myths. This is because the African seeks to
preserve and keep whatever his ancestors left behind in order not to
incur their wraths and indignation. Some myths have been in place for
thousands of years, and people are born into that particular society to
meet, learn and believe such myths. Ikenga-Metuh (1987: p31) posits
that myths are sacred sayings which are said when rites, ceremonies,
rituals, or moral rules demand justification, warrant of antiquity, reality
and sanctity. So one can say in the other way round, that myths are used
to appropriate authenticity on the actions, history, ceremonies, rules
and social norms in Africa. And these myths are always attached to the
ancestors and spirits, without which they will be denied acceptability.
So, myths keep African philosophy going. These myths are used to
explain reality; ranging from the origin of man, the essence of taboos,
customs and traditions, and so on. Some of them are carved on woods,
clay, ivory and stone, to show their ancient origins (Mbiti 1977: 77).
Without the use of myths, many things in the African tradition cannot be
explained. So, myths are veritable ways of passing information about
certain practices and traditions to the next generation. Through myths,
we are able to dig into the psychology of the human past, helping us to
understand how our ancestors thought and how they were able to
navigate our society.
Myths vary in importance and age. They can also be about institutions,
God, creation, origin of man, values, death, heroes and leaders, kings,
chiefs, animals, natural forces, objects, various habits of living and
behavior of things around us (Mbiti 1977: 78). These myths exist to
answer questions of “how” and “why” something exists, and also to
respond to issues about man’s quest for eternal rest. Therefore, myths
are very important in African tradition. But the question remains how
Africans can manage to reform this body of myths and make them
relevant in the contemporary world. Besides, since human understanding
grows, there is the need for Africans to seek clearer and deeper
understanding of these myths, so as to discard anachronistic ones.
15
1. According to _________, the African conception of time has to

do with the planting time, harvest time, rainy season, and so on.
2. The African therefore sees a _______ as that entity who
commits himself to the community and performs the functions
that the community gives him.
2.4 Summary
We have tried in this unit, to look at the nature and structure of African
traditional thought. We did this by examining the way Africans think,
examining thought itself, and knowing the significance of culture in the
process of African traditional thinking. We were able to understand
that culture influences thinking, and every new member of any society
will assimilate the culture of the society gradually to aid the thinking
process. We identified that thought systems and patterns vary
significantly from society to society, because culture and thought
systems are simply a peoples’ way of responding to their peculiar
environments. So, African traditional thought system is a thought unique
to Africans as a result of location and environment. We have realized
that the thought system of the Africans has religion as an integral part
of it and these practices have ingredients that make them what they are.
Such features include, sacrifices, myths, rituals, the gods and goddesses,
and so on. We have noticed that without these features, it will not be
possible to call any thought pattern African. African traditional thought
is the sum total of the thought pattern of the African people. It is
different in nature, form and character from the Western scientific way
of thought. Religion and taboos are part and parcel of the thought
system, and they have been handed down to our ancestors through oral
traditions for us to preserve and also hand over to the generations
coming after us. The thought system and pattern of the African does not
need to completely mirror the Western way of thought to become valid;
rather, it should try to evolve just like every other thought system, while
maintaining its Africanness and/or Africanity.
Babalola,S. & Alokan, O. (2013). “African Concept of Time, a Socio-

Cultural Reality in the Process of Change”. Journal of Education
and Practice. vol 4. No. 7. ISSN 2222-288x. (online). Accessed
9/921
Bello, S. (1991). Culture and Decision Making in Nigeria. Lagos:

National Council for Arts and Culture.
16
PHL 251 MODULE 1
Ezedike, U. (2019). “The Concept of Human Person in African

Ontology: a Critical Reflection on the Igbo Notion of Man”.
African Research Review. International Multi-Disciplinary
Journal. Vol 13. No. 2. Serial no, 54. pp 131-137. Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.13i2.11. Accessed 9/9/21
Horton, R. (1967). “African Traditional Thought and Western Science”.

Journal of International African Institute. vol, 37. No. 2.
Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1158252. accessed
9/9/21
Idang, G. (2015). “African Culture and Values”. PHRONIMON

UNISA. vol 16. No. 2. pp 97-111

Religions. Onitsha: IMICO Publishers.
Mbiti, J. (1969). African Religions and Philosophy. London:

Heinemann.
Oyeshile, O. (2008). “On Defining African Philosophy: History,

Challenges and Perspectives”. Humanities and Social Sciences
Journal.vol 3. No. 1. pp 57-64
Parrinder, G. (1962). African Traditional Religion. London: Camelot

Press.
Taylor, B. (1958). Primitive Culture: Research into the Development of

Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Arts and Customs.
2nd ed. London: John Murray.
1. John Mbiti
2. Human person
17
Unit Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.3 Ethno-Philosophy
3.4 Philosophic Sagacity
3.5 Nationalistic-Ideological Philosophy
3.6 Professional Philosophy
3.7 Summary
3.1 Introduction
The issue of the approaches to African philosophy was made popular by

the late Kenyan philosopher, H. Odera Oruka. He conceptualised these
approaches as ethno-philosophy, philosophic sagacity, nationalistic-
ideological philosophy and professional philosophy. He propounded
these approaches to African philosophy in order to respond to the
question of whether there is an African philosophy, or a philosophy that
can be regarded as indigenously African. To Oruka, anyone doing
African philosophy must do it using any of the above approaches. These
he called the four trends of African philosophy, and they can also be
referred to as methods of African philosophy. This unit gives us an in-
depth analysis of these four methods of African philosophy; describing
them one after the other and equipping the student adequately to
understand their essence and scope.
• explain the concept of African philosophy

• discuss the approaches in African philosophy
• explain the essence of these approaches and their importance
inAfrican philosophy.
3.3 Ethno-Philosophy
What precisely is ethno-philosophy? Ethno-Philosophy is the approach

made popular by Pauline Hountondji. It is a method adopted by those
African philosophers who rely on the hybrid of ethnology and
philosophy in their conception and definition of philosophy (Chemhuru
2013). Bodunrin (1984) maintains that ethno-philosophy is the activities
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
of those anthropologists and ethnographers who have examined and

interpreted the collective worldview of Africans, their folk wisdom
and myths as constitutive of African philosophy. In other words, this
method of African philosophy is more or less ethno-cultural in nature.
Ethno-philosophy is the conviction that the starting point of philosophy
is the traditional religions, sayings, myths and customs of the African.
Ethno-philosophy sees African philosophy as a communal thought
(Bodunrin, 1981: 161; cf Kaphagawani, D. In Coetz, P & Roux, J 1998).
Ethno-philosophy is based on the idea that there is an ideology that can

be seen in African tradition, and that ideology can be referred to as
philosophy. As we can see from other traditions of philosophy namely,
Western philosophy and Eastern philosophy, every philosopher is
influenced by the culture prevalent in his time among his people and his
society. That is where ethno-philosophy comes in, it is total of the
communal way of thinking prevalent within a particular society, based
on the philosopher can philosophise.
Ethno-philosophy can also be referred to as culture philosophy, and this

means that it is different from philosophic sagacity which has to talk
about individuals. The major proponents of ethno-philosophy are John
Mbiti, Placide Tempels and Alexis Kagame. Ethno-philosophy is the
African approach to the world and realities. We have earlier observed
that culture is an integral part of a peoples’ philosophy, ethno-
philosophy is that cultural aspect of African philosophy. It could be
described also as the cloud of unreflective magico-religious claims
which contain evidence of philosophy that can be extracted and
converted into a body of knowledge (Sogolo, 1993, xiv). Ethno-
philosophy advocates that the raw material for philosophy in African
should be the culture of the African. Aside these, what are the other core
features of ethno-philosophy?
Ethno-philosophy believes in the uniformity of the diverse cultures of

the African peoples and refutes the idea that the community cannot
philosophise. It is attracted to the African past, by studying and
analysing it critically to extract some form of philosophy from it. Ethno-
philosophy believes in, the communal nature of the African way of life,
and believes that the people can collectively practice philosophy. Ethno-
philosophy has its origin in the belief that Africans reason differently
from the West (Oruka, 1987, p10). The study of ethno-philosophy has
helped a great deal in proving the Western denigration of African
philosophy wrong, and giving out the proper education about the
African culture and peoples to the wider world (Chmehuru, 2013).
19
Ethno-philosophy found expressions in the works of Senghor and

Temples, Kagame, Mbiti, and Mudimbe (Makumba, 2007: 119). This
underlines a form of a unified African philosophy; which is called Bantu
Philosophy as espoused by Tempels. This philosophy identifies African
peoples as a unified, collective organism (Nwala, 2010: 111). It leaves
no room for individualism of any kind, and calls on all African to come
together and have the unity and oneness to fight against the cultural
degradation by the West. This kind of philosophy deals on the
communal worldviews of the people and draws data from the
materials of ethnology available to the people. Nwala (2010) noted that
the schoolof ethno-philosophy is a variant of the traditional philosophy.
3.4 Philosophic Sagacity
A sage is a wise individual who lives in a community. In the African

setting, sages are not hard to come by. The sage has a good
knowledge of the culture, customs and beliefs of the people and can
reproduce them in proverbs and wise sayings (Makumba 2007: 101).
This method was made popular by Odera Oruka in his Philosophical
Sagacity, where he is said to have interviewed the sages in Kenya. The
sage exudes knowledge, traditional knowledge which is also philosophic
in nature. Those who propounded this method of African philosophy
believe that when we begin to listen to the sayings and talks of the old
wise people in our traditional African environment, we will definitely be
able to extract some philosophy from them. The sages do not write
anything, they only talk based on their experiences in the traditional
setting. Socrates, renowned for his exploits in Western philosophy can
be categorized as a sage in this context, because Socrates himself did not
write anything, but mainly moved about seeking to correct the ills of his
society.
There are two types of sagacity as Makumba (2007) has identified: the
folk sagacity and the philosophic sagacity. The folk sages are generally
dogmatic and do not wish to question the veracity of their cultures and
traditions (ibid, p102). They are ‘die-hard faithfuls of traditions’ and do
not want to be involved in anything that seeks to dethrone their
traditional beliefs and customs. The folk sagacity is the first order level
of philosophy which zealously and jealously seeks to justify and
preserve a particular culture. It is the uncritical method that simply
avoids the critical questions about the current way of life of the people.
Makumba (2007) noted that this kind of sagacity could lead to a mental
blockade because it is does not welcome any form of external ideas, no
matter how good such ideas might be. It does not encourage cultural
encounter which help to improve cultures. The folk sage is only
interested in what his people say, and not in any anything the other
peoples are saying. But we know that philosophy has the attribute
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
of comparison, and comparative philosophy is healthy because it helps

different cultures and philosophies to learn from one another. With the
recognition of sage philosophy as a form of philosophy, the argument
against traditional philosophy grew weaker.
Another type of sage philosophy in the approaches in African

philosophy is the philosophic sagacity. The philosophic sage can make
critical and independent assessment of what the folk sage will naturally
take for granted and hold on to, despite reasons to the contrary
(Makumba 2007: 102). This the stage Oruka referred as second order
level of philosophy. He does not repeat folk ideas, but has broken the
walls of uncritical traditionalism, in order to question ideas and cultures
systematically, using the tool of reason. Sage philosophy is aimed at
repudiating the idea that Africans are not capable of reflective and
rational thinking; an impression the Europeans have had for centuries
(Oruka, 1997: 181). While the Europeans could claim that African
sages did not write anything down, we also know that neither Thales nor
Socrates wrote down any of their sayings. It was done by other people.
So the African sage philosophy is an important way of hearing from the
wise elders of Africa, just like the Greeks heard from Thales and
Socrates.
Oruka insists that the sage philosophy should be treated as an important

trend in the development of philosophical thought in Africa (Oruka,
1998, cited in Goetz, P & Roux, A: 100). This is because the thoughts of
the sages are philosophical in counseling; especially in issues of nature
and human life, as the thought of the sages provides answers to
questions that bother on metaphysical and moral issues. Secondly, their
thoughts form a significant raw data for professional philosophical
reflections (Oruka 1998). It is an erroneous idea that sages are illiterate
and technologically backward old people who live in communities far
removed from civilization. A sage can also be a technologically literate
person who understand the workings of his community and relate those
ideas philosophically.
3.5 Nationalistic-Ideological Philosophy
This approach emanates from the ideas of leaders of national liberation

movements. These leaders put their ideas down in one way or the
other for the entire people. This usually leads to a political
philosophy for such a people; a philosophy that could potentially give
them independence. This kind of trend in African philosophy comes
from highly regarded freedom fighters that also produce a philosophical
ideology for their countries. Examples of these kind of persons in Africa
may include Nkrumah, who advocated an ideology of decolonization
based on consciencism, Nyerere, who propounded the Ujaama
21
(education for sustenance and liberation), and Senghor, who

advocated the Negritude (Hapanyemgwi-Chemhuru, 2013). What then is
the underlying feature of this strand of doing African philosophy?
This way of practicing African philosophy is mainly for liberation

purposes and to fashion an ideology for the people as a launch pad.
Nationalistic- Ideological philosophy preaches for the return to core
African humanism, and the idea is that independence will not come
unless there is some form of mental liberation. Essentially, Nationalistic
philosophy seeks to de- westernize Africans, in order to achieve
independence using the approach of the African value system. The idea
behind this form of African philosophy is that the Western ideology has
failed in Africa, so we should be coming home by adopting the native
African models, especially in politicking and governance (ibid).
Nkrumah (1978), in his Consciencism, argued that for us to begin to
make any form of progress, we must incorporate the outside influence
on Africa, which is represented by Christianity and Islam, with the
point of departure which is the African traditional way of life.
Nationalistic- Ideological philosophy is a way of departing from
unhealthy imitation by the Africans, the desire to restore the African
dignity socio-politically and otherwise. Nationalistic philosophers are
characterized by their struggle against colonialism and oppression
(Makumba, 2007). They do this by calling on all to return to the African
values in order to unite in one voice and umbrella. They desire to find
a solution that is uniquely African, tackling African challenges by
African ideas and techniques. Nationalistic-Ideological philosophy helps
to raise people’s consciousness against oppression and political
misrule. It is a political weapon in the hands of the native Africans, to
help them fight against denigration and colonialism.
It was this nationalistic philosophy that African nationalists used and

rallied the entire continent against the banditry of colonialism and
oppression. The philosophy could also be very important today for
Africa against neo-colonialism. Nationalistic philosophies are ideas of
liberation and emancipation, Africa can adopt more of this philosophy
today to help create for herself a place of honor in world affairs.
3.6 Professional Philosophy
Professional philosophy is practiced by professionally trained

philosophers, who have imbibed the Western way of practicing
philosophy (Owolabi 1999). The first generation of academic
philosophers in Africa began the trend of professional philosophy; the
likes of Peter Bodunrin, Kwasi Wiredu, Oder Oruka, Pauline
Hountondji, and so on. This is the stage of academic philosophy. The
professional philosophers are those who have studied philosophy in the
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PHL 251 MODULE 1
universities, adopting Western methods to practice it. Professional

philosophers, study and analyze the other three trends of African
philosophy to ascribe meaning to them and make them more lucid
for easy understanding. Owolabi (1999) argues that the professional
philosophers “purified” the discipline of philosophy to make sure that
just anything does not pass as philosophy in Africa. Professional
philosophy establishes a standard for a thought system to pass as
philosophy; it must be able to meet the Western universal standard of
philosophy. To professional philosophers, philosophy should be
practiced by those who have studied it and understood it very well.
The sages and ethno-philosophers are not professionals, neither are the
nationalistic philosophers; so it is the duty of the professional
philosophers to give philosophical meanings to whatever they say or do.
Socrates was not a professional philosopher, but a Greek sage; but it was
Plato who later ascribed meaning to what Socrates had to say. Sogolo
(1993: 1) refers to it as “systematised philosophy”, which pioneers in
Africa are intellectual products of alien culture, who have to
philosophise also in alien languages. The professional philosophers
argue that African philosophy must take a universal conception and
align with the universal way of practicing and doing philosophy if it
is to be accepted as philosophy indeed. They believe that African
philosophy should not be practiced in isolation; it should move side by
side with other philosophical traditions. To them, African philosophy
could be any inherited body of thought (be it Western or Eastern) which
has been assimilated and nurtured within the African cultural and
traditional context (Sogolo 1999: 3). Such philosophy may not have to
originate in Africa, but may grow in the African philosophical
traditional. How do the professional philosophers argue out their point?
The professional philosophers argue that just like physics, chemistry,

and medicine etc., are the same universally, philosophy should be
philosophy everywhere. There should not be cultural demarcations in
philosophy, but a philosopher should be able to practice anywhere in the
world. Professional philosophers argue that philosophy is different from
religion and mysticism because it has reason and logic as tools
(Hapanyemgwi-Chemhuru 2013). Therefore, reason, logic and the
sciences are not the exclusive preserve of the Europeans. Reason is a
universal human trait, so African philosophy must be practiced with
reason also. It must have a universal approach and compete favourably
with other traditions of philosophy around the world. African
philosophy, according this school, is beyond folk worldviews, but
entails critical reflection on issues. Those who subscribe to this trend of
African philosophy are referred to as the Universalists.
23
The professional philosophers are mostly men and women who have
studied in the Western-influenced universities in Africa and around the
world. They have taken philosophy as a profession and practice it
according the Western style, using the tools of logic and reason.
The professional philosopher contends that African philosophy, if it
must be practiced, must be able to meet the universal standards of doing
philosophy which has been established by the Greco-Roman
movement. But one criticism of professional philosophy is that it
does not guide against extreme universality which is at the expense of
the particularity of the African experience and philosophy. According to
Sogolo (1993), a philosophy that is said to be African must be able
reflect the cultural experience of the African people.
1. The ________are mostly men and women who have studied in the
Western-influenced universities in Africa and around the world.
2. _______ is also known as folk philosophy.
3.7 Summary
The essence of these approaches to African philosophy was to find an

adequate response to those who malign African philosophy by
dismissing its existence. They survey and analyze the various
orientations in African philosophy; thereby establishing what it looks
like when one is said to be practicing African philosophy. African
philosophy is practiced if any of the above approaches is used at any
time. In this unit we have discussed the four trends in African
philosophy, which include the ethno-philosophy, which canvasses for
the cultural origin of philosophy, philosophic sagacity, which is about
the views of African wise men and women who, though having not
studied philosophy as a profession, are endowed with the necessary
knowledge and wisdom with which the professional philosopher can
philosophize, nationalistic-ideological philosophy which is the
philosophy for liberation by the African campaigners for independence
and self- government, and lastly, professional philosophy, which has
to do with the philosophy of those Western trained philosophers on the
African continent.
24
PHL 251 MODULE 1
Bodunrin, P. (1984). “The Question of African Philosophy”. In: African

Philosophy: an Introduction”. (3rd ed.). (Ed.) Lamhan MD.
University of America Press. pp 1-24
(1981). Cf Kfagawani, D. In: Goetz, P. & Roux, J. (1981).

African Philosophy Reader. London: Rutledge.
Chemhuru, O. (2013). “Odera Oruka’s Trends in African Philosophy

and their Implications for Education in Africa”. Thought and
Practice: a Journal of the Philosophical Association of
Kenya. Pp 39-55. Retrieved from:
https://ajol.info/index.php/tp/index. Accessed 9/9/21
Makumba, M. (2007). Introduction to African Philosophy. Kenya:

Panlives Publications Africa.
Nkrumah, K. (1978). Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology of

Decolonisation. London: Panaf Book.
Oruka, O. (1979). Practical Philosophy in Search of Ethical

Minimum. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers.
Owolabi, K. (1999). “Orientations in African Philosophy: a Critical

Survey”. Indian Philosophical Quarterly. Vol 26. No 1
Sogolo, G. (1993). Foundations of African Philosophy. Ibadan: Ibadan

University Press.
1. Professional philosophers;
2. Ethno-philosophy
25
Unit 4 Historical Background of AfricanPhilosophy
Unit Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.3 The Egyptian Origin of African Philosophy
4.4 Africanness of African Philosophy
4.5 Egyptian Influence on Greek Philosophy
4.6 African Philosophy and Colonial Experience
4.7 Summary
4.1 Introduction
This unit will form the final phase of our examination of the history,
background, meaning and concepts in African philosophy. We shall
discuss the historical origin of African philosophy; which literally talks
about the beginning of African philosophy from the ancient Egyptian
mystery schools, the expansion of the philosophy to other nearby
locations like Ethiopia and Sudan, the Africanness of African
philosophy, which simply implies the definition of whose philosophy
should constitute African philosophy and what extent of Africanity is
acceptable as adequate for African philosophy. We shall also
examine the Egyptian origin of Greek philosophy, and to a large extent
world civilization, for Egypt influenced some of the most celebrated
Greek philosophers of the ancient times. Lastly, we shall analyze how
the colonial experience of African intellectuals has led to the birth of
whatwe now know as contemporary African philosophy.
• discuss the historical origin of African philosophy as it has to

do with Egyptian mystery schools
• explain what is meant whenever the Africanness of African
philosophy is mentioned
• analyse and defend the Egyptian origin of Greek philosophy
• explain the relationship between colonialism and contemporary
African philosophy.
26
PHL 251 MODULE 1
4.3 The Egyptian Origin of African Philosophy
The historical origin of African philosophy can be traced to the cradle of

African and world civilizations. Since civilizations determine the
trajectory of philosophy, the origin of African philosophy is the African
civilization and the ancient worldviews of the African peoples. The
history of African philosophy is synonymous with the Egyptian
civilization, as Egypt’s history is traceable to 10,000 BC, as early
farming in Africa is said to have developed around the valleys of the
Nile River (Fayemi, 2017). Ancient Egyptian civilization is said to have
been a Negro civilization, and the history of African civilization will
remain suspended in the air if ancient Egypt is not connected to it
(Fayemi, 2017). Azenabor (2010: 19) stresses that the fact that ancient
Egyptians were African is only being obscured by racism because there
exists a link between ancient Egyptian culture and contemporary African
culture. He goes further to argue that just as the study of Western
philosophy includes the ancient Greek philosophy, the study of African
philosophy cannot be said to have happened when the ancient Egyptian
philosophy has not been included (Azenarbo 2010). Afrocentric
philosophers have also observed that African traditions, myths, folklore,
proverbs, superstitions, and religions are the evidence of ancient
African philosophy (Azenabor 2010: 20).
William Dubois, an American born African philosopher and one of the

great campaigners for ancient African civilization noted that:
…it was in the valley of the Nile that the most significant continuous
human culture arose, significant, not necessarily because it was
absolutely the oldest or the best, but because it led to that European
civilization of which the world boasts today and regards in many ways,
as the greatest and last word in human culture (Dubois 1972: 98).
This simply implies the fact that the ancient Egyptian philosophy was
the background to African philosophy. Afrocentrism is the concept
evolved by African American scholars like Dubois, to drive home the
point that Africa has an ancient civilization which has also imparted the
entire world one way or the other. It shows the primacy of the
authenticity of African traditions and civilization (Nwala 2010: 77). If
the ancient Egyptian civilization could be said to be the cradle of word
civilization, then it is common sense that it is also the origin and cradle
of African philosophy and civilization. It was this ancient Egyptian
philosophy that spread to other parts of African and the world; thereby
creating the philosophical traditions we have today, even those
attributed to the Greeks. African philosophy is not a philosophical
tradition that could be dismissed, because that will mean the dismissal of
an important of aspect of world and African history.
27
Citing Asante (1985), Nwala has mentioned that the ancient Egyptians
made “stunning contributions in geometry, science, philosophy,
architecture, writing and organized religion, the ideas of governance,
medicine, education in the mysteries, geomancy, and the arts” (Nwala
2010: 79). The history and origin of African philosophy is the history
of Africa in a special way, because it will help to show the various
areas of connectivity among areas of interest in African philosophical
space (Fayemi 2017). Nwala goes on to state that the argument against
Egypt being part of Africa as made by some the detractors of African
philosophy was unfounded.This is because, it was the Nubians who
originated what was later known as Egyptian civilization, but dispersal
caused by Alexander the Great and the Arabs interrupted this
civilization (Nwala 2010: 79). These Badarians from Nubia were
blacks who brought religion, monarchy and science to ancient Egypt.
Herodotus and Aristotle also described ancient Egyptians as “black
skinned and wooly haired.” Herodotus described them as the
descendants of the Ethiopians (Nwala 2010: 39).
The history of African philosophy is also important because it has the

possibility of charting a roadmap to what should constitute African
philosophy in this contemporary period. As have been noted, one of the
major problems of ancient African philosophy is the scanty nature of
recorded materials that could be referenced, but many African
philosophers and Afrocentrists have argued that the fact of non-
availability of these written references does not rob African of her
pride of place in the history of world civilization, and cannot dismiss the
fact that ancient Egyptian civilization was a precursor to the
contemporary African philosophy (Abanuka 2013). This means that
philosophy is not only qualified by writing because it has to do with
wonder and curiosity. The ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates, did not
write anything down. He existed as a sage whose writings were later
made popular by his student, Plato, in his Dialogues. Against the
argument of some western- influenced scholars, African philosophy is
not new on world stage. It isas old as the civilization of the world.
4.4 Africanness of African Philosophy
This simply refers to who and who can their philosophy be

considered as “African”? What kind of philosophy should be regarded
as having come from Africa? Makumba (2007) considers it an identity
issue. He describes it as a question of culture and conception. The
conception one has about who qualifies to be an African will definitely
determine what he/she considers African philosophy to mean (Makumba
2007: 34). To qualify as an African philosopher, one does not only need
to be born an African, but must treat a theme unique to the African
culture and tradition; which means that one might be philosopher born
28
PHL 251 MODULE 1
of African descent but still fails to meet the benchmark of who an

African philosopher is. The Africanness being discussed here does not
mean that such a philosopher must live within the boundaries of Africa,
but in as much such a person has sympathy and empathy to the plight of
Africa, and goes ahead to create a philosophy which, being distinctly
African, identifies and expounds the essence of African traditions and
worldviews to world civilization (Makumba 2007: 34). Such philosophy
should be able to contribute to the development of Africa.
Maurice Makumba outlines three characteristics that define what

African philosophy. They include, that which was written and
compiled by a person born of an African stock, a philosophy written,
conceptualized and formulated in the African continent, the third is the
philosophy which deals with African problem or culture (Makumba,
2007). He also notes that these criteria overlap. Some have also defined
Africa here to include those who are Africans by law or association.
Makumba insists that that is inflation. But he advises that a distinction
should be made between those who are “expatriate Africans” and
indigenous Africans. Some people are Africans by relevance and
enterprise, but that should be differentiated from the indigenes of the
continent. Again, there are those who come from Africa and are living in
African. Yet, another group might come from Africa but based in the
Diasporas.
From the above, we can see that the definition of who an African
philosopher is, is a very fluid one. But in the midst of all these
discussions, we should understand that African philosophy goes in
search of identity in utter disregard to the western expectations,
understanding and spirit of philosophy (Makumba 2017: 35). African
philosophy cannot afford to be practiced in isolation as the world
has become a global village.
4.5 Egyptian Influence on Greek Philosophy
Godwin Azenabor in his book Modern Theories in African Philosophy

contends that some Greek, Western and Christian doctrines were not
original to them, but are native to Africa (Azenabor 2010: 26). He cites
Innocent Onyewuenyi, who holds the view that Greek philosophy,
medicine, mathematics, geography, and the sciences were taken from
the Egyptian mystery system (ibid). This view has it that the West tried
to appropriate African philosophy and intellectual evidence as a result of
racial prejudice. As we have noted earlier, the Nile Valley is the
origin of world civilization. According to Nwala (2010: 14) Socrates was
a graduate of the Egyptian Mystery System, the reason why he did not
write anything on his own, in accordance with the rules of the
system. The Egyptian Mystery Schools had a rule of secrecy which was
aimed at avoiding adulteration (Azenabor 2010: 28).
29
Nwala (2010: 14) has also buttressed the fact that before the
emergence of the Greek philosophy in the 6th century B.C, African
philosophy had been established firmly as the cradle of great
philosophical legacy to mankind. Nwala (2010: 15) has gone further to
argue that:
 The world’s first philosopher in history was Imhotep (2800 BC),
and he was African;
 Imhotep, who lived 2000 years before Hippocrates was known as
“The god of Medicine” by the Greeks;
 The oldest philosophical schools of thought originated in Africa,
namely, at Heliopolis. Hermopals, Thebes and Memphis; and
 Monotheism, the idea of one God, was first expounded by
Pharaoh Ikhanaton (1375-1358 BC). He was the teacher of
Moses, who was also a black Egyptian.
The most influential among all the ancient Egyptian philosophies on

Greek philosophy was the Memphite Theology. Nwala notes that it was
the source of modern scientific knowledge (Nwala 2010). According to
him, the Memphite Theology now lies in the British Museum in
London. This Theology contains the theological, cosmological, and
other philosophical views of the ancient Egyptians. The influence the
Alexandrian science and philosophy had also helped to groom the
civilization of the world from the third century BC up to AD 400 (Nwala
2010: 16). It formed the intellectual capital of the world between 300
BC and 400 AD.
The Alexandrian Academy hosted most of the progenitors of modern

science and philosophy. Alexandra was the cradle of the development of
Hellenic philosophic tradition as has been observed by Nwala (2010:
176). Makumba (2007) cites Africanus Horton (1886), as having
observed that some eminent ancient Greek figures like Solon, Plato,
Pythagoras, and others came to Egypt to listen to the instructions and
wise sayings of Euclid, who was the head of the most celebrated
mathematical school in the world as at then; a school that flourished 300
years before Christ (Makumba 2007: 26). The ancient Egyptian
Mystery System was highly influential on the Greek, and by extension,
western philosophy. The fact that some of the celebrated figures in
Egyptian philosophy came to Egypt to study in the schools is a bold
testament to that, Nwala (2010) insists.
Egyptology is the aspect of learning which seeks to connect the ancient

Egyptian civilization to world civilization. This intellectual movement
tries to establish the influence the ancient Egyptians had on Greek and
western thought. But the technological advantage gained by western
Europe in the 17th and 18 centuries has led them to encourage their
cultural writers to malign and derogate Africa (Nwala 2010, p38).
30
PHL 251 MODULE 1
If Egypt has been said to be the cradle of civilization, and since

philosophy is one of the main aspects of civilization, it then means that
Egypt is the origin of philosophy. Having said that, the major difference
between the two systems of philosophy (Egypt and Greek) is the ability
to write down something. However, this idea of the Egyptian origin of
Greek philosophy has been criticized by claiming that Egyptians never
named what they were doing “philosophy”, that it was the Greeks who
first used that word to describe the enterprise of philosophy (Azenabor
2010: 33). It might also be argued that while the Egyptians were busy
contributing to the area of knowledge and civilization, the Greeks could
be given the credit for rational inquiry which involves thinking,
questioning, analysing, and trying to purify the original thought initiated
by the Egyptians. Also, history has shown us that cultural overlap is a
part of human civilization. The Egyptian and Greek traditions definitely
met at one point or the other in the history of the ancient world, to
borrow and learn from each other. It is quite natural for a particular
culture to understudy and borrow from other cultures. But one important
thing is that such cultural overlap should be recorded in history for it
to be easier to make reference to and avoid intellectual controversies.
In the contemporary times, the issue of who borrowed philosophy from

who has become increasingly controversial. What now confronts us
in our contemporary world, and especially in African Philosophy, is
the best way to practice philosophy so that it can solve real life problems
in Africa and around the world. Another major concern of African
philosophy in the contemporary time is the relevance it is acquiring for
itself. African philosophy cannot afford to be isolated from the world or
global community, whether it influenced the Greek philosophy or not.
We have passed the stage of determining who and who influenced the
other, because the world needs to wake up from this seeming cultural
warfare and work together to move learning and philosophy forward.
4.6 African Philosophy and the Colonial Experience
By African philosophy and the colonial experience, we mean the

influence of colonialism on African philosophy. Africa has been the
most oppressed and exploited continent in human history, and that
experience of colonial exploitation, coupled with that of slavery, has
helped to shape African thought and philosophy in a certain unique way.
We mean to explore what roles colonialism played in shaping
contemporary African thought. The philosophy which has emerged from
this experience is known as contemporary African philosophy. This
contemporary African thought gives further enlightenment to African
worldview; it is a philosophy of self-recognition. This was a search for
African identity which was envisaged in the development of African
thought, an identity project of self-affirmation (Makumba, 2007: 113).
31
The influence of colonial exploitation was an assertive cultural

nationalism which had to survive in the face of cultural and ideological
devaluation of the black race by the colonial masters. This colonial
suppression led some African intellectuals to develop a specific thought
pattern aimed at shaking off the shackles of colonialism and oppression
(Makumba 2007).
Makumba recalls that it was mainly the efforts of African French

intellectuals who labored to set aside the myth of super-race and of
presumed super- intellect of the white man (Makumba 2007: 115). The
feeling of superiority and cultural hegemony which the whites arrogated
to themselves, gave them this mindset that Africans, and black people in
general, do not deserve to be treated as equals to the white man. The
philosophy of a superior European culture was challenged by African
thinkers, exploring the contributions of Africa to the civilization of the
world. This struggle for liberation gave rise to many liberation
philosophies in Africa, including Ujamaa, Negritude, Consciencism,
Neo-welfarism, and so on. The derogatory nature in which some
Western philosophers painted Africa contributed to the racism and
exploitation to which Africa was subjected for many years. Some
respected western thinkers, like Hegel, wrote that Africans have no
rationality. This, some African thinkers like Nkrumah, Senghor,
Nyerere, Azikiwe, and so others responded to by their respective
philosophies; those philosophies now regarded as liberation
philosophies.
Therefore, according to Makumba (2007: 115), it is impossible to

envisage a contemporary African philosophy which was developed
independently of the colonial experience. The encounter between
western and African philosophy has influenced African philosophy to
assume a certain dimension and direction. The colonial experience and
contemporary African philosophy are closely related and connected. We
can only talk about the non-existence of this relationship in African
countries that never experienced colonialism, and perhaps, there are a
minute number of those countries. The nature of contemporary African
thought would not have been the way it is now if not for the
encounter with West in form of colonialism. An example of this, as we
have noted before, is Negritude. Negritude is a theory of black racial
self- consciousness as well as the ethno-philosophical endowment of
the black race. The major quality of negritude is the issue of suffering
which Africa has come to know throughout her encounter with the West
(Washington, 1973: 27). It is a counter-argument to the western idea of
portraying the Negro as uncultured and uncivilized.
32
PHL 251 MODULE 1
The contemporary African philosophy which emerged from the shackles

of colonialism and oppression does not seek to claim cultural
superiority, but to allow Africa a suitable place among respectable
peoples of the world. As a response to cultural and ideological
hegemony, it seeks parity with other cultures of the world, insisting that
Africa has what it takes to organize herself and rule herself,
accordingly. It is a philosophy of liberation; liberation from colonialism,
racism and exploitation against the black race. Contemporary African
thought is a reminder to our western counterparts that no culture is
ironclad; every culture has something to benefit and gain from other
surrounding cultures around. When there is an intercourse between two
or more cultures, there must be something to gain that will have the
tendency to strengthen each and every of the cultures. As Fanon (1980:
169) rightly noted, there is nothing to be ashamed of in the African past.
Rather, there are dignity, glory and solemnity, to be savoured.
1. ________ is the aspect of learning which seeks to connect the
ancient Egyptian civilization to world civilization.
2. ________ was a graduate of the Egyptian Mystery System, the

reason why he did not write anything on his own, in
accordance with the rules of the system (a) Theophilus (b)
Socrates (c) Sisyphus (d) Zeus
4.7 Summary
African philosophy is rich and endowed, but the interruption of slavery

and colonialism affected it so much, and even interrupted this great
civilization in so many respects. If we admit that civilization began in
Egypt, it is also logical to say that philosophy began in Egypt
(Africa).So, if there is anywhere philosophy exists today, we might
attribute its roots to the ancient Egyptian school system, where
everything is said to have started. Egypt is part and parcel of African as
against the negative campaigns that have been carried out by some
western philosophers, who set out to malign and derogate Africa and her
peoples. This ancient philosophy, though affected by many alien
influences, has continued to blossom and flourish in the minds of
Africans. In this unit, we have concluded the examination of the history
and nature of African Philosophy. We have examined the origin of
African Philosophy; tracing it back to its beginning in the Egyptian
Mystery Schools. Also, we have looked at the African origin of Greek
and Western philosophy; attempted to establish the fact that what we
now know as Greek philosophy originated from the mystery schools in
Egypt. We have closely analyzed the influence of colonialism on
33
African Philosophy; which we now know as contemporary African

thought. The student should endeavour to read more by consulting other
materials and books that could help him/her to navigate this course
properly.
Azenabor, A. (2017). Modern Theories in African Philosophy. Lagos:

Byolah Publishers.
Abanuka, B. (2013). A History of African Philosophy. Onitsha: Spiritan

Publication.
Dubois, W. (1972). The World and Africa: An Inquiry into the Parts
which Africa has Played in World History. New York:
International Publishers.
Fanon, F. (1980). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Pengium

Books.
Fayemi, A. (2017). “African Philosophy in Search of

Historiography”. NOKO Institute of African Studies. Carleton,
Ottawa Canada.
Nwala, U. (2010). A Critical Review of the Great Debate in African

Philosophy. Abuja: Niger Books.
Washington, S. (1973). The Concept of Negritude in the Poetry of

Leopold Sedar Senghor. New Jersey: Princeton Press.
1. Egyptology;
2. (c)
34
PHL 251 MODULE 1
End of Module Questions
1. The colonial experience and contemporary African philosophy

are closely related and connected. (a) True (b) False (c)
Undetermiend (d) None of these
2. Pick the odd choice (a) Mudimbe (b) Awolowo (c) Senghor (d)
Nkrumah
3. The ________ Academy hosted most of the progenitors of

modern science and philosophy.
4. Maurice Makumba outlines _____characteristics that define

what African philosophy (a) Four (b) Six (c) Three (d) Two
35
MODULE 2 SOME BASIC CONCEPTS IN AFRICAN

PHILOSOPHY

Unit 3 Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery in African Philosophy
Unit 4 Rituals and Festivals in African Philosophy
Unit Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.3 African Ontological Notion of Force
1.4 African Ontological Notion of Spirits
1.5 African Ontological Notion of the Human Person
1.6 African Ontological Notion of God
1.7 Summary
1.1 Introduction
This unit introduces you to the African ontological notions of force,
spirit, being and God. It analyses how the traditional African society
views and understands these concepts. These notions underliethe basic
beliefs and practices in African philosophy, and Africans draw their faith
in these things from myths, traditions and customs which are influenced
by our physical environment. One of the philosophers whose work we are
going to study extensively in this unit and the entire module is Placide
Tempels, who gave popularity to the African ontological notions through
his work on Bantu Philosophy. The views Africans attach to these notions
are quite different to what the West view them to be. To the African;
force, which he calls vital force, is a very important component of reality
and being. It is a reality whichmight be invisible, but is supreme in man.
The vital force according to Temples, refers to the quality of life.
Azenabor (2010: 39) cites Tempels that force is tied to the notion of
being, the reason why they are identical in their definitions of being. Mbiti
(1982: 78) has described spirits in African philosophy as the most
common populace of spiritual beings. Azenabor (2010: 68) quotes
Idoniboye as having noted that “the ontology of any distinctively African
worldview is replete with spirits.” He goes further to note that in African
worldview, spirits are real “like tables and chairs, peoples and places”
(Azenarbo 2010).
36
• explain what is meant by African ontological notions

• differentiate between the African notion of force and the Western
notion of force
• state the characteristics of the African notions of spiritsand being
• evaluate and critique Tempel’s theory of vital force.
1.3 African Ontological Notion of Force
Ontology in philosophy is the study of being, and in African philosophy,

this being is force. The Africans’ understanding of ontology is a
hierarchical ordering of being and force (Agbo, 2018). Placid Tempels
calls it vital force and argues that it is the theory that can explain
everything about the thinking of an African (Azenabor 2010: 39).
Azenabor continues by saying that Tempels made a comparison of both
the Bantu and Western philosophies; and while maintaining that the
West holds a static idea of being, he credits dynamism to the Bantu
(African) idea of force (Azenarbo 2010). As Kaphagawani (1998, p170)
notes, that Tempels believed that Africans conceive entities or beings as
nothing more than essential energies or vital forces. The African belives
that without the element of force being cannot be conceived as force is
inseparable from being (Kaphawagani 1998: 171). Azenabor (2010: 40)
notes the following characteristics of Tempel’s vital force as follows:
• Vital forces are dynamic and there is no permanent hold

anywhere;
• Vital forces are hierarchical order, from God whois the supreme
vital force to the ancestors, to the living generation, to animals,
plants, minerals, and other non-living things. There is therefore
ontological relationship in the universe, as there are no isolated
forces. That is why is why lineage is said to make a major aspect
of African worldview;
• A weaker force is at the services of the stronger, as the stronger
one influences it directly. That is why Africans are not permitted
to see things in isolation; nature is believed to be ordered since all
forces are inter-dependent and related;
• Vital forces can be active and communicable, they can also be
diminished or increased; depending on the influence of a superior
being or evil forces; and
• Vital forces can be good or evil, hostile or friendly, benevolent or
malevolent, since unknown and unforeseen intervene in the
course of events.
37
PHL 251 MODULE 2
These attributes of vital force can only be known by experience and

intuition, according to Tempels (Azenarbo 2010). Kaphagawani (1998:
171) has cited that though Tempels portray forceas an essential property
of being, it means that force can be a necessary attribute of being but
nevertheless, not a sufficient condition, which means that being could
possess some attributes and properties rather than that of force. Tempels
Bantu Philosophy set the pace for the study of African philosophy and
religions because it properly interpreted the African mind which is known
to be able to tap the forces of nature (Azenabor 2010: 41).
Ngangah (2019) has also described vital force as the peculiar trait of
African philosophy and cosmology. He narrates that the environment
from which the African and derive sustenance is an integral aspect of
force. Vital force holds the interpretation for the fused nature of the
concepts of personhood and community in African worldview. Since the
community may be described as the superior and stringer force in African
traditional settings (Ngangah 2019). Force is life, vital energy and is the
object of prayers and invocation to God and the ancestors (Ngangah: 48).
What then are the philosophical implications of this idea?
However, Kaphagawani (1998: 172) has criticized Temples by stating

that though Tempels made efforts to steer away from the Western
conception of being, he surreptitiously employed the very distinctions
used to differentiate humans from other entities in Western philosophy.
This he did by claiming that humans are differentiated from other beings
in Bantu by their properties of reason and volition. The same properties
used in Western philosophy to distinguish between humans and animals.
Some African scholars like Pauline Hountondji, have also criticized
Temples on the basis that he was not a professional philosopher but a
Christian missionary; that his philosophy does not qualify as African
philosophy but scholastic and ecclesiastic in nature. Secondly, they
argue that Tempels is not an African and as such could not have been
able to present an African philosophy (Azenabor, 2010: 43).
1.4 African Ontological Notion of Spirits

Mbiti (1982: 78) describes spirits in African philosophy as the beings
beneath the status of divinities and above the status of man. He went
further to state that the spirits have no definite origin as some of them
are said to have created themselves (Mbiti 1982: 79). Africans believe
that spiritsare what remain of human beings after their physical deaths,
which means that it could be said that spirits are the ultimate status of
man. Mbiti (1982) contends that it is a point of change or development
that man cannot go, except some few national heroes who might
become deified. Ukwamedua and Edigiawen (2017: 318) observe that
these spirits dwell in rivers, hills, farms, forests, trees, and even
lightening.
38
In Igbo ontology, most of the spirits are particular, but some, especially
Ala (the earth spirits) are universal throughout the land (Ukwamedua and
Edigiawen 2017). Africans address most of these spirits in their prayers
and libation, and every human endeavour is said to be governed by the
spiritual powers that reward or punish people; depending on one’s
behavior and attitude inthat sphere of life. The spirits are above the status
of man and below the Supreme Being (Ukwamedua and Edigiawen 2017).
The African does not hope to become a spirit, for just as a child will one
day become an adult, so will man one day become a spirit (Mbiti 1982:
79).
Spirits “are seen in the corporate belief of their existence” (Mbiti 1982)
and being physically invisible, no one knows where they are and where
they are not. Yet their activities are experienced by people and many folk
stories are told about spirits described in form, activities and
personalities, even if it is with some element of exaggeration. Citing
Robin Horton, Azenabor (2010: 68) notes that “Spirits are normally
invisible and intangible, though they can be seen at will by diviners who
have undergone the proper rites, they also materialize sometimes.”
It is by the joining of the spirit to a material body that all things are
created; ad it is by the separation of the spirit from the body that they are
destroyed…spirit is real. It is real as matter. Its reality is primordial, and
it is, if not superior, at least, as primitive as that of matter. In its pure
state, it is unembodied. Spirit is the animating, sustaining, creative life-
force of the universe. In human bodies, it becomes the mind of soul…
(Azenabor 2010: 69).
The spirit world differs from the human world as it is invisible to the
physical eyes of men. People only know and believe that it is there, and
they are ontologically nearer to God in terms of communication (Mbiti,
1982). Mbiti also notes that the spirits are saddled with responsibility of
conveying human sacrifices or prayers to God as intermediaries (Mbiti
1982: 80- 81). Africans hold their living-dead in high regard because
becoming a spirit is a form of social elevation. As we have earlier noted,
spirits can be either malevolent or malicious, depending on the situation
they are responding to. In African ontology, it is also believed that
spirits can possess a person either negatively or positively; a negative
spirit possession is caused by any act that attracts the anger of the spirit,
whilea positive spirit possession is happens when a certain spirit wants
to use an individual as instrument or a mouthpiece to correct some
anomaliesin the community. Spirits may possess people in form of mental
disorder or one ailment or the other. Sacrifices and libations in the
shrines of such spirits are used appease them in order to liberate such
a personfrom negative spiritual possession (Mbiti 1982).
39
PHL 251 MODULE 2
1.5 African Ontological Notion of the Human Person
While there are biological, anthropological, religious and psychological

methods of defining personhood and man, the African conception of the
human person is quite different from these because it is more of a
cultural and communal conception of man (Musana 2018). In African
philosophy, the notion of the human person is irrevocably tied to that of
the community. This means that the African people have a
communalistic understanding of the human person and the self. The
African conception of man is not in the sense of his universal
characteristics which all men possess, but the certain way in which a
given community conceive personhood (Sogolo 1993: 190). This
simply implies that in Africa, a person is regarded and viewed not by the
physiological and biological characteristics of personhood, but by what
he/she is cable of achieving and the impacts he makes on the larger
community. As we have noted earlier in module one, personhood or man
has far more serious implications in Africa than in the West. The
conception of man that is used here is suggestive of potentiality and
actuality at the same time. This means that is involves both what man is
at a point in time and what he is capable of becoming in an ideal human
society (Sogolo 1993: 191).
One can lose his personhood even while he remains alive by isolating
himself from the community of his kinsmen and brethren (Musana
2018). Personhood is achieved by socialization; by theprocess of
creating an identity for one’s self. Musana goes ahead to opine that
when one becomes so immoral and unjust, such a one is described as
“heartless” and an “animal” because it is not the biological heart that
essential describes an African person, but the ability to treat others the
way he/she would want to be treated. Personhood is the ability to act
within the values and ethics of the community; values which are
established for the sake of equity and fairness in the society. Mbiti
(1982: 80) argues that only in terms of other individuals does the
individual man become conscious of his existence. There is a communal
feeling both in suffering, rejoicing, and the individual performs his
responsibilities and duties to the society and community. Issues of
marriage, burial, child birth are treated among the entire kinsmen and
community and nobody has anything alone on his own, apart from the
community (Mbiti 1982). This idea of personhood in African traditional
society has also made sure that that there is high value of human life
among Africans in the traditional society, whatever is done is usually for
the maintenance of lives. No one has the power over life and death.
The community decides what a person becomes and the individual man
exists only to the extent of the community. Personhood in African
traditional sense grows as long as one’s communal responsibility grows;
40
it is constituted by the community and expressed n relationships that one

has with the community. Africans also believe that the human person
has two main elements; the physical and the spiritual. This idea of
personhood is quite different from the Western idea of a person which is
individualistic and mechanical. The African is more concerned with the
well-being of his society than his own selfish well-being, because it is
all about the community and not about the individual person (Mbiti
1982). So, in African traditional thought system, a man cannot have
everything economically while his kinsmen suffer in penury. A man’s
wealth is measured by the comfort of those around him. However, some
criticisms have been directed towards this African idea of personhood in
the sense that it does not create an environment for personal freedom,
since the fate of the individual person is tied to the fate of the
community as a whole (Musana 2018).
Menkiti (2004) asserts that age has a role to play in the moral maturity
and personhood in Africa, and even in other parts of the world. It is this
moral attribute which is geared towards enriching the community that
counts for the qualification of personhood in Africa. This is the reason
why the adults hope for the maturity of the children in order for them to
join the community of persons. Menkiti (2004: 326) argues that the
movement of the individual child to full personhood is a journey which
is determined by age, and ends in ancestorship. To him, personhood is
not an automatic achievement by anyone in Africa, but a process which
begins at birth to various stages like puberty, marriage, and
childbearing, taking of titles, old age, adulthood, elderhood, and
ancestorship. Ancestors are still part of the living community as the
personhood gained through this process will end when the person
becomes a ‘nameless dead” (M e n k i t i 2 0 0 4 : 327). At the stage of a
nameless dead, the person who began from it returns back to it. That is
why Menkiti posits that the personhood in African philosophy is a
journey from it to it. This is an interesting theory which should merit
more research from the student.
Gyekye (2002) has argued that since a community implies an

association of individuals with common interest, goals and aspirations, it
then follows that the community exists to establish the priority of the
individual rather than the other way round. The human person, he
maintains, is not self-sufficient, he needs other people to flourish, which
is the essence of a community. But a community consists of persons
sharing interests and values; therefore, the community is there to serve
the individual interest. The interest of the individual is prioritised against
the interest of the community, as long as the community is made up of
individuals whose interests it is meant to serve. The community
existentially derives from the individual who is there primarily to protect
his own personal interests, since the community is not a mereassociation
41
PHL 251 MODULE 2
of individuals without purpose (ibid). This idea is also worth the student’s
consideration as it opposes the idea that the individual interests are
subsumed under the interest of the community in African traditional
setting. A tree cannot make a forest, but there can be no forest without
individual trees. So, there can be no community without the individual
person.
1.6 African Ontological Notion of God
“Expressed ontologically, God is the origin and sustenance of all things”

(Mbiti 1982: 29). He is said to be both out and involved in His creation.
The African has a notion of God as the Supreme Being who is above all
things and capable of doing all things (Mbiti 1982). Mbiti (1982) goes
ahead to assert that the African God is expressed in proverbs, short
statements, songs, myths, stories, prayers, names and religious
ceremonies. Spiritual power in African ontology is viewed
hierarchically, where God is at the helm of it, followed by the spirits and
natural phenomena, and yet beneath is man (Mbiti 1982). God is a
provident creator who is directing each individual and the universe to a
definite end (Ikenga- Metuh 1987). God in Africa is conceived as a
Supreme Being who is invisible and therefore, a spirit (ibid, p106). He is
endowed with human qualities except those that are repugnant to His
nature. The African, despite having different smaller gods, still pays
tribute the Supreme Being as the source of all life and sustenance. Mbiti
(1982) notes that these lesser gods are fulfilling the duty of running
errands for the Supreme Being and serving as links between the Supreme
Being and man.
Islam and Islam (2015) define God in the traditional African sense as
the origin of everything in the universe, as God is viewed in both
immanent and transcendental dimensions. The view of oneness of God
makes no place for atheism in traditional African society, everyone
believes that there is a maker of everything who, though being far
removed from the activities of the physical world, has an influence on
everything and directs the whole universe the way He wants it to go.
Knowing about God in the African context is instinctive to the adherents
of the African religion (ibid). The Africans believe that human beings
are limited in several aspects, but God is limitless, supreme, Almighty,
omnipotent, sustainer and other great qualities. Islam and Islam go
further to list the following qualities of God in the African religion:
• God is self-perfect, self-supporting, self-sufficient and self-

sustaining and self-containing. God has no father, no mother; He
is of Himself and brought Himself into being;
• God is all powerful and His omnipotence also manifests in His
created nature. He is also supremely wise, absolute and beyond
42
all knowledge. He knows all and sees all; the discerner of hearts
who knows both the inside and the outside of man;
• God has immanent features for the need of His people, He
contemporaneous to the traditional peoples of Africa. He exists
through all objects and can manifest through natural phenomena.
He is beyond human imagination, so people cannot even
appreciate Him fully in their imaginations; and
• God is that never ending creative force of nature that inspires
people to go for innovative ideas and actions, the intellect is not
capable of examining Him as He is the fathomless spirit and one
could say, the unknowable. He is very much associated with
eternity and has given different moral attributes to His followers.
Some African tribes describe Him as the mighty immovable rock
that never dies.
The Igbo believes that God creates each individual person from birth;
He gives each person his spirit and assigns him his destiny package
before he is formed in his mother’s womb (Ikenga-Metuh 1987). God
precedes all both in order of time and excellence as His transcendence is
expressed in His inscrutability’ well known but impossible to
completely comprehend (Ikenga-Metuh 1987: 111). This means that God
is at the centre of whatever the African does, He is above all things and
sustains all things through His ever-present creative force. The idea of
God permeates the entire belief system of the African because he
believesthat nothing happens for nothing. The traditional African does not
attach mechanical implications to events and happenstance; he believes
that God has ordered the universe in such a way that nothing happens
without being according to His plan and purpose. Therefore, in the
African ontology, accidents do not exist in nature, and everything that
happens has a reason.
Idowu (1962) has also argued that Olodumare in Yoruba is the Great God.
This Great God is all encompassing; including lesser divinities, worship,
priesthood, morality, and human destiny. He maintains that Olodumare
is byond the idea of primitive worship of stones and wood, as some
Westerners allege. Olodumare is the Supreme God in Yoruba religion,
and it is Absoluteness. Idowu asserts that Yoruba religion is not
polytheism as there is but only one Supreme God who is worshipped
through the lesser gods.
43
PHL 251 MODULE 2
1. According to _________, the ________has a notion of God as the
Supreme Being who is above all things and capable of doing all
things
2. “The community decides what a person becomes and the individual
man exists only to the extent of the community.” This proposition
is (a) Necessarily True (b) Necessarily False (c) Partially False (d)
Undetermined
1.7 Summary
In the last module, we state that long before Africa came in contact with
the West, we have always had our own independent knowledge of the
universe and nature. This knowledge has helped us to navigate our
environment and allowed us to create societies that are distinctly African.
But with the advent of slavery and colonialism, some of these values
have been affected by Western thought and religion. In this unit, we have
been able to examine some major African ontological notions. These
notions form the basis of African thought system on the various topics.
The African ontological notion of being, speaks of force which is dynamic
and hierarchical; the African can die and transcend to the spirit world
where he becomes higher than the physical man, as the African does not
pray and hope for it, it is just a matter of time. The African notion of the
human person sees man from a different perspective than how the West
views man. To the African, personhood is achieved not just by
anthropological and biological features, but by the level at which one
associates and socializes with the community. But as we have noted
earlier, one criticism of this idea isthat it has ignored the individualistic
nature of man. The African believes that God is the all-powerful and
almighty creator of the universe, despite having other lesser god who are
regarded as inferior mediators between the supreme and man. God
controls all things andhas pre-knowledge of everything. The belief that
man’s destiny is apportioned and dictated by God is also prevalent in
the African religion.
Azenabor, G. (2010). Modern Theories in African Philosophy. Lagos:

Byolah Publishers.
Agbo, C. (2018). “An Overview of the Ontological Basis of African

Jurisprudence”. NAUJILJ. (1). PP52-58.
Gyekye, K. (2002). “Personhood and Community in African Thought”.

Morality in African Thought. Oxford University Press. (Web).
44

Religions. Onitsha: IMCO Publishers.
Idowu, B. (1962). Olodumare, God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longman.
Islam, S. & Islam, D. (2015). “African Traditional Concept of God: A

Critical Analysis” Green University Review of Social Sciences.
Vol 2, Issue1
Kaphagawani, D, (1998). “African Conception of Personhood and

Intellectual Identities”. In Coetzee, P.H Roux, A.P. (Eds).
African Philosophy Reader. New York: Rutledge.
Mbiti, J, (1982). African Religions and Philosophy. Ibadan: Heinemann.

Menkiti, I. (2004). “On the Normative Concept of a Person”. In
Wiredu, K. (ed). A Companion to African Philosophy. London:
Blackwell Publishing.
Musana, P. (2018). “The African Conception of Personhood and its

Relevance to Respect for Human Life and Dignity in Africa and
the Global Context”. African Study Monograph. Supplementary
Issue (2018); 56. Pp 21-32. Retrieved from:
https://doi.org/10.14989/230172. Accessed 25/9/21.
Ngangali, I. (2019). “Vital Force, Personhood, and Community in

African Philosophy: An Ontological Study”. The International
Journal of Humanities and Social Studies. Vol 7. Issue 10. Doi:
www.theijhss/2019/v7/i10/HS1910-023. Accessed 22/9/21
Ogbonnaya, M. & Lucky, U. (2014). “The Question of ‘Being’ in

African Philosophy”. Filosofia Thoretica: The Journal of African
Philosophy, Culture and Religions. Pp 108-126.

University Press.
1. Mbiti/African;
2. (a)
45
PHL 251 MODULE 2
Unit Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.3 History and Background of African Socialism
2.3.1 Values of African Socialism
2.3.2 Pitfalls and Criticisms of African Socialism
2.4 Summary
2.1 Introduction
This unit examines the concept of African socialism. Makumba

(2007:134-135) has described African socialism as the brain-child of
Africa’s ideologies or philosopher-kings in the young African republics
after wrestling power from the colonialists. African socialism teaches that
the central values of Africa are communal rather than individual; it is
seen as a natural evolution of African communalism (Makumba 2007).
African socialism teaches the commonality of living and existence. It
takes the welfare of the community above the parochial interest of any
single individual, no matter how highly placed. This means that the
community is bigger than any individual, and everybody is expected to
obey the rules and regulations put in place by the community. The early
post independent leaders of Africa sought for ways of countering the idea
of individualism and capitalist tendencies in Western thought, that was
the reason most of them started championing the idea of African
communalism, which later evolved into what we know as African
socialism. It was meant to be a situation the people will take advantage
ancient African values of common living in order to create people-
oriented societies out of the newly independent states.
• explain the concept of African socialism

• discuss the background and history of African socialism
• analyse the values of African socialism
• identify the limitations of African socialism.
46
2.3 History and Background of African Socialism
Leopold Sedar Senghor in his Negritude expounded the concept of

African socialism. Abanuka (2013: 87) notes that Senghor pictured the
African society as collectivistic or more exactly, communal “because
itis formed from a communion of minds rather than from aggregation of
individuals.” The history of African socialism goes back to the ancient
African value of being one’s brother’s keeper. We have noted earlier that
personhood in African worldview goes beyond the anthropological and
biological dimensions; it is more of the relationship one has with others
within the same community or society. Mboya (1963) argues that African
socialism has its origin in the post independent socio-political transition
when African countries emerged from colonial rule. At the end of
colonial rule in most parts of Africa,the new independent nations set out
in search of identities at personal, national and international levels;
struggling to build new societies and new political philosophies in order
to build a new Africa (Mboya 1963). The likes of Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Modibo Keita of Mali, Nnnamdi
Azikiwe of Nigeria, and so on, conceptualized the idea of African
socialism as a political tool for repositioning African countries at
independence. This idea of African socialism must be about African
make-up and not the socialism of the Western type. It is not the Marxist
socialism of the West which is steeped in foreign thought mechanics, but
based on the ideals of the African brotherhood (Mboya 1963: 8).
Akyeamopong (2017) states that the colonial experience was oppressive

to the extent that very little physical infrastructure existed in the African
colonies at the end of colonialism as there was a huge dearth of illiteracy,
poverty and underdevelopment. The little infrastructure was there for the
extraction and export of natural resources and not for the concerted
growth of national economies. This was the challenge African leaders
faced at independence; a challenge which they set out to tackle by the
adoption of a home-grown model that will extend development to all and
sundry. This model was the African brand of socialism, a system that
incorporates everybody and makes sure that developmental projects are
spread evenly; preventing the gap between the rich and the poor from
widening the more. The idea of brotherhood and common heritage, as
well as that of colonial exploitation and oppression, led early African
leaders to adopt the concept of African socialism.
The African belief that we are all sons and daughters of the soil goes a
very long way to influence our social, economic and political
relationships. From this belief, we adopt the principle of equality
because we are all sons and daughters of the soil, and also by this belief
we have the communal ownership of the vital means of life-land (Mboya
1963: 8). And every able-bodied male and female worked, there was no
47
PHL 251 MODULE 2
room for laziness as there were social sanctions and ethics to encourage
industriousness and hard work.
Mboya (1963) notes that though poverty existed, but not as a result of
exploitation. This is to say that the African concept of socialism frowned
at exploitation and laziness. The operation of kinship helped to spread
the wealth of the wealthy and ensured that nobody lives in affluence while
his kinsmen suffer in penury and poverty. This idea is an indigenous one
and springs from the experiences and environment of the African
people. The ideas of African socialism was adopted in order to formulate
philosophical blueprints for the reconstruction of the young African
countries post- independence (Makumba, 2007: 134). Their philosophy
was practical and result oriented, because the situation they found
themselves demanded such pragmatism. The whole idea of African
socialism in the post-colonial era was inspired by the urgent need for an
African response to colonialism and neocolonialism (Makumba 2007).
2.3.1 Values of African Socialism
African socialism was used as an ideology central to nation building

(Mboya 1963). Akyeamopong (2017) notes that all the early African
leaders who adopted this concept viewed the independence of their
countries as connected to the broader movement to liberate the whole of
the continent from colonial rule. That is the essence of the spirit of
brotherhood which was evident among the first-generation post- colonial
African leaders. The African socialism helped the African leaders to
emphasize a revival of the cultural values of the African, albeit with a
contemporary touch. This is to say that African cultural values of the past
which was set aside by colonialism and oppression, was reawakened by
the use of African socialism. Babu (1981) argues that the African
socialism helped the leaders to pursue economic self- reliance and non-
alignment. This economic self-reliance helped the newly independent
states to focus on what they can do for themselves by making use of the
natural resources and human capital available to them.It helped in some
ways to avoid reliance on foreign loans to run thenewly independent
nations.
This concept of African socialism was a veritable instrument in the

reconditioning of the African mind immediately after independence, and
also helped in the fight against neocolonialism as Sekou Toure (1972:
117) put it:
All imperialism is always accompanied by a cultural aggression, an

acculturation enterprise, an action of cultural alienation for the purpose
of a complete conditioning necessary for a political and economic
subjugation. And this is why, for peoples emerging from colonial
48
enslavement, the task of cultural dis-alienation for the return to national

culture is imperativefor the consolidation of national independence and
concrete sovereignty, meaning a full exercise of the popular will in all
fields.
What does the foregoing from Toure mean? This return to national culture
was attempted by the use of African socialism, and though we will
concede that it never succeeded totally, but the influence it had on the
new nations was significant. It largely helped in the provision of basic
needs and welfare of the people. As an ideology, African socialism is an
important aspect of political culture which helped to lend meaning to
political acts and elevate social conflicts and tensions to more
sophisticated plane of political dialogue, thereby contributing to the
process of consensus formation (James 1974). Going further James
asserts that historically, Africa has been indigenously socialistic and the
elements of this socialism lend a unique identity to the continent.
Cooperation and social obligation for work are all part of a network of
traditional socialist roots (James 1974). Again, the rejection of the
European culture during the struggle for independence has led most
African states to re-investigate their histories for institutions, traditions
and elements of doctrine which they consider unique to the African way
of life, and appropriate for the modern culture.
2.3.2 Pitfalls and Criticisms of African Socialism
By limitations and pitfalls, we mean the areas where African socialism

failed to actualize its objectives and the areas where some scholars have
also pointed out as its pitfalls. Despite the waves it made during the 50s
and 60s in the new nations of Africa, this ideology has many obstacles
and challenges that militated against its proper actualization in Africa.
Yacouba and Wolonggueme (2018) have identified some limitations of
African socialism which include the following:
• The problem of reconciliation among African countries as to the

meaning of African socialism was difficult. This was the reason
why there were differences in socio-economic patterns of the
different African countries. This made the task of synchronization
more difficult as different countries pursued different realities
and different interests even within the African bloc. Since
colonialism had created two major classes; that of the privileged
and the oppressed, national and regional reconciliation was very
difficult;
• The misunderstanding of the concept among some African
leaders and citizens was the reason why the likes of Nkrumah and
Keita were dethroned through military coup. Ghanaians became
tired of Nkrumah’s rhetoric that there was jubilation when the
49
PHL 251 MODULE 2
military removed him from power. The citizens, for whom the
African socialism was meant, could not understand it as a result
of the ignorance of the majority. They did not understand that the
fight for them and their emancipation, that was exactly the
contrast; and
• There was a lack of military strategy because when the colonial
masters began to fashion ways through each country’s military, to
destroy the African vision about complete independence, it was
difficult for those countries to provide genuine protection against
such onslaught, so countries began to resort to the old imperialist
strategy to survive. The militaries were not supportive of the
African socialist agenda, due to colonialist influences.
When we say that African values are communal rather than individual,
we also need to subject “communal” to further analysis as communal
makes no sense without a definite community of peoples. The problem
now lies in identifying the particular community that is the object of
African socialism’s communal values (Makumba 2007). One has to
consider whether it is a closed community that recoils into itself or an
open society that goes all out for interrelationship.
Makumba (2007: 153) also questions if African socialism will stand the
test of Popper’s criticism going by its totalitarian adoption of democracy
in post-colonial Africa. He notes that African socialism has the tendency
to become tribal individualism; a situation where one individual pursues
his selfish interest with a whole tribe or clan behind him. The tribe
perhaps, has been tricked to believe that the interest of the individual is
also theinterest of the tribe. What is the social implication of this outlook?
This potentially sets the stage for racism and tribalism, a setback for the
benefit of identity in African socialism. Inthis way, tribal consciousness
will replace national consciousness, andthe dream of African unity will
continue to be a mirage. Fanon also criticized national consciousness by
identifying that if care is not taken, the nation will be replaced by the race
and the tribe:
National consciousness instead of being the all- embracing crystallization

of the innermost hopes of the whole people, instead of being the
immediate and most obvious result of the mobilization of the people,
will be in any case only an empty shell, a crude and fragile travesty of
what it might have been. The faults that we find on it are quite sufficient
explanation of the facility with which, when dealing with young
independent nations, the nation is passed over for the race, and the tribe
is preferred to the state (Fanon 1980: 119).
50
That is the pitfall of this sort of national consciousness as represented by

the African socialism; people begin to rally round tribal elements that
seek not the welfare of the nation, thereby throwing away the basictenets
of the concept of African socialism. Makumba (2007: 154) refers to it as
the abandonment of global consciousness for tribal and village
consciousness. And the continental dream for a united Africa gradually
fizzled away. But despite these pitfalls, African socialism was useful as
a launch pad for political, social and economic reengineering of new
African nations of the 1960s.But the fact that African socialism was not a
complete success led most African countries back to the concept of
capitalism which the West used to exploit Africans for centuries. Whereas
African socialism adopts communitarian principles where everybody is
taken care of no matter his status, Western capitalism is more interested
in the exploits of the individual and his ability to use his fellows;
exploiting them for his own personal interests. The West and her capitalist
system is more interested in individuals who have outsmarted their
fellows, acquiring so much wealth in the process. While the West
preaches individual freedom, African socialism is more about the
community and its welfare.
1. ______ also criticized national consciousness by identifying that if

care is not taken, the nation will be replaced by the______ and the
_____
2. _____ in his Negritude expounded the concept of African
socialism.
2.4 Summary
The concept of African socialism is rooted in the traditional, political

and economic system of Africa from time immemorial. But the advent
of European colonialism and exploitation set this novel African idea
back by centuries. However, when the struggle for independence of
different African nations were gathering steam, African post-colonial
leaders adopted this age-long African economic principle in order to
provide an alternative to the Western exploitative economic regime.
Though the concept had its own pitfalls, but credit must be given to it
for seeking to galvanize Africans and against colonialism. In this unit we
have examined the concept of African socialism, and we learnt that
African communalism gave birth to what is known as African socialism
because the socialist idea is based on the communalistic and
communitarian African worldviews. We also found out that the idea of
African socialism was used as a counter-ideology by post-colonial
African leaders who have been described as African philosopher-kings.
This African version of socialism is very different from the Marxist
51
PHL 251 MODULE 2
version of socialism in the sense that the African socialism puts the
African tradition and culture into consideration, and focuses on the
welfare of the community of people. Despite the laudable influence of
African socialism for pre and post independent formation of political
ideologies in Africa, it also has its pitfalls which majorly bother on the
inability of the people to fully understand the concept. Again, this kind
of ideology has been criticized as having the potential to degenerate into
tribal and racial ideology, instead of the continental ideology for which
it was meant. We also understood that the major difference between the
Western idea of capitalism and the African socialism is that, whereas
Western capitalism teaches exploitation by the smartest, African
socialism canvasses for the welfare of all within the community.

Publications.
Akyeamopong, E. (2017). “African Socialism; or the Search for an

Indigenous Model of Economic Development”. African
Economic History Working Papers. No, 36/2017. African
Economic History Network.
Babu, A. (1981). African Socialism or Socialist Africa? London: Zed

Press.
Fanon, F. (1980. The Wretched of the Earth. London: Pengium Books.
James, M. (1974). “Personality and Culture: the Case of African

Socialism”. Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. Vol 5. No 1.
Retrieved from: https://www.doi.org/10.5070/f751017513. Accessed

26/9/21

Pauline Publication Africa.
Mboya, T, (1963). “African Socialism”. Hutchison Center for African

and African American Research at Harvard University. Indiana
University Press. Retrieved from:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2934729. Accessed 26/9/21
1. Fanon/Race/Tribe;
2. Leopold Sedar Senghor
52
Unit 3 Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery inAfrican Philosophy
Unit Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.3 The Meaning of Witchcraft in African Philosophy
3.4 The Meaning of Sorcery and Magic in African Philosophy
3.5 A Comparison of Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery
3.6 The Place of Witches in African Philosophy
3.7 The Place of Sorcerers and Magicians in African Philosophy
3.8 Summary
3.1 Introduction
Historically, almost all societies in the world have some form of

witchcraft and sorcery, and Africa is not an exception. Mostly,witchcraft
and sorcery are shrouded in mystical secrecy and there is also some
controversy about their rationality and logic in the modern world. But in
African traditional religion and philosophy, it is believed that witchcraft
and sorcery form part and parcel of the rituals and ancient practices of the
African people. Agbanusi (2016) opines that witchcraft and sorcery are
part and parcel of the African immaterial and invisible reality. They form
an integral part of the African spirituality, and have considerable
influence in traditional medicine, exorcism, and so on. Agbanusi (2016:
117) also observes that different kinds of sicknesses and ailments can
also be caused by witchcraft and sorcery, meaning that these practices can
bring about either evil or good, depending on the situation and how they
are put to use. So, one can safely infer that these practices are a two-edged
sword, depending on how such powers are putto use.
Generally, witches are believed to be bad people who use their spiritual
powers to inflict harm on other people. Parrinder (1976: 126) argues that
witches are also alleged to be involved in cannibalism in African
societies, and even the sucking of blood “in vampire fashion”.
Furthermore, he opines that magic can properly be said to come from the
African religion, its objects are, medicines, charms, amulets, talismans
and mascots, which can also be seen in other parts of the world (Parrinder
1976: 113). Magic and medicine can be spoken of in almost the same
fashion as magic is the source of the African medicine (Parrinder 1976:
113). The former is the spiritual dimension of what manifests physically
and materially as the latter. So, African medicine, just as everything the
African does, has a spiritual background which is embedded in magic.
These phenomena are generally part and parcel of the African worldview,
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PHL 251 MODULE 2
though, as we have earlier noted, some controversies still exist as to their

actual existence in reality. Some people have argued that these ideas
are not in tune with the contemporary world, and if African nations must
move forward and its pride of place among technologically advanced
nations, we should do away with this kind of practices and beliefs. But
the question remains, if African philosophy and believe system can afford
to survive if these spiritual and metaphysical aspects of it are expunged.
• explain the ideas of witchcraft, sorcery and magic in African

metaphysics
• differentiate between the phenomena of witchcraft and magic
• relate the relationship of African traditional medicine to magic
• discuss the value of sorcerers in traditional African societies.
3.3 The Meaning of Witchcraft in African Philosophy
Ngangah (2020: 165) describes witchcraft as the act of using and

employing magical chants and supernatural powers to manipulate nature,
people, and social occurrences to achieve selfish or self-serving benefits
for one’s self or clients. Witchcraft comprises of two words, “witch” and
“craft”, and the Encyclopedia of Religion (2019) describes it as the act of
casting a spell in order to achieve some personal goals, whatever the
nature of such goals. Witches generally use their own spiritual powers to
execute destructive acts of personal revenge, ill will, envy, selfishness, or
self-assertion (Ngangah 2020). Some witches who are eager to
commercialize their powers also function as sorcerers. We can proceed
from the above and categorize a witch as someone who cast spells and
performs magical acts to demonize and hurt people or influence and limit
their potential success (Ngangah 2020). This definition is gender blind,
and so can serve as the meaning of wizard; a word normally used to
describe male witches. On the other hand, craft can be seen as the act of
doing something in a skillful way. So, witches employ skill in their act of
harming people through spiritual and magical means. The meaning of
witchcraft has to do with both the act itself and the belief in it in African
traditional system. However, you should bear in mind that the definition
of witchcraft is not necessarily a rigid one, as the phenomenon is dynamic,
secretive and slippery in nature, but social research confirms that no
matter how witchcraft is defined, the act will involve putting people in
harm’s way.
54
It can be said that witchcraft cannot be scientifically proven, but the

nature of witchcraft can be described from the undeniable effects of
witchcraft attacks in African traditional societies. Witches have always
been associated with evil and people fear, hate and even seek to eliminate
them wherever they are rumoured to exist (Nyabwari & Kagema 2014).
Since witches are regarded in African traditional thought as people
who oppose the natural order of harmonious community life, anything
wrong or bad both in that society or in the world originates from
witchcraft (ibid, p12). These include illnesses, hardships or misfortune.
Mbiti (1982, p202) expresses that witchcraft could be hereditary and it
involves the term used popularly and broadly to describe all sorts of evil
employment of mystical powers, generally in a secret fashion, and in all
its manifestations. He goes ahead:
…African peoples believe that there are individuals who have access to
mystical power which they employ for destructive purposes. In a non-
scientific environment belief of this type cannot be ‘clean’ from fear,
falsehood, exaggeration, suspicion, fiction, and irrationality. Whatever
reality there is concerning witchcraft in the broad and popular sense of
the term, the belief in it is there in every African village, and that believe
affects everyone, for better pr for worse. Itis part of the religious corpus
of beliefs (p, 202).
This simply implies that the belief and practice of witchcraft in African
societies is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Those who profess and
believe do might not have any form scientific proof for it, but the act is
replete in African tradition both in terms of belief and physical
manifestation.
3.4 The Meaning of Sorcery and Magic in African Philosophy
In African traditional societies, there are evil and good sorcerers; the
evil sorcerers are those witches who have commercialized their trade in
order to render services to their clients and make money out of it, while
the good sorcerers use their mystical powers for the good and wellbeing
of the society (Agbanusi 2016). Here, we will focus on the good sorcerers
who Parrinder (1976: 117) refers to as “white magicians”. They are
qualified medicine men who know how to manipulate the forces and
mystical powers in nature to the advantage of the society (Parrinder
1976).
These medicine men and good sorcerers, diviners and seers are consulted
almost by everyone in the traditional African society. They are well
regarded and respected by the people, because they are always available
to help sort out the spiritual dimensions of the society’s problems. They
are different from witches who are only interested in doing harm for their
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own self ends. As Mbiti (1982) opines, a sorcerer can perform different
functions in traditional African society; ranging from exorcism and
spiritual healing, to being a medium of communication between the dead
and the living. These sorcerers and diviners are the most popular figures
in the African religious life. Agbanusi even notes that, with the advent of
Christianity in Africa, some of these diviners and sorcerers flooded into
the new religion, where they have continued to practice their trade,
using tools provided by their new faith.
Parrinder (1976: 113) notes that a distinction between magic and

medicine will be a difficult one. The former is the spiritual dimension of
what manifests physically and materially as the latter. So, African
medicine, just as everything the African does, has a spiritual background
which is embedded in magic. Magic is part of the mystical powers
available in African tradition. It is a means of protection, as well as a
means of showcasing one’s level of affinity and association with natural
forces (Mbit 1980). Simply put, it is the process of manipulation of natural
and mystical forces to achieve a certain objective (Ngangah 2020), which
means that all mystical phenomena in African traditional system are
deeply rooted in magic. Without the art of magic, it is impossible for one
to manipulate nature and achieve anything beyond the physical. Some
magic are for defensive purposes, while other are for the enhancement of
economic activities like haunting, business and agriculture (Nyabwari &
Kagema 2014: 12). Some are used for healing and health, others for the
sake of increasing attractiveness and love life, to acquire influence, and
yet others for spiritual cleansing. The use of magic in African tradition
forms part of the socio-economic life of the people, just as diviners and
witchcraft.
3.5 A Comparison of Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery in

African Philosophy
As we have earlier noted, witches are selfish individuals who use

mystical powers to cause harm on other individuals. The witch kills and
harms with evil intentions and some African scholars like Mbiti (1980)
has observed that, in African traditional societies, it is possible for
witchcraft to be transferred from one generation to the other, meaning
that an offspring could learn to practice it from a parent. Witches are
regarded in African traditional thought as people who oppose the natural
order of harmonious community life, anything wrong or bad both in that
society or in the world originates from witchcraft (Mbiti 1980: 12). These
include illnesses, hardships or misfortune of any kind. In fact, the
African believes that nothing happens without a spiritual connotation,
and since witches are responsible for spiritually inflicting harm on
others, most of the misfortunes are traceable to them, with the exception
of those coming as punishment from a certain spirit being or another.
56
someone immediately suspects evil magic as soon as something goes

wrong in his life, and this is witchcraft which may be a manifestation of
mystical forces that may be inborn or inherited (Mbiti 1977: 165).
Witchcraft is a suspicious phenomenon in African traditional belief
system, making it the possible culprit for any kind of mishap or
misfortune in the life of the individual.
Mbiti (1977) says that people are not only willing to know the source of
misfortunes and diseases, they are also interested in knowing the source
of those misfortunes and mishaps, that is where positive magic comes
in; helping people to find explanations and solutions to their challenges
(Mbiti 1977: 167). But the evil magician will manipulate mystical powers
and use them against unsuspecting individuals harmfully for his own
selfish interests. So, there is a huge difference between positive magicians
who work for the development of the community and the evil magicians
who seek power and control just for the sake of it; and will go at any
length to assert evil control on the rest of the community (Mbiti 1977:
168).
Parrinder (1976) notes that some the features of magic in African

tradition include rain making, protective charms, amulets against natural
forces, and so on. Hence, magic is an essential aspect of the African
traditional system, because it provides the opportunity for the native
African to be able to face nature and survive against natural forces in the
community. Despite the fact that some people are using their magical
powers for harmful purposes, it should be noted that magic is not
intrinsically evil, but the application of the powers determine how any
magical powers could be categorized.
Sorcery as we have earlier noted, is, in its positive state, a very good
feature of the African traditional system. The sorcerers can act as
medicine men that are consulted to proffer solutions to the health and
psychological challenges of the people; using these powers (Parrinder
1976). There are also evil sorcerers who are witches that have decided to
commercialize their trade in order to harm people on behalf of their
clients. A sorcerer can use his mystical powers to provide spiritual help
to the people; thereby giving them the solutions to whatever problems
they might be experiencing (Mbiti 1977). Sorcerers also have the
powers, just as magicians and witches, to call upon the spirit of the dead
and act a link between the living and the long-departed family members
(Parrinder 1976: 114). Fortune telling and divination are also part ofthe
values of sorcerers in Africa; they do this by employing the magical
powers in nature and manipulating it to the advantage of the people and
their clients. Most people, especially those with Western ideology,
believe that sorcery is associated with what they refer to as black magic,
which they believe is intrinsically evil, but that is not entirely true, as
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sorcery has been proven to be essential for the socio-economic progress

of the society.
3.6 The Place of Witches in African Philosophy
Witches are feared and avoided in African traditional societies; they are
believed to be behind most of the misfortunes befalling people and
communities around them. Dirk (1996) argues that witchcraft
accusations in Africa are associated with occult and mystical powers
which the people think that the alleged witch have. Dirk (1996) has
opined that the present of witch doctors in African societies are helping
to a large degree, in fight against the activities of witches who go about
causing physical and economic harm to people with the sue of mystical
powers. The place of witches in African society is that of disdain and
contempt; people do not want to hear about them as everybody believes
that they are evil people who are working against the harmonious and
peaceful existence of the community. It is believed that witches are only
interested in showcasing and exercising their mystical powers; not
minding the impact of such powers on the community and people
involved (Dirk 1996). In most African communities, witches are either
killed or ostracized, in order to cut every tie they might have with the
community. When such witches are ostracized and isolated, they are
usually forced to go on exile, far away from where the news of their
witchcraft could travel (Dirk 1996). How does the society relate with
these witches upon discovery?
Mbiti (1982) argues that, even when the witches are exiled out of the
community, their clients could still travel as far as they are in order to
consult them and contract them to assist them in their heinous activities.
In any family where it is suspected that witches exist, it is almost
impossible for the community to associate with members of the
community, and even their women always find it hard to get men who
will marry them within the community. It is also believed in Africa that
witches are mostly old people who might have lived out their active years
without achieving much; thereby using their old age to envy other people
who might be making progress in their chosen careers and endeavors.
Going by the African conception of personhood which we have examined
earlier, witches who use their mystical powers to visit harm on fellow
members of the community are not considered to be persons in the
African worldview. This is because; such witches areworking against the
interest and welfare of the community. As we have noted, though there
is no scientific proof for these African metaphysical beliefs, the fact that
there are physical evidence of their reality among African societies makes
it difficult for one to argue against.
58
3.7 The Place of Sorcerers and Magicians in African

Philosophy
Sorcerers can either be good or evil; in African traditional societies, the

evil sorcerers are those witches who have commercialized their trade in
order to render services to their clients and make money out of it, while
the good sorcerers use their mystical powers for the good and wellbeing
of the society (Agbanusi 2016). But the good sorcerers are those who
use their powers to affect the community positively. Sorcery also gives
the people the opportunity, not only to find out about their misfortunes
and challenges, but to also know the cause of it. Sorcerers can be in the
form of seers and diviners who help to energize the physical and
psychological cohesion of the society (Mbit 1977). The place of sorcery
in the society will largely depend on how the sorcerers involved puts his
powers to work, because as Ngangah (2020) notes, Africans do not
generally probe the source of powers inasmuch as such powers are used
to ameliorate their situations and make life better for them. The end of
such powers justifies the means, even as it should be noted that, in the
African traditional belief system, all powers are coming from the
Supreme Being who we all call God. So, sorcerers are treated according
to the value of the job they do and how the job affect the overall
wellbeing of the members of the community. When a sorcerer goes rogue
and decides to utilize his powers negatively, he is normally ostracized
from the community, and in most cases, his homestead is razed down as
a form of deterrent to others.
Just as we have said before, these entire phenomena are part and parcel
of the African metaphysics. Magic is the very foundation of African
metaphysics, and it is the basis of all the mythical and mystical activities
in African religion. Dirk (1996) expresses that when an African does not
understand the source of a particular power, he simply attributes it to
magic. And magic, being the source of medicine, is very difficult to
differentiate from medicine as Parrinder (1976). Magic is the art of
manipulation of natural forces in order to achieve a certain objective
(Ngangah 2020). Mbiti (1977) believes that, according to the belief of
the African, there are powers deposited in nature, powers that belong to
God, and are subject to manipulation by human beings to their own
benefits. That is where magic comes in as a means of manipulating such
powers. Magicians are widely sought after in Africa, basically for the
preparation of different charms and amulets for social and economic
purposes. Mbiti (1982) specifically mentions the act of rain making as a
major kind of magic in Africa. The rain-maker is consulted and paid by
individuals who want to avoid rain fall for one reason or the other within
the community, because they know that the rain maker possesses the
magical powers to cause the rain to fall.
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PHL 251 MODULE 2
1. _________ is the very foundation of African metaphysics, and it is

the basis of all the mythical and mystical activities in African
religion.
2. _________ are feared and avoided in African traditional societies;
they are believed to be behind most of the misfortunes befalling
people and communities around them.
3.8 Summary
In the African traditional communities, the names of these mystical
phenomena often interchanged and one description could be used to
apply to all of them. For example, a sorcerer could be described as a
witch, a magician as a diviner, and so on. But one major fact here is that
all these activities examined in this unit form a part of the African
traditional religious life. Without these mystical attributes, the African
traditional life will not be what it is, as will lose its ancient values and
become unspiritual and therefore, unreligious. Though these beliefs and
practices cannot be scientifically proven as we have said, they are
undeniably experienced in the day- to- day affairs of the traditional
African life. This unit has led us through the major spiritual and mystical
beliefs and practices of the African tradition; we have understood the
essence of diviners, sorcery and even the evil implications of witchcraft
in the African traditional setting. Witches are recognized as the evil
people of the community who manipulate natural powers to some selfish
evil ends, and also capable of commercializing their trade in order to make
money out of it. Sorcerers and medicine men are closely associated in
that one could find it difficult to differentiate them, this is because,
medicine in Africa is rooted in sorcery and magical powers which are
used to manipulate nature and discover solutions to the medical and
economic needs of man in the society.

Agbanusi, A. (2016). “Witchcraft in West African Belief System-
Medical and Social Dimensions”. Mgbakoigba, A Journal of
African Studies. Vol 5, No 2
Dirk, K. (1996). “Magica and Witchcraft: Implications for

Democratization and Poverty Alleviation Aid in Africa”. World
Development. The Multi-Disciplinary International Journal
Devoted to the Study and Promotion of World Development. Vol.
24. Issue 8. Pp 1347-1355. Retrieved from:
https://www.doi.org/10.1016/0305-750x(96)00045-9. Accessed
26/9/21
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Nyabwari, G. B, & Kagema, N. D. (2014). “The Impact of Magic and

Witchcraft to the Social, Economic, Political and Spiritual Life
African Communities”. International Journal of Social Science
and Humanities (IJHSSE). Vol 1, Issue 5. Pp 9-18
Mbiti, J. (1977). Introduction to African Religion. London: Heinemann.

(1982). African Religion and Philosophy. Ibadan: Heinemann.
Ngangah, I. (2020). “The Epistemology of Witchcraft in Traditional

African Societies”. International Journal of Innovative Research
and Advanced Studies (IJIRAS). vol 7. Issue 1 . pp 164-168
Parrinder, G. (1976). African Traditional Region. London: Sheldon

Press.
1. Magic;
2. Witches
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PHL 251 MODULE 2
Unit 4 Rituals and Festivals in AfricanTradition

Unit Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.3 The Meaning and Importance of Rituals
4.3.1 Different Types of Rituals
4.3.2 Festivals and their Benefits
4.3.3 Mediums and Sacrifices
4.4 Summary
4.1 Introduction
This unit introduces you to the various rituals, sacrifices and festivals in
the African traditional belief system. In African tradition, rituals and
sacrifices are so important that they are believed to the gateway to
appeasing the gods, goddesses and other spirit beings. The ancestors too,
noble men of the clan who had died at a ripe age and are believed to be in
the land of the living dead, are also appeased by rituals and sacrifices. As
we have noted in Module 1, unit 2, rituals and sacrifices are ways of
worship in African religion, and provide authenticity to the worship of the
individual person. This is done through festivals like music, singing,
moving from place to another, clapping, beating of drums, in order to
express the feeling of joy, sorrow or thanksgiving. When a member of the
clan commits abomination, these rituals and sacrifices are needed to
sanctify and cleanse the land; to avoid being punished by a malevolent
spirit. In this unit, we shall expand more on the phenomena of rituals,
sacrifices and festivals in African traditional belief system. Mbiti (1977:
126) defines rites and rituals as a religious ceremony or action. That is,
the means of communicating something of religious significance through
words, symbols and actions. Hence, rituals embody beliefs, and also, the
ritual word and pattern must be a consistent one every time that same
ritual is done. The nature of a ritual or sacrifice is always determined by
the underworld; that is, the spirit being, god, goddess, or ancestor
demanding such rituals and sacrifices. Some rituals are already known by
the community, and those types of rituals and sacrifices are normally done
periodically; daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly rituals, festivals and
sacrifices. Certain blessings from the gods demand certain rituals and
festivals; like in the eastern part of Nigeria, New Yam Festivals are used
to show appreciation to the god of yam for ensuring bountiful harvest,
and also for the people to rejoice and make merry. There are rituals and
sacrifices for virtually everything in African tradition; ranging from
marriages, farming, naming ceremonies, rituals for a departed family
member, and so on.
62
• critically examine the meaning of nature of rituals, sacrifices and

festivals
• analyse the different forms of rituals in African tradition
• discuss the benefits of festivals
• analyse the place of mediums and sacrifices.
4.3 The Meaning and Importance of Rituals
A ritual is the act of carrying out a religious action or ceremony which

has serious significance, through words, actions, prayers, and so on
(Mbiti 1977). In the African traditional system, certain blessings from
the gods demand certain rituals and festivals; like in the eastern part of
Nigeria, New Yam Festivals are used to show appreciation to the god of
yam for ensuring bountiful harvest, and also for the people to rejoice and
make merry. There are rituals and sacrifices for virtually everything in
African tradition; ranging from marriages, farming, naming ceremonies,
rituals for a departed family member, and so on. A ritual can be in form
of prayers, sacrifices, incantations and invocations, libations, kind words
of blessing, and so on. As we have said severally in the course of our
study, the African believes that reality has both physical and spiritual
dimensions; and both dimensions are inseparably tied that one cannot
afford to distinguish one from the other. Hence, any situation the
African finds himself; whether it be a blessing or a curse, he resorts to
finding a way of wither to show gratitude in the time of peace andblessing,
or to plead and appease in the of hardship, sorrow and difficulty. That is
where rituals and sacrifices come in; they are used as means of expressing
joy, sorrow, or gratitude to the spirit beings and gods. Rappaport (1999)
agrees with Mbiti that ritual action is the ground from which religious
conceptions spring. Watson-Jones & Legare (2016) have defined rituals
as socially stipulated group conventions widely used across cultures for
a variety of functions. Mbit (1977, p126) has observed that the ritual
words help people to have the feeling exercising a certain amount of
control over the invisible world and the forces of nature, man then feels
himself not to be only a passive creature, but a cognitive agent.
In engaging in rituals, there is great focus on the process of it, which

must be carried out religiously as has been stipulated by the medicine
man directing such rituals (ibid, p47). This simply means that in African
societies, rituals are strictly done according to social stipulations, so
individual innovations are not welcome. There must be uniformity of
procedure as long as the motive and type of ritual remains the same
(Legare & Nielson 2015). Rituals help in improving social group
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cohesion and unity among African communities in the sense that when
everyone knows the importance of facilitated and coordinated problem
solving mechanism, people become gradually bound together with the
society. This means that rituals provide the capacity to engage in
cooperation among the people of the community; thereby strengthening
unity and coalitional alliances. However, Watson-Jones & Legare
(2016) argues that in larger local communities, there could be some
difficulties and challenges in coordinating individual members for such
joint actions and ensuring their commitments to group goals, especially
when such rituals involve the entire community. Hobson, et al (2018)
have identified that when the smallest details of such rituals are missing,
or are not in place, the whole process becomes meaningless, so the rules
of the rituals cannot be relaxed because they have significant meaning to
the individual and the community.
4.3.1 Different Types of Rituals
In the African traditional religious system, there are different forms of

rituals that the people perform in order to maintain physical cohesion
and harmony with the spirit beings and gods. Mbiti (1977: 126) observes
that some of these rituals have to do with the life of the individual from
birth to death. There are rituals for wars, raids or even natural calamities.
The ritual words help people to have the feeling of exercising a certain
amount of control over the invisible world, and the forces of nature; man
then feels himself not to be only a passive creature, but a cognitive
agent (Mbiti 1977). J.S Mbiti, in his Introduction to African Religion
(1977), has been able to identify different types of rituals, ranging from
personal rituals, agricultural rituals, health rituals, homestead rituals, and
professional rituals. How can we understand these? We shall now
examine them briefly:
i. Personal rituals are rituals performed along the life journey of the
individual. They start during pregnancy, and continue to birth,
naming, teething, puberty, circumcision, initiation, marriage,
childbearing, eldership, death, and even to when one become an
ancestor (Mbiti 1977: 127). This is not to say that rituals are
performed at every stage we have mentioned in every African
society, but there are rituals designed for the various stages, and
it depends on the current traditions in any community. Some chose
to do at birth, others at circumcision, and yet others at
childbearing or even death. Mbiti insists that this kind of ritual has
a way drawing attention to the individual; telling him that he
matters, as well as the world around him. Since this ritual is
according to different stages of life, they separate the individual
from one phase of life and him up with another;
64
ii. Agricultural rituals largely have to do with farming, haunting,

fishing, as well as food-gathering. African peoples have been
involved in agriculture since creation, and these rituals have been
evolved to cover these means of livelihood. The ritual of rain-
making is one of the rituals that is associated with farming,
rituals, sacrifices and offerings are made to pray publicly for rain;
especially when it seems to have delayed. Knowing that rain is
important for farming purposes, African peoples have been able to
evolve ritual that helps to attract rainfall whenever it is needed.
Mbiti also asserts that there are rituals meant to reduce or stop the
rain (ibid). The rain-making ritual comes before the planting
season in order to help renew and sanctify life for both human
beings and other creatures. There are also planting, harvest, first
fruits, and stock-keeping rituals;
iii. Health rituals have to do with the good health of the individual
and the community. Africans use religion to find out the mystical
cause of diseases, who is responsible, and ways of tackling them.
These rituals are religious practices aimed at physical wellbeing.
The medicine man specifies the kind of rituals that will be
countermeasures to the source and cause of the sickness, thereby
neutralizing them (Mbiti, 1977, p134). The death of many
individuals in the society is believed to have a cause, hence, many
rituals are performed to prevent such death, delay, or to ward it
off (Mbiti 1977). Even at death, part of the funeral rites will be
the chasing away of death from the family of the diseased. The
homestead and the surrounding environment are purified ritually,
in order to restore normal life within the family;
iv. Homesteads rituals cover the homestead, it is for the purpose of

new house, barns, fencing of cattle sheds, hospitality to guests
and visitors, and rituals meant to welcome new born babies,
marriages and so on. These rituals, as Mbiti (1977) claims, are
meant to bring about blessing upon the homestead, to remove
impurities of sickness, strengthen social ties, and define the duties
and rights of different members of the family; and
v. Professional rituals have to do with the many activities that

demand a certain measure of skill or training. They are majorly
used in haunting and fishing; in the making and use of spears,
bows, arrows, canoes, the trapping and tracking of animals and so
on. Other forms of professional rituals as Mbiti says, are
concerned with work of medicine men, diviners, oracles, priests,
rain-making, blacksmiths, and magicians (Mbiti 1977). Another
category of people who maintain a high standard of professional
rituals are the kings, chiefs, queens, rulers and other traditional
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leaders. These rituals are intended to maintain order and harmony

in the community.
4.3.2 Festivals and their Benefits
Festivals have been identified to be part and parcel of the religious

process, and can also add to the grandeur of both personal and communal
rites. Festivals for individuals and families may accompany birth,
initiation, marriages, and funerals (Mbiti 1977: 136). The community also
has harvest festivals (like the New Yam Festival), planting festivals,
haunting festivals, and fishing festivals. We also have victory festivals
when the community has won a war or warded off an invasion, coronation
festivals for kings, chiefs and queens. One major benefit of festivals is the
renewal of the life of the community and the entertainment of the people,
example of this is the masquerade dance in many parts of Africa. This
helps the tension within the community to find an outlet and ensures
social cohesion among the members of the community. Artistic talents are
developed and utilized in the process; in the form of art, music, drama,
and even oral communication (ibid). in most cases, the festival involves
belief about the unseen world, so the link between human beings and the
spirits are renewed, and the two worlds kept in distant but healthy
relationship. People also use that occasion to solicit blessings from God
and the ancestors, and by so doing, the visible and invisible worlds
coexist for the benefit of man. These festivals also serve as religious ways
of implementing the values and beliefs of the community. Without them,
as Mbiti (1977: 140) opines, African life will be dull and uninteresting.
Life is all about happiness as human beings, in the chaotic and stressful
planet we inhabit, festivals are responsible for bringing positivity into
life and living. They centre on cultural and ethnic topics which seek to
inform the members of the community of their customs and traditions;
involving community elders who share stories and experiences to the
younger ones, in order to give them the needed experience (Hobson &
Schroeder 2018). These rituals recognize the essence of unity and
togetherness within the community and give every member a sense of
belonging. Oral tradition is the basic means of transferring the African
values and way of life to the next generation, and festivals where
folklores, proverbs and wise saying are made become a vehicle for the
transmission of these values and customs. By so doing, the new
generation will grasp the basic tenets of the cultural values and traditions
of the people.
66
4.3.3 Mediums and Sacrifices
The main function of the mediums is to find out hidden secrets of

knowledge and pass them to other people. They are people who get in
touch with spirit world; they can be compared with diviners and
medicine men (Mbiti 1977). They are usually led to the spirit world by
the use of drums, dances, and singing, until they become possessed.
Under that possession, they may do things they would not have done
their normal self. The diviners, medicine man or priest is usually incharge
of the medium, and is able to interpret and explain whatever he says under
the influence of the spirits. Most of the communication through mediums
is one sided, as people hardly have messages to deliver to the spirit
world. The medium tells where to find lost things, who may have
bewitched a sick person, the type of ritual and medicine needed to cure
people’s troubles, and whether an intended journey will be a success or
not (Mbiti 1977: 157). Like other specialists, mediums also need to be
trained, such training are done under older mediums that are intent on
passing the knowledge across to the new generation. Mbiti asserts that in
some cases, a particular spirit may request a certain person to become
their medium for a specified period or even infinitely (Mbiti 1977: 157).
The training of mediums involves chanting some prayers, singing
professional songs, dancing, and the necessary exercise for spirit
possession.
Sacrifices are the results of the work done by the mediums. They are to
identify a kind of sacrifice needed to sort out a particular problem. When
sacrifices are made without contacting the necessary mediums, people
run the risk of doing the wrong sacrifices and having their sacrifices
rejected by the gods and spirits. Mediums, seers and medicine men
consult with the spirit world in order to find out the type of sacrifices
necessary for a certain problem or ailment. There are also sacrifices are
designated and meant for a particular spirit being or the other, this type
sacrifice is well known by all concerned and is done within specified
periods, usually a year (Mbiti 1977). D ifferent spirits demand different
sacrifices from their worshippers, so the people are well, aware of the
mode and process of sacrifices to be done for such spirit and gods.
1. Sacrifices are the results of the work done by the __________.

2. _____________have been identified to be part and parcel of the
religious process, and can also add to the grandeur of both
personal and communal rites.
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PHL 251 MODULE 2
4.4 Summary
It is hard to claim any form of strict uniformity among African peoples

concerning their rituals, festivals and sacrifices, but one major fact is
that, no matter the form the rituals take, they all have one goal in mind –
that of strengthening physical cohesion and finding solutions to the
problems of the individuals and the community. These phenomena are
basic ingredients for African religion, philosophy and general living,
hence, if they are not there, African society and living will be a dull and
uninteresting one. In this unit, we have been able to examine and analyse
the phenomena of rituals, sacrifices and festivals in the African traditional
society. We have also observed that in every African society, these things
form the basic nuclei for social living and cohesion. For example, the New
Yam Festival in eastern Nigeria provides an opportunity for the people
to bond together socially and give an outlet for their frustrations and
failings. These rituals and festivals are normally performed by
professional and qualified individuals who have the ability to
communicate with spirit world and bring out solutions to the problems
bedeviling the people. There are different types of rituals; ranging from
agricultural, homestead, personal, and professional rituals. And the
mediums are very important in the scheme of things because they are the
ones trained specifically to travel spiritually to the spirit world in order
to find answers to the questions we ask.
Hobson, N., Schroeder, J., et al. (2018). “Psychology of Rituals: An

Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework”. Personality
and Social Psychology Review. Vol 22 (3). Pp 260-284). Doi:
https://www.doi.org/10.1177/1088868317734944. Accessed
26/9/2.
Legare, H. & Nielson, M. (2015). “Initiation and Innovation: The Dual

Engine of Cultural Learning”. Trend in Cognitive Science. 19. Pp
1892-1897.
Rappaport, R. (1999). Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity.

London: Cambridge University Press.
Watson, J. & Legare, C. (2016). “Social Functions of Group Rituals”.

Current Issues in Psychological Science. Vol 25. Issue 1. Pp 42-
46. Doi: https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0963721415618486.
Accessed 26/9/21.
68
1. Mediums;
2. Festivals

1. Mediums also need to be trained (a) True (b) Not necessary (b)
False (b) Both (a) and (b)
2. _________ are rituals performed along the life journey of the

individual
3. _________ help in improving social group cohesion and unity

among African communities in the sense that when everyone
knows the importance of facilitated and coordinated problem
solving mechanism, people become gradually bound together with
the society.
4. ___________seen as a religious ceremony or action
5. ____________largely have to do with farming, haunting, fishing,

as well as food-gathering.
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
MODULE 3 SOME AFRICAN WORLDVIEWS AND

BELIEFS
Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in African Worldview

Unit 3 Moral Thinking in African Philosophy
Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in AfricanWorldview
Unit Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.3 African Views of the Universe and Nature
1.3.1 The Nature of the Universe
1.3.2 The Place of Man in the Universe
1.3.3 Mystical and Religious Order in the Universe
1.4 Summary
1.1 Introduction
This unit will attempt to avail you some information about the African
conception of the universe and nature in general. The African people
generally believe that the universe is created, and the creator is an all-
powerful and almighty being who is called God. There is no agreement
on how the creation of the universe happened, but since it seems
impossible that the universe created itself, God is therefore the
explanation for the origin of the universe, both visible and invisible
realities. In many African communities, God is also called The Creator,
even if there are still other names which can be used to describe Him.
When African says that the universe has been created by God, they are
actually looking at the universe in a religious way (Mbiti 1977).
Africans see it as a religious universe and also treat it as such. This is
because, as we have said earlier, the African believes that reality is both
physical and spiritual intertwined in one inseparable link. This religious
interpretation of the universe helps the African to have a sense of
purpose and direction, and also make him to exercise some measure of
control over his environment (Anthony 2013). The universe and reality in
general are very important to the traditional African that is the reason
why it is said that the African sees man at the centre of the universe and
nature, and does not seek to alter the universe but to nurture it. The
universe is divisible into two, there are visible and invisible parts of it; but
70
African peoples do not think of these parts as different but as bound

together. Therefore, this unit will examine some basic African beliefs
about nature and the universe, and we shall as much as possible, try to
help the student acquire a better understandingof nature and the universe
from the African perspective.
• describe the nature of the universe

• explain the place of man in the universe
• analyse its mystical and religious order
• discuss the African views of the universe.
1.3 African View of Nature and the Universe
African peoples have long observed and reflected the world around them
as they went through life. They looked at the sky above, with its moon,
star, sun and meteorites: with its clouds, rains, rainbows, and the
movement of the wind. And below they saw the earth and its myriads of
forms, animals, insects, rocks and mountains. They became aware of the
limits of the powers and knowledge of man, and the shortness of his life.
They also experienced the process of birth, growth, procreation and
death: they felt agonies of the body and mind, hunger and thirst, and
emotions like joy, fear and love. These experiences and more exposed
them to begin to think about the universe in which they live. And the
outcome of this exposure was the gradual formulation of the African
views and ideas about the world and the universe at large (Mbiti 1977:
31). The challenges that the world, universe and nature posed to the
ancient Africans made to begin to form views about the universe and the
world. Africans formed this view gradually, while investigating and
observing physical nature. The reflections on the physical manifestations
of the universe gave way for the African view on the universe; therefore,
the African has been a very keen observer of nature and the environment.
All over the world, no thinking person can live without forming some
views about the world and life. This might be through individual
reflections which might eventually spread to the rest of the community
and society at large (Mbiti 1977). The spread of the African idea of the
universe happens through discussions, artistic expressions, and so on
(Mbiti 1977). They are mainly done by extending old ideas, abandoning
some of them, acquitting new one and translating others into practical
realities (Mbiti 1977: 31). The African believes that he should be friends
with nature and the universe that he should protect and preserve her at any
cost. One major difference between the Western and African views of
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
nature, the environment and the universe is that, while the African can go
at any length to protect the universe, the Westerner is ready to sacrifice
the wellbeing of the universe and nature at the altar of economic
prosperity and technological advancement. The West is ready to jettison
the concerns about the environment just for them to remain at the top
echelon of world technology and economy. For us in Africa, we do not
rob the environment for selfish reasons of economy and technological
advancement. The African believes that the universe and man are one
and the same; man being the creature entrusted with the care and
maintenance of the universe and nature.
The desperate attempt by the West to remain the most technologically

advanced region of the world has continued to put the planet in danger,
that is why we challenged like global warming and climate change
which are threatening to change the earth as we know it and make it
inhabitable for human life. The world is said to be in a race against time
as it stands to save the planet and preserve it for generations yet unborn.
That is the more reason why the world should begin to look into this
African idea of preserving the universe and making sure that we don’t
allow scientific and technological advancement to render mankind
homeless. Therefore, in this regard, the world still has a lot to learn and
gain from Africa.
1.3.1 The Nature of the Universe
According to Mbiti (1977), many African societies believe that the

universe is divided into two parts; the visible one which is the earth, and
the invisible one which is the heavens. But yet, some other societies
believe that the universe is a three-tiered creation of God; the heavens,
the earth, and the underworld which lies below, and Africans believe
that these divisions are not quite different but keenly tied together. The
heavenly part of the universe is the home of the stars, sun, moon, and the
meteorites; the sky, the wind and the rain and all other phenomena
connected to them like thunder, rain, lightening, storms, eclipses, and so
on. Ijioma (2005: 84) corroborates this view by insisting that the
underworld is where the ancestors and some bad spirits reside. Idang
(2015) has argued that the wellbeing of the universe is a part of the
African cultural values. Because the African believes that man is part
and parcel of the universe, they exist as integral parts of the indivisible
creation of God, if man fails to protect the universe, he is also failing to
protect and preserve himself. The African view of the universe is a
unified reality, as there is a strong interaction between the unseen or
spiritual and the seen or physical world (Anthony 2013: 552).
72
The universe being studied under this module also implies reality in
general. The interaction and relationship between the two worlds evoke
a sense of the sacred in the African, because he sees and feels the presence
of the Supreme Being, divinities and spirit beings (the ancestors). The
universe is one indivisible creation of God, and man, being at the centre
of it, has the responsibility to preserve and protect it. Although man comes
from God, but his birth is not a separation from God. He still connects to
God through libations, and other prayers and food for the gods and the
ancestors. Ijioma (2005: 87) maintains that in prayer, the Igbo African
tries to normalize the relationship among the three worlds; libation is
made to God through the ancestors, and other deities. Man is just an
individual person, but one born by destiny into the community and whose
survival and purpose is linked with the purpose and survival of the
community. This means that the human person is first, a member of
community, clan or kindred (Ijioma 2005). The way African see and
perceive the universe affects the way they see reality, which in turn,
affects their value systems and traditional orientation (Anthony 2013:
533). The nature of the African universe is the African worldview for the
meaning of life, it is an unconscious but a natural tendency to arrive at a
unifying base that constitutes a frame of meaning often seen as the origin
and end (Anthony 2013). What is the fundamental basis of the African
universe?
The nature of the African universe is the underlying thought link that hold
together the Africa value system, philosophy of life, social conduct,
morality, folklores, myths, rituals, rites, rules, ideas, cognition and
theologies (Anthony 2013: 533- 534).
1.3.2 The Place of Man in the Universe
As we have severally said, man is at the centre of the African universe.

The whole exists for the sake of man, so the African looks for the
usefulness of the universe to man; this means both what the world can
do for man and how man can use the world for his own good (Mbiti
1977: 38). That is one of the reasons that many people in Africa have
divided the animals into what man can eat and what man cannot eat. We
also look at plants as what can be eaten, what can be used for curative
and medical purposes, what can be used for building, fire and so on
(Mbiti 1977). Some things have physical uses, others have religious uses
in form of ceremonies rituals and symbols, and some other things are used
for magical purposes. Mbiti (1977) avers that the African peoples
believe that objects and phenomenon are inhabited by living beings that
is having a mystical life. This belief helps man to control this mystical
life through offerings, libations and sacrifices, giving him a feeling of
confidence and security. This feeling is also a feeling of harmony with
nature and with the universe, man has to seek such harmony to avoid
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
being destroyed by the spirit beings and gods that inhabit the earth.Being
at the centre of the universe, man tries to use his position to derive some
physical, mystical and supernatural influences. Man sees the universe in
terms of himself and endeavours to live in harmony with it. Both man and
the universe are intertwined, one and the same.
Man is not the master of the universe but he is only a friend, a user, a
beneficiary, for that reason he has no other option but to live in harmony
with the universe; obeying the natural, moral and mystical laws of the
orderly universe. If the harmony and laws of nature are unduly disturbed,
man will be at the receiving end of it. The universe is a protective force
for man, hence, when its natural order is disturbed, man loses that
privilege of protection and shelter. Mbiti (1982) suggests that, that is the
reason why African peoples refer to the universe as Mother Nature. This
is to assert her protective and caring role over man. Without the universe
man is nothing, and we are created into orderly cosmos, giving the
responsibility to continue to uphold that order. And the fact that nature
is acting as a mother means that at death, the African is given back to
the mother, which is the source of his existence in thefirst place. Nature
receives man at the end of every physical incarnation. African peoples
have come to these conclusions through experiences, observations and
reflections about the universe. Distant ancestors of Africans who long
settled on the earth observed these things and passed them on to the next
generations through oral traditions like folklores, proverbs, and wise
sayings. Analysing this idea, Nyang (1980: 29) has this to say:
According to this view man is more than a spectator on the stage of life,
though he is a creature who is circumscribed within the parameter set by
the spiritual ancestors and the evil spirits, man still imposes his own will
on both the material and spiritual worlds. For man to function effectively
in the material world, he must indeed learn to pursue his human needs
and personal interests without antagonizing the spiritual forces above.
Man in traditional African cosmology is caught in a matrix of spiritual
relationships. There are the unbreakable ties to the Supreme Being, who
created the earth and everything therein for man and his progeny. These
ties are unbreakable because man’s existence depends upon his creator.
Man lives his life in fear of endangering the life of his community as a
result of bad relation with the universe. And his understanding of this
matrix puts premium on good behavior and respect for communal
customs and practices.
In other words, African traditional man learns to be obedient and

religious at all times, this is because he knows that the cosmic order
abhors people who disrespect religious commands and rituals. The sense
of obedience and harmony hinges on the African man’s understanding
74
that universe is a religious one, and everything within it dances to a

cosmic music whose tunes and rhythms echo the words of the spiritual
forces. Without the spiritual forces, man is nothing. Life is understood as
a distant dialogue with the sacred, and each passing moment demands
devotion the spiritual forces and the words of religious communication
and communion from their lips. The African man is both the manipulator
of spiritual powers and the target of such powers, and the traditional
perception of man as showed in Bantu philosophy has been described as
vitalistic; that is, based on the belief that life is a vital unity and that the
human being is only a point on the cosmic circle of life (Nyang 1980: 29).
The African man believes that the link between the ancestors and their
current successors comes from the unity of blood and the common life
which circulates in the veins of all the members of the community. In
terms of destiny, the African man believes that he is being given a destiny
to fulfill in the world. This destiny might vary from group to group, but
man is viewed as a cosmic traveler who is destined to cross the equator
of death. This equator serves a demarcation between two inseparable
portions of total reality (Nyang 1980).
1.3.3 Mystical and Religious Order in the Universe
The African man believes that the universe is not on autopilot. There it
is a mystical and religious universe which has laws that should be
followed and obeyed by man himself who is at the centre of creation.
The world has been created by the God who also put laws that should
guide the conduct and attitude of man as he goes about seeking
sustenance in the universe. These laws, as we have noted earlier, are
meant for the preservation of harmony and cosmic peace in the universe.
For example, we have the law of sowing and reaping, which enables
man to till the ground and cultivate it, in order to harvest and reap
bountifully from the earth. In this cosmic and religious order in the
universe, it is forbidden for anyone to seek to upturn it, the African sees
such a person as being at war with nature, and no one survives such.
Mbiti (1977) opines that the African belief that the universe is created
and sustained by God lays credence to the thought that the laws of
nature are being controlled directly by God through His servants. The
morals and institutions of the society are believed to have been given by
God; hence any breach of such moral laws is an offence against God and
the spirits. The African believe in taboos which help to strengthen and
keep the moral and religious order in the community. These taboos
range from words, dresses, foods, relations among people, marriages,
burials, work and so on. Breaking a taboo entails punishment in form of
social ostracism, misfortune and even death. If the people do not punish
the offender, then the spirit world will punish him through one
malevolent spirit or the other.
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
These views point to the idea that the invisible world of God and the
spirits is actively engaged in the affairs of man in the universe.
Orderliness is the hallmark of the African universe because the world
itself is created by a Being who is in charge of it by established laws and
values. An act of violence is views as an act disturbing the equilibrium
and balance of the community. The moral imperative is to achieve right
relationships between the individual, the community and the
environment, and is self-evidently right (Hammand-Tooke 1998: 8). This
order also has to do with the relationship among human beings inthe
community; it should be a healthy one in which people will love and care
for their fellows, and make sure that welfare of other community comes
above that of the individual. Bujo (2008: 22) asserts that the essence of
order in the African cosmology is quite different from the idea of order
in the West. The Western idea of order and morality centre on the
individual person and his ability to employ reason, whereas the African
conception of mystical and religious order has to do more with the
community. The morality is closely related to the communal
embeddedness of the social bearing. This also correlates to the African
concept of UBUNTU: I am because we are. Morality is not an individual
one per se, but according to the relationship and fellowship with the
lives of others. The community is also beyond just the physical as it
includes both the ancestors and even those yet unborn (Bujo 2003: 23-
24).
Achebe (1998: 70) states that there is a form a form of individualism in

the Igbo African cosmology, as man is said to be both a unique creation
and work of a unique creator, an idea underscoring individualism. But
this individualism is not absolute as the will of the community is always
upheld and no single person can win judgment against the community.
The African mystical and religious morals should be considered in cases
of ethical justification of actions and customs, and not some kind of
ghetto morality which will condone all kinds of customary practices as
good (Bujo 2003). This means that the mystical and religious moral
code in traditional African thought is not the acceptance of any kind of
customary laws and practices, but respect to instituted moral codes of
nature, which we call natural laws. For instance, adultery can only judge
in terms of the kind of marriage involved. In monogamous marriages,
the meaning of adultery clearly differs from the meaning in polygamous
marriages.
76
1. The _______ believes that the link between the ancestors and their
current successors come from the unity of blood and the common
life which circulates in the veins of all the members of the
community.
2. Mbiti suggests that, that is the reason why African peoples refer to
the universe as ________
1.4 Summary
It is evident that the concept of religion has a lot of influence in the

African idea of the universe. The African believes that the universe is a
created and ordered cosmos, with man at the centre of it. Man also makes
serious efforts to abide by these rules and laws made by God which are
meant to provide harmony and peace between man and the invisible
universe and between man and his community. This interaction and
obedience to cosmic laws help man to have a sense of control and
security; he is able to manipulate some natural powers to achieve his
goal of sustenance. In other words, African traditional man learns to be
obedient and religious at all times, this is because he knows that the
cosmic order abhors people who disrespect religious commands and
rituals. The sense of obedience and harmony hinges on the African
man’s understanding that universe is a religious one, and everything
within it dances to a cosmic music whose tunes and rhythms echo the
words of the spiritual forces. In this unit we have been able to evaluate
the African idea of the universe and reality in general. We have also
analysed the concepts of order, nature of the universe, the place of man,
and the relationship between the invisible and visible universe. The
traditional African views reality and the universe as one; and having
divinely ordained laws that are meant to be obeyed by man, in order to
see to the harmony and tranquility of the universe. When the universe is
distressed, man himself is distressed because the universe and man are
part and parcel of the same reality. And man, being at the centre of this
reality, carries out his moral, religious and mystical obligations through
the community. Without the community, man is reduced to nothing
because it is the community that attaches personhood to him. If the
harmony and laws of nature are unduly disturbed, man will be at the
receiving end of it. The universe is a protective force for man, hence,
when its natural order is disturbed, man loses that privilege of protection
and shelter.
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Achebe, C. (1998). Chi. In Eze, C. (Ed). African Philosophy: an

Anthropology. Oxford: Blackwells. pp 62-72
Anthony, I. (2013). “The Dimensions of African Cosmology”. Filosofia

Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religion.
Vol, 2 No 2. Pp 533-555
Hammand-Tooke, D. (1998). “Establishing Dialogue: Thoughts on

‘Cosmology’, ‘Religion’ and ‘Science’”. In: du Tiot, C. (Ed.).
Faith, Science and African Contribution to Science. UNISA:
Pretoria. Pp 1-9
Idang, G. (2015). “African Culture and Values”. UNISA Phronimon. Vol

16. No. 2. Pp 92-111
Ijioma, C. (2005). “African Philosophy’s Contribution to the Dialogue

on Reality Issues”. Sakofa: Journal of the Humanities. Vol 3.
Issue 1. Pp 81-90
Mbiti, J. (1982). African Religion and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.

(1977). Introduction to African Religion. London:
Heinemann.
Nyang, S. (1980). “Essay Reflections on Traditional African

Cosmology”. New Direction. vol 8. Issue1. pp 28-32. Retrieved
from: https://dh.howardedu/newdirections/vol8/iss1/8. Accessed
29/9/21.
1. African;
2. Mother Nature
78
Unit Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.3 The Meaning and Nature of Destiny and Fate
2.3.1 The Role of Destiny and Fate
2.3.2 Relationship between Character and Destiny
2.3.3 Death and Reincarnation
2.4 Summary
2.1 Introduction
Balogun (2007: 119) sees destiny and fate as the belief in African tradition
that whatever happens or that will happen in the future, has already been
preordained and will happen according to an earlier master plan. It is the
mysterious power believed to control human events. It is the belief that
every person has his biography written before he came to this world, and
anything he does will be a fulfillment of that. The African traditional
believer takes the issue of destiny and fate very seriously; this is because
there is nothing that happens to a person in the world which is not linked
to this destiny. The Igbo call it Chi, meaning a personal fate which
invisibly follows the person around in the world. As many Africans
believe that the universe is a mystical and religious world governed by
the Supreme Being and other spirit beings, as well as the ancestors, these
spirit beings apportion a destiny/fate to each person ashe is being born
into the earth. The Yoruba calls this destiny Ori, which is believed to be
not only the bearer of destiny but to be the essence of the human
personality, which rules, controls, and guides the life and activities of the
person (Idowu 1962: 170). Africans also believe that every person has the
moral responsibility to be at peace with, protect and be in good terms with
his destiny in order for one to be able to fulfill his destiny easily. In this
module, we shall use the terms destiny and fate interchangeably. Personal
responsibility and good behavior will go a long way to help one
maintain a good relationship with his Chi and be able to have good
destiny. This simply means that man in African tradition is the centre
piece of the concept of destiny. Good character produces good destiny
and fate, while bad character and inordinate behavior will inevitably
attract bad destiny for a person. So, the concept of destiny and fate in
African worldview is not a strictly deterministic idea. This means that
though a particular destiny is given to one at birth, moral character and
good behaviors still go a long way in shaping one’s destiny on earth.
Again, one can also approach the spirit world through diviners, libations,
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
sacrifices and offerings in order to change one’s bad destiny to a better

one (Balogun 2007). The African believe that the fulfillment of every
destiny solely depends on how the person involved decides to live. This
process is the wheel and circle of life which is from birth, growth,
adulthood, old age, death, reincarnation, and in that order. Boston (1970)
says that a man’s relationship with his guardian spirit and with the other
spirit expresses the notion that his destiny is not entirely of his own
making, but is determined partly by forces beyond his control. The
Supreme Being and the spirits apportion destiny to man, it then depends
on the actions of man to realize and fulfill such destiny.
2.2 Intended Learning Objectives
• describe the concept of destiny and fate in African tradition

• analyse the role of destiny in the earthly life of man
• explain the influence of moral character on destiny
• explain the concepts of death and reincarnation as part of the
African idea of destiny.
2.3 Meaning and Nature of Destiny/Fate
Destiny is the choice the individual made with the almighty God before
birth. This choice is made from the lad of the supernatural power. And a
man has responsibility to protect and guard his good destiny by good
character, humility, and sincerity. Above all, he must continue to
persistently propitiate the supernatural by means of offerings, libations,
rituals, rites, and so on, in order to wave off evil powers or forces from
interfering with his destiny (Boston 1970). On the other hand, when an
African is challenged by misfortune, he does not relent against the evil
forces that are believed to have imbued his life with bad destiny. He will
relentlessly consult the oracles in order to find out the cause of the bad
destiny, ill-fates and misfortune, and how to counter it and attract good
fortunes. When the oracle has pronounced the solution to the bad
destiny, they will perform the appropriate rites and rituals to the spirit
world, hoping that such bad destiny will be changed. Some Africans
also believe that the lines on the palms of each individual show the
person’s destiny and fate. Destiny in the African concept covers the entire
life of man from birth to the grave, and even to reincarnation. Ukwamedua
and Omokpo (2016) contend that every child from birth has been
destined to fulfill a purpose on earth, and such destiny is a unique one.
The Igbo believes that there are three basic factors that determine the
success or failure of the individual: the benevolence of one’s Chi, one’s
own efforts symbolized by the IKENGA or the power of actions, and
one’s conscious efforts to maintain the laws and customs of the
80
community (Ukwamedua and Omokpo 2016: 278).
The Igbo call it Chi, meaning a personal fate which invisibly follows the
person around in the world. As Africans believe that the universe is a
mystical and religious world governed by the Supreme Being and other
spirit beings, as well as the ancestors, these spirit beings apportion a
destiny/fate to each person as he is being born into the earth. The Yoruba
calls this destiny Ori, which is believed to be not only the bearer of destiny
but to be the essence of the human personality, which rules, controls, and
guides the life and activities of the person (Idowu 1962: 170). It also
instructive to note that this destiny is not fatal and deterministic, one has
to put in efforts and good moral character in order to fulfill his destiny on
earth. Without good morals, one’s destiny maybe be adversely affected
and he will suffer ill-fate and misfortune. So, one continues to desperately
guard his fate and destiny by avoiding bad behaviors and inordinate
ambitions, in order to keep his good destiny alive. In the event of a
misfortune and ill-fate, the African consults the oracles through the
medicine men and diviners, in order to find out the cause of such
misfortunes and remedy them by means of sacrifices and other offerings
to the spirit world. In the African cosmology, one can appease and even
appeal to his guardian spirit, in order to avert a calamity or misfortune.
The African also believes that death is part of the destiny of man, and it
cannot be averted by anyone. Every person will die, those who had lived
good moral lives and died at ripe ages will become ancestors who will
oversee the activities of the clan from the spirit world.
Some Africans also believe that there is nothing like destiny which is
distinct from the personal life and behavior of a person. That what we
call destiny is simply an accumulation of the personal character of a
person which has translated into his own life. As Ekanola (2006) argues
against the idea of a divinely fixed fate:
Choices, if they are consistently made in the same pattern, coalesce into
habits and later into character. A person’s character, which is a product of
past acts of free choice, to a large extent, determines destiny on earth.
Character is all that is requisite. There is no destiny to be called unhappy
in Ife City. Character is all that is requisite. However, in Ekanola
(2006), I also argued that when there seems to be no correlation between
a person’s character and how his or her life turns out, the concept of Ori
(destiny) connotes “the will of God” or “luck.”
That is the argument against the concept of destiny as ordained by any

form of spiritual being. Man, as some Africans believe, is totally in
charge of his destiny by the kind of attitude and characters he displays
and by the fulfillment of his moral obligations as we have earlier said.
This school of thought believe that man was not assigned any form of
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destiny while coming into the earth, but has to create his own destiny
byhis own hands by the kind of life he leads, and by his relationship with
his community and clan. Since man is free, his free choices accumulate
to give him the form of destiny he deserves. He cannot have what he does
not deserve as nature rewards according to what each person has done;
that is destiny.
2.3.1 The Role of Destiny and Fate
One’s destiny has a significant role to play in his life. That is why the
traditional African believes that the oracles have to be consulted to find
out the nature of one’s destiny, and possibly, reshape it if things are not
going well with such a person. The Igbo believes that everything that
happens in a man’s life is traceable to his destiny, which is his Chi. There
is nothing anybody can do or achieve in life outside his Chi. This
personal destiny guides and directs one in the course of life, that is why
the Igbo believes that Onye buru Chi ya uzo, ya agbabuo onwe ya na oso,
meaning that if one tries to run faster than his destiny, he will run to his
death. One must operate and conduct himself according to how his
destiny has been fashioned. If one suffers any form of misfortune or
ill-fate the African will believe that it was destined to be so. So, in African
society, destiny and fate act as social agents for good moral living and
social cohesion. This is because, each person will struggle to live
according to the prescribed moral rules in order not to attract the anger of
the spirit world and inflict ill-fate on himself. The belief in destiny and
fate also helps to create a moral society where crime and criminality is
eschewed. As Mbiti (1982) opines, this fear of bad destiny helps the
individual to understand that his own destiny is tied to the destiny of the
community, and even the destiny of the universe. Therefore, if a person
refuses to live well in the community or goes about distorting the cosmic
order of the universe, the repercussion will come and he will partake
of it.
In relation to the community, knowing that his destiny is tied to that

of his brother gives the traditional African a sense of responsibility, and
makes him to avoid harming his brother. That is why the concept of
being one’s brother’s keeper becomes important because, according
to the idea of communal destiny, whatever affects one’s clansman or
relative also affects him. This is because in African traditional setting,
people share in the fortune and misfortune of each member of the
community. Nobody is allowed to carry his burden alone (Mbiti 1982).
For instance, issues of birth, death, burials and so on are handled
communally. The community might even go to the extent of restricting
movements on certain days in order to accord a departed member a
befitting burial. Whatever anyone does, it is done towards enhancing the
welfare and destiny of the community since one cannot escape the
82
communal destiny, even if individualism is not totally absent. One other

role of destiny and the idea of fate is hard work. It encourages hard work
among the traditional Africans, knowing that man has a lot to do in order
to fulfill his destiny on earth, the traditional African avoids being lazy,
but works very hard to actualize his destiny and escape poverty. The
traditional African respects hard work so much, believing that
achievement and success will inevitably follow.
2.3.2 Relationship between Character and Destiny
Characters like honesty, hard work, humility, and relationship with the
community go a long way to shape and affect one’s destiny. As Ekanola
(2006) has observed, there is a great link between one’s personal
character and approach to life and his destiny. “The will of God” or
“luck” is used to describe one’s success in life when the African cannot
find any empirical reasons for such fortune (Ekanola 2006: 7). The idea
of a chosen Ori, that is destiny, is no more than a complex of all the
various acts of free choice made by individuals up till any specified time
in their life. It is not by any prenatal choice in heaven (Ekanola 2006: 7).
And industry and hard work form an integral part of choice. When man
decides to be lazy, his destiny will also be tied to laziness, and when a
man decides to go about suspending and offending natural laws with
reckless abandon, thatis also what will accumulate to become his destiny.
As we have noted before, the law of sowing and reaping shows that the
earth rewards people according to actions and reactions put into it. The
African also believes that one will reap whatever he sows in nature, when
the reaping occurs, one should understand that it is also destiny. One
should not become a passive participant in the affairs of nature, but one
should bean active participant; taking his destiny in his own hands. There
is always a correlation between a person’s character and his life turns out.
One’s approach to life is what matters a lot in the pursuit of destiny. How
can one understand all of these?
Borrowing from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, (1958), the character

Unoka was a lazy and improvident man, a debtor and a coward. He
prefers drinking or playing on his flute, believing erroneously that he
worked as hard as everyone else did; hence he was supposed to excel
like others. This made him to go to the gods (perhaps to appease his Chi
for better fortune) and to ascertain the cause of his failure in life. But the
oracle screamed at him thus: You have offended neither the gods nor your
fathers. You Unoka, is known in all the clan for the weakness of your
machete and your hoe. When your neighbours go out with their axes to
cut down virgin forests, you sow your yamson exhausted farms that take
no labour to clear. They cross seven rivers to make their farms, you stay
at home and offer sacrifices to a reluctant soil. Go home and work like a
man (Achebe 1958: 13).
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Had it been that Unoka worked hard, his destiny would have been that of
success because, as the Igbo-Africans believe, when one says yes to life,
his personal god also says yes. That is to say that if the hand is not soiled
it cannot bring about a mouth that is smeared with oil. Man is free
and God has given him the earth to work on and till, he will only fashion
his destiny according to the way he has chosen to live his life and relate
with nature and his community. Ekanola (2006) asserts that the Yoruba
idea and concept of Ajala is mythological and metaphorical, as there is
nothing like that which directs the affairs of man without his character
and action in nature.
Nature is just; it can only reward one according to the free choice that has
been made by such a person. As we indulge in our habits and characters,
we are writing our biography, our history and choosing our destiny.
Destiny is not entirely the function of any prenatal choice, but the
accumulation of human efforts, approach to life, moral character and
hard work. Even if man has been given a certain destiny at birth from the
supernatural world, there is still the opportunity to change the course of
such destiny by appeasing the oracle and making some rituals and
sacrifices. In the case of Unoka, the solution to his problem was said
to lie in his hands; he just needed to put more efforts into life so as to
witness a turnaround in destiny. This also teaches us that in traditional
African society, the solution for everything does not lie with the spirits
and the gods; man has a great role to play in helping to make his life a
meaningful and fulfill his destiny.
Makinde (2007) has also theb Yoruba concept of Ori shows that destiny
is not synonymous with fatalism. This is because fatalism in Yoruba
thought is the belief in hopelessness and acceptance of it, while destiny
implies the introduction of human efforts for the choice of good ori.
Oluwole (1995) has described fatalism as an obnoxious theory that
flouts all experience. It is a theory that all events are per-determined by
a deity or a supernatural force called fate (Oluwole 1995: 23) The
choice of good ori, which is combined with human efforts will
ultimately lead to god destiny. Makinde maintains that the
interpretation of the Yoruba thought as strong destiny will bring about
many contradictions. This is because, no matter the kind of ori chosen,
human actions can still amend bad destinies through sacrifices
propitiations (Oluwole 1995: 136). The relationship between ori and
destiny is not an invariable one, it then means that not every good choice
of ori leads to good destiny, neither does every bad choice of ori lead to
bad destiny (Oluwole 1995: 134).
84
This is where human actions and responsibility comes in. no matter the
kind of ori one chooses, it will always depend on his actions to shape
his destiny positively or negatively. As Ekanola (2006) has opined, there
is no ori which is different from human actions. After all, Orunmila knew
that the individual has an impact on his personal destiny, the reason why
he chose to remain indifferent to our choice of ori (Makinde 2007: 135).
2.3.3 Death and Reincarnation
Death is believed to be a part of destiny, as well as reincarnation. Every

person must die because that is the ultimate destiny of man. Man was
not created to live forever on the earth, but the African will always make
every effort through consultations with the spirit world to avoid
premature and sudden death. It is better to die when one is ripe enough;
having lived a very long life on the earth. Oluwole (1995: 43) describes
reincarnation as “the rebirth of a dead individual”. While details of such
rebirth could vary from society to society, the basic tenet of the
phenomenon of reincarnation is the belief that a dead person could be
reborn to occupy a different physical body (Oluwole 1995). What other
views on death can we understand?
Mbiti (1982: 149) avers that death stands between the visible world of
man and the invisible world of the spirit. It is the journey of all persons
and no one can cheat death. It is an individual affair in which nobody
can interfere or intervene. Relatives watch their loved ones without being
able to stopit. The destiny of death has long been accepted by Africans as
a natural rhythm. The African believes that death has to do with the
physical separation of the body from the spirit, it does not lead to
annihilation.The grave is a point of separation between the living and the
dead, but it nevertheless becomes a point of convergence when it
becomes a shrine of an ancestor. Ibenwa, Okwor & Ukeachusim (2014)
insist that the land of the ancestors, which is a resting place for the dead
is not a permanent place of rest unless one has completed his circle of
reincarnations.
It is also true of the African traditional concept of destiny that man

continues to come back until the full circle of death and reincarnation is
completed. But the African believes also that the hereinafter is a
continuation of this life. He does not subscribe to the Christian idea
of this world being a temporal place (ibid). Reincarnation is a cyclic
return of a dead person through a new born child (Mbiti 1977). Ekwunife
(2000: 11) has defined reincarnation as the exercise of a mystic influence
of the spirit on the body which neither diminishes the status of the dead
in the spirit world, nor does it destroy or supplant the unique personality
and individuality of the new born child. Thus, according to Ibenwa, et al
(2014), the phenomenon of reincarnation should not be viewed from the
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PHL 251 MODULE 3
English translation, but from the cultural and religious context of the
people. It is the fate of all persons, just like death. Do ancestors really
have a role to play in this grand scheme of things?
The land of the ancestors can only be used for the purpose of waiting,
but except those who have completed their circle of reincarnations,
everybody will come back into the world. The Igbo view reincarnations
as a return from the land of the spirit, where the ancestors live, to the
world. And the existence of the two worlds, as they impinge on each
other in a continuous interaction, for the African, is not a figment of
imagination which modern scientific and technological education can
snuff away completely (Ibenwa et al 2014: 35-36).
So, both death and reincarnation are part of the destiny of man in the
concept. There is nobody who can cheat death, and everybody who
has not completed his circle of reincarnation will come back to this
world and live again as a human being. Achebe captures this succinctly:
Ezeudu! He called in his guttural voice. If you had been poor in your last
life, I would have asked you to be rich when you come again. But you
were rich. If you had been a coward, I would have asked you to bring
courage. Butyou were a fearless warrior. If you had diedyoung, I would
have asked you to get life. Butyou lived long. So, I shall ask you to come
again the way you came before (Achebe 1958: 98).
That is the destiny of the traditional African, to be born, to die and to

return back into the world to continue what he had left behind. That
is why the African believes that life itself is cyclic. We keep going
round the circle of life till we fulfill our complete circle of reincarnation
to continue life in the great beyond.
1. _______ is believed to be a part of destiny (a) death (b)

enjoyment (c) cruising (d) social media followership
2. The Yoruba calls this destiny _____
2.4 Summary
Despite the different views and controversies surrounding the concept of

destiny and fate in African traditional system, it should be understood
that the African take the idea of destiny and fate seriously. It is believed
that God and the spirits had negotiated everyone’s destiny with him at his
birth, but is also true that work and moral character goes a long to shape
and fashion one’s destiny. Man, knowing that ill-fate and bad destiny
spells doom for him in the world, will go at any length to make sure that
86
bad destiny is averted through the necessary sacrifices and rituals. Man
also understands that laziness will ultimately bestow bad misfortune on
him, so he tries as much as possible to work and till the earth for his
economic prosperity. Death has been identified as an inevitable destiny
of man, as well the phenomenon of reincarnation. Therefore, no matter
what man does on the earth, he will always bear in mind that one day he
will leave this physical realm of reality to transit to the great beyond. This
unit has taught about the concept of destiny and fate in African
philosophy. This means how Africans view the concepts and how they
prepare themselves to embrace it as part of reality. Our character and
disposition in life determine what our destiny will be and it is instructive
that African philosophy begins to look towards this direction in order to
reposition itself and become relevant in the contemporary world. No
matter what one claims to have been given as destiny in the spirit world,
everything ultimately boils down to work and character. A man with a
bad character will inevitably suffer ill-fate and bad destiny; because
nature only gives us what we put into it. We cannot sow bad behavior
and expect to reap good destiny and fortunes. As we have said, people
only attribute good fortunes to destiny when there is no empirical reason
for such fortune. The idea of prenatal and preordained destiny is mythical
and metaphorical as Ekanola (2006) has made us to understand. Hard
work and good behavior are the only things capable of transforming our
economic and spiritual lives. Africans should be able to emphasize the
essence of those virtues, since man, the agent of such virtues, is the
centerpiece of reality and creation. As can be observed from the
foregoing, the concepts of destiny and freedom are conflated in the
treatment of the topics in African Philosophy. Both cannot coexist. The
belief in destiny cannot be consistently held with that of freedom. If one
believes in destiny and still believes in the need to work hard and be
strategic in one’s ways, then that would not be what is usually understood
as destiny. It is therefore, more appealing to say that there is no such thing
as destiny, conceived as the fate of men, rigidly determined from the
very beginning, that what we are calling destiny is, as Ekanola has
observed, nothing but the accumulated consequences of our use of
freewill. Thus conceived, we can then understand why destiny can
change. For it is a product of freewill. If the will or choice changes, then
the consequence (fate or destiny automatically changes).
Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann.
Balogun, O. (2007). “The Concept of Ori and Human Destiny in

Traditional Yoruba Thought: a Soft-Deterministic Interpretation”.
Nordic Journal of African Studies. vol 16. Issue 1. Pp116-130.
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Boston, J. (1970). “The Supernatural Aspects of Diseases among the

Igala”. African Notes. vol; 5. No 3.
Ekanola, A. (2006). “The Quest for Social and Sustainable Development

and the Travail of Sisyphus: Facts and Hypothesis, an Inaugural
Lecture”. University of Ibadan. Retrieved from:
www.researchgate.net/publication/344970000. Accessed 29/9/21
Ekwunife, N. (2000). Meaning and Function of Reincarnation in Igbo

Traditional Religious Culture. Onitsha: Spiritan Publication.
Ibenwa, C., Okwor, O. & Ukeachusim, P. (2014). “Death, Reincarnation

and Ancestorship: Issues in After-Life in Traditional Igbo
Religious Context”. International Journal Humanities and Social
Sciences. Vol 3. Issue 5.
Idowu, E. (1962). Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longman.

Makinde, M. (2007). African Philosophy: the Demise of
Controversy. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press.
Oduwole, E. O. (1997). “Immortality and Reincarnation in Yoruba

Thought System: Some Comments”, Journal of Yoruba
Folklore, Ago-Iwoye, 1:17 –22.
Oluwole S.B. (1992). Witchcraft, Reincarnation and the Godhead:

Issues in African Philosophy. Lagos: Excel Publishers.
Ukwamedua, N. & Omoka, V. (2016). “The Ontology of Destiny and

Freedom among the Igbo-Africans: a Discourse in Existential
Metaphysics”. IDEA. Vol 28. No 2.
1. (a);
2. Ori
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Unit 3 Moral Thinking in AfricanPhilosophy

Unit Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.3 The African Concept of Moral Values
3.3.1 Foundations of Morality
3.3.2 Momoh’s Theory of Moralism
3.3.3 Evaluation/Critique of Momoh’s Moralism
3.4 Summary
3.1 Introduction
This unit will undertake a study of moral thinking and Moralism in
African philosophy. This simply means how Africans see or conceive
morality. Moral thinking in African philosophy basically has to do with
maintaining healthy relationships between man and the invisible world,
on the one hand and between man and his fellow members of the
community, on the other. Central to this study will be Campbell
Momoh’s theory of moralism. Within the African metaphysical and
holistic tradition, Momoh conceives his doctrine of moralism in the spirit
of an African ethics. He maintains that the aspirational spirit of the whole
and the community is that of moralism (Azenabor 2010). An ideology is
part of one’s image of the world, and moralism, according to Momoh, is
an ideology. It is an ideology that places moral African philosophy at the
center of everything the African does. It is a way of life that seeks to
consider the welfare of others alongside one’s self. The main doctrine of
moralism is that every part and unit of the society has a duty to perform,
and the guideline for performing that duty is the satisfaction of the
legitimate, legal and, moral needs and wants of the other (Momoh 1999).
This theory of African moralism propounded by C. S Momoh is geared
towards making sure that personal responsibility is maintained in the
society and man as a single unit of the African society takes the overall
wellbeing of others seriously.

• explain the concept of morality in African philosophy
• describe C. S Momoh’s theory of moralism
• explain the foundations of moral authority in African tradition
• discuss the role morality plays in African societies.
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3.3 The African Concept of Moral Values
What is the concept of moral values among Africans? Morality in Africa,

just like every other part of the world, deals with the issue of what is right
and good and what is wrong and evil in human conduct. The moral sense
of the African people has produced customs, rules, laws, traditions and
taboos, which can be observed in every African society. African morals
are embedded in these systems of behavior (Mbiti 1977: 175). Oluwole
(1995) has contended that the Yoruba (African) hardly cares about the
source of moral values, but is more interested in the sanctions. Her
argument is that since there are as many gods in Africa as the number
of families, it becomes illogical for one to claim that moral values are
coming from the gods (Mbiti 1977: 67). The gods in Africa, according to
her, are more interested in social sanctions than becoming sources of
moral values (Mbiti 1977: 67). This is because, any moral values without
sanctions is useless for societal cohesion. The authority of morality in
many African societies is also believed to come from God Himself, and
the ancestors are saddled with the responsibility of keeping watch over
the people to make sure that they these moral values are kept and
cherished. This is the religious dimension.
These same ancestors and spirits are to punish anyone who violates these
moral values in the society (Mbiti 1977: 67). With this belief in
punishment, as well as that of morality being decreed by the Supreme
Being Himself, at least in the religious sense, the authority and strength
of the moral codes and values becomes stronger. Mbiti (1977) has also
argued that morality in African thought is divided into two; one being
about the individual self, dealing with some personal decisions about his
life, and the greater part being about the social cohesion and harmony of
the community (Mbiti 1977). The African concept of morality puts
emphasis on the issue of social conduct since the African believes that
the individual is nothing without the social unit or the community. That
is why the African believes that morality has been evolved not only to
keep the individual alive but more importantly, to keep the society alive.
Sogolo (1993: 119) describes moral values as a conglomerate or set of

institutional ideals cherished either by an individual or by a group of
people. And subsumed under this set of ideals are, for example, material
values, moral values, aesthetic values, religious values, etc. African
moral values as Sogolo (1993) describes it could mean a set of
institutionalized ideals which guide and direct the patterns of life of
Africans. They are a set of descriptive goals which are desired and which
all or most Africans have decided to subscribe to and which guides their
lives and patterns of living. African moral values mean more than just
moral values geographically located in Africa; they are moral values that
are different, shared by a group of people. And because this group of
90
people is different, their moral values also ought to be different. But

some philosophers have challenged the validity of traditional moral
systems on the ground that most of the traditional moral value systems
are not universalized, and second because of their alleged dogmatism and
lack of reason (Sogolo 1993: 121). But the fact remains that Africa has
her own moral values system which might not be entirely different from
what is practiced in other parts of the world, but is more fitting and
developed to align with the African environment and be able to tackle
moral issues that are uniquely African. These moral codes are developed
from the African perspective, in order to give the African a sense of order.
They also produce the virtues of the African society, which we endeavour
to preserve and protect.
J. S Mbiti (1977: 181) asserts that the African people understand that
compliance with these moral behaviors could give man peace of mind.
Once there is a breakdown in moral values, the whole society breaks
down as well and such a society does not always end well. These moral
values are shown in the African tradition through myths and legends;
believing that as long as man follows them, he will live and enjoy the
earth. At the family level, the man is said to be the head of the family and
he has the responsibility of ensuring that the family moral values are
passed on to his children diligently so as to ensure its preservation and
continuation. When the family/clan moral values are not passed on
accordingly to the next generation, such a generation becomes one
without any sense of direction and purpose; wondering in the wilderness
of ignorance. That is one major reason why the traditional African prays
to have children who will succeed him in order to carry on the moral
values of the family, and also pass them on to their own children, and so
on. When a man dies, and looks over from the land of the spirits and sees
that his family moral values are not being kept by the children he left
behind, he is not happy about it, and it is believed that he will not be
given his pride of place in the land of the dead. Therefore, Africans
preserve and protect these moral values both for the benefit of an ordered
society, and to keep their place in the land of the living-dead when they
join their ancestors.
3.3.1 Foundations of Morality
We have noted that these moral values have their source in myths,
legends and wise sayings of Africans. But Africans being cosmologically
religious, religion also plays an important role in the formation of these
moral values. That is to say that these wise sayings and religion are what
form a part and parcel of the African moral system, and also part of
African culture. Oluwole (1995) posits that the Yoruba (African) rarely
cares about the source of moral values, but is interested in the reason
behind moral sanctioning. The African does not believe that there is a
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hell/purgatory where all moral sins will be sanctioned (Oluwole 1995:

67). The society does not attribute moral values to the gods, since there
are many gods as there are families, and also, there is a freedom of
worship in the traditional Yoruba society, Oluwole (1995) notes. What
does this portend for the African basis of morality in the view of Oluwole?
In the view of Oluwole, it is impossible to make religion the source of

morality since there are as many gods as there are families. We have
earlier noted that the cultural moral and traditional system is deeply
religious, to the extent that it is difficult to separate the two.
Gbadegesin (1998) explores the basis of moral values in traditional
African thought. He lays out the religious and logical perspectives of the
divide concerning the foundation of moral values in the African
worldview.
The religious school of thought has it that moral values are given by God;
that it is a religious fruit as God made man and planted in him the seed of
morality, the sense of right and wrong. They claim that African moral
values are a priori, and therefore cannot have any other foundation
but the religious one. This view is championed by Idowu (1962) who
asserts that Africans do not separate religion from morality as the creator
is responsible for the endowment of reason on the human being. This
idea of religious foundation of morality is associated with the ancient
traditional African thought that God as the creator has made everything;
including laws of how man should live in the world. But Gbadegesin
(1998: 302) has challenged this view by implying that when you say
that religion is the foundation of a people’s moral values, you are also
saying at the same time that without religion they cannot act morally and
in a responsible manner. It is true that virtually all traditional Africans
have a sense of spirituality, and they think that religion or spirituality has
an influence on moral values, but this does not mean that morality is
founded on religion or that there could be no further ultimate source of
moral values and ideals (Gbadegesin 1998).
Another view of morality is that it is essentially a social phenomenon.

That society must keep itself alive and its machinery smooth-running, to
this end; it evolves a system of self-preservation. This is the social school
of thought about the foundation of moral values. The society cannot
afford to self-destruct, that is why certain rules and regulations have been
put in place to guide and guard against anarchy. This school of thought
believes that conscience is nothing more than a complex of residual
habits which society implants in man as if it brings him up and teaches
him what to do (Gbadegesin 1998: 296). This implies that these societal
codes of conduct which are meant to preserve the society are tools of
moral control for members of the society. The individual agent will be
controlled by the society, even without being mindful of it. Another
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version of this non-religious basis of African moral values is the common-

sense version. This version teaches that moral values are simply a product
of common sense. That in order to live people must adapt themselves to
their environment, and experience soon becomes the source of
knowledge of right and wrong. This means that the more man lives in the
society, the more he acquires the requisite experience on how to live
among his fellows. If this experience is accumulated for a long time, the
individual begins to appreciate what it means for something to be
morally right and for something to be morally wrong. So given the
reasoning ability man has, he can on his own, make moral choices and
determine the ideas of moral rightness and wrongness (Gbadegesin 1998:
279). The fact that religion may influence some certain people and play
a great role in their lives does not warrant the conclusion that religion is
the foundation of moral values. To say that it is the foundation, or
must be the foundation is another way of saying that without religion, the
people cannot be morally responsible. One might claim that the
community might invoke religion from time to time to support the taboos
and other codes to maintain social order, but that is only what it is,
support, and not the foundation of such moral values.
No matter the view one chooses to adopt in this raging debate, what
matters to the African is the maintenance of moral and social order in our
communities and villages. Today, Africa is challenged morally,
economically, socially and politically. We are in need of morally sound
individual citizens and leaders who will take responsibility and reposition
the political landscape of Africa in order to bring about sustainable
development. Corruption and misgovernance have become the bane of
the continent. We therefore need people who will live by and maintain
the age-long African moral values, no matter where they are believed to
originate from. Endemic corruption has been a problem dragging the
business of nation-building and development aback in African, and with
the right moral systems, this will be adequately tackled and brought to its
barest minimum.
3.3.2 Momoh’s Theory of Moralism
Azenabor (2010) analyses Momoh’s idea of moralism extensively in his

work Modern Theories in African Philosophy. Moralism according to
Momoh has both an ideological and doctrinal perspective. He maintains
that the doctrine of moralism is based on the theory of human nature.
And as an ideology the doctrine of moralism claims to be a belief as
wellas a prescribed course of action (Azenarbo 2010: 136). Moralism as
an ideology maintains that corruption and morality are antithetical,
meaning that they cannot co-exit, because where one is present, the other
has to be absent. Momoh states that moralism as an ideology is both
systematic and comprehensive. It is applied in the system; in the offices,
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in factories, and in homes. It can also apply in the political and economic
realms of the society (Azenabor 2010: 136).
Momoh’s ideology of moralism commits the individuals, groups, and the

state itself to the system. This is the reason why moralism has the
answers to the problem of corruption, a problem which, as Momoh
claims, capitalism and socialism have not been able to cure, even though
these ideologies have affected the course of world history (Azenarbo
2010). This is to a large extentthe nature of the political system that Africa
seriously needs to be able to curb the problem of endemic corruption
which is bedeviling it. Momoh posits that all other systems are friendly to
corruption, exploitation, slavery and oppression, and that that is the
reason why Africa should adopt a system of moralism where corruption
and other moral vices will be given a back bench. The West has fought
two World Wars, involved in Apartheid, colonization, slavery and slave
trade, injustice, irrationality, man’s inhumanity to man. This shows
massive immorality, and the two ideologies of capitalism and socialism
they developed to tackle this vice have clearly not been able to do so
(Momoh 1999: 104).
Given the level of corruption and misgovernance in Nigeria, Momoh

believes that a country like Nigeria needs this doctrine of moralism. He
maintains that it is an ideology which is applicable to economics, politics,
and even capitalism and socialism. It is a comprehensive and adequate
ideology which is able to cater for every aspect of life of a nation and for
the African continent in general. The ideology of moralism can never be
obsolete or outdated, like socialism and capitalism, Momoh claims. It is
an eternal and timeless ideology for all classes of the society. It is,
therefore, this kind of ideology that will stand the test of time and deal
decisively with the problem of corruption in Nigeria and the rest of
Africa. Moralism as a doctrine puts others before or alongside one’s self.
It maintains that honesty, service, and concern for the interest of others
ought to be the basis and measure of all actions and policies in the
society (Azenabor 2010: 137). The interest of the weak and the
disadvantaged should take precedence over that of the strong or
advantaged in any situation of life where there are many interests to
consider. The strong and vulnerable in the society should be looked after;
like the physically challenged, the poor, the children, women, and so on.
Nobody should seek to take advantage of their situation in whatever
manner. What social implication does this doctrine of morality possess?
This doctrine of moralism could help to put our rulers in the society in
check. If they should understand that the interest of the people comes first,
they will not need to siphon public funds in the name of governance. They
will not be corrupt and they will perform their duties in accordance with
the rules of the system. Let us remember that this doctrine of moralism
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teaches that the interest of the greater number should take precedence
to personal and parochial political interests. Momoh advocates that for
this doctrine of moralism to be enforceable, the following measures
have to be taken:
 The institution of an ethical arm of government to oversee the

activities of major government functionaries; and
 The establishment of an active oath taking.
He maintains the current type of oath taking in Africa is a passive one.

We need an active oath taking. That type of oath taking should be
evolved to include what should befall the oath taker if he willfully and
deliberately enriches himself to the detriment of the masses. And the oath
should be invoked in the name of the indigenous gods or spirits or juju. It
does not matter if the swearer of the oath believes in juju or not, but
everyone who is to swear should be prepared adequately for that purpose.
The efficacy of juju does not depend on belief. It is real (Momoh, 1999,
P132). He asserts that a social problem can only be fought only by using
means and methods which members of the society believe to be real.
That is why juju will be a successful weapon against corruption, since
most Africans believe that the power of juju is real. This active oath
taking will always keep the public office holder on his toes, knowing that
there is that invisible mystical power watching him. Again, it will
engender faith in the system.
3.3.3 Evaluation/Critique of Momoh
Momoh’s doctrine of moralism is formulated against the backdrop that

corruption in African societies is assuming an alarming rate. Nigeria is
said to be the country with a dirty record, with unmitigated incidents of
bribery, forgery, counterfeiting. Inflated contracts, dishonesty, nepotism,
leakage of examination questions, unbridled sexual promiscuity,
embezzlement, and a host of other social anomalies (Azenabor 2010:
143). The problem of corruption is of philosophical concern because
corruption touches on morality which is ethical, and ethics happens to
be a branch of philosophy. Secondly, corruption is of philosophical
concern also because the agent concerned in corruption is man, and the
analysis of the nature of man and the society is the job of philosophy
(Azenabor 2010: 143). Some of the revered ancient Greek philosophers
like Socrates and Aristotle were also anti-corruption crusaders.
Corruption is simply an act done to give one an undue advantage, which
is inconsistent with one’s duty and the rights of others. So, corruption
always has to so with a violation, an abuse of the social order, norms,
rules and rights. Since all human actions are propelled by desires,
corruption also is a product of human desire. We have our primary
and secondary desires, as Bertrand Russell says. Our primary desires
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include food, shelter, and clothing; while our secondary desire is the
desire to acquire more than the primary desires; the primitive
accumulation of wealth, and when this secondary desire is not met,
many men are ready and willing to do anything, including violence, in
order to secure them.
Momoh’s moralism is reducible to the Golden Rule, but despite that,

there are still some points of divergence. Though both principles attempt
to regulate human behavior and relationship, Momoh’s moralism is more
of an ideology, according to (Azenabor 2010). He, Azenabor, insists that
this moralism upholds dogma with some moral undertones, whereas the
Golden Rule is not an ideology. Rather, the Golden Rule upholds
freewill, which is the fundamental basis of morality. Azenabor (2010)
also contends that Momoh’s moralism is not exactly the same thing as
morality. This is because moralism is the denial that there are other
categories of value beside morality. It does not acknowledge other
aspects of value systems apart from morality itself. Azenabor alleges that
moralism propounds a slave morality. This form of morality is described
as that which only brings out the qualities which alleviate the existence
of sufferers. Qualities like sympathy, kindness, warm heart, humility, and
friendliness; qualities which, according to Nietzsche, are coming from
weakness, decadence and fear. These are slave morality which Nietzsche
advised be thrown overboard because they are retrogressive and negative
(Azenarbo 2010: 146). The slave morality is a resentment of the slave
against the master, and prevents outstanding men from growth. They
will always live in the pity of their master, thereby not doing any
outstanding thing to gatecrash the master category. It must be pointed out
that whether or not the above criticisms against moralism holds water is
highly debatable, as they appear to be mere allegations, without adequate
grounding. This includes the claim on the difference between moralism
and morality or the golden rule.
Momoh’s suggestion of the establishment of an ethical arm of

government has been subjected to critical analysis, and it has been
observed that the creation of such an arm of government will put too
much powers on the arm, and secondly, it is doubtful if the ordinary
setting up of an ethical arm of government will do, since the challenge is
squarely a moral one, which will need individual decisions to remedy.
We have the conventional police which has been given that responsibility
of enforcing the laws of the land, but since the police is presently
struggling to do that, one wonders what ethical police will achieve in that
direction. What we need most in African is a proper moral and spiritual
education for all societies. Momoh describes his suggestion of active oath
taking as radical and revolutionary, based on the beliefs and culture of
Africans. But critics could describe such a suggestion as primitive and
retrogressive. That suggestion could take away fifty years of African
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civilization and quest to join the modern world. If such a method is

utilized, it will still lose its efficacy and value in no time. Thisis because
given the Nigerian factor, an antidote will soon be found to neutralize
whatever powers in the juju. The juju men, who will always be party to
the original preparation of the charm, might likely be buyable, and by
that, the whole system will be corrupted once again. Therefore, what
really matters is the choice of the individual member of the society to be
moral and not some form of forceful juju oath swearing.
1. The African world is ultimately a _______ one and that is why it

isbelieved that the moral values are founded on religion.
2. Momoh’s moralism is reducible to the Golden Rule, but despite

that, there are still some points of divergence (a) True (b) False (c)
Undetermined (d) None of these
3.4 Summary
Morality is dependent on the individual person. No matter the level of

religious persuasion, people who have made the decision to act right will
always do so, and people who have not made such decisions will
continue to act wrongly until such a time that they will understand the
essence of doing good. As Plato said, man can only be immoral and do
evil because of ignorance. It is ignorance that makes people to do the
wrong thing. Nobody will willfully commit evil if such a person
understands the repercussions of doing so. People indulge in bad habits
because they have not really been educated enough on the negative
effects of such habits. The importance of moral education in Africa can,
therefore, not be overemphasized. When people get the right moral
education, they will begin to put these moral rules into practice and our
society will better for it. The African world is ultimately a religious one
and that is why it is believed that the moral values are founded on religion.
But some people still believe that reason and common sense play a big
role in fashioning and in the evolution of moral values. Man is the agent
involved and man has reason and common sense. These moral codes will
only apply when man deploys his rational faculties appropriately. God
has given man rationality and reason, but it now depends on man to
deploy these attributes accordingly, in order to keep order in the society.
The society does not wantto self-destruct, that is why it has evolved these
moral values to put things in check and to regulate relationships between
individuals and the society. No society survives on anarchy, so every
society will make sure that peace and harmony reign, and that man’s
excesses are tamed to the barest minimum with these values. In the final
analysis, morality and moralism imply doing the right thing and avoiding
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the wrong thing. African societies will be better off with a well-
structured and organized system that will usher in the much needed moral
society.
Azenabor, G. (2010). Modern theories in African Philosophy. Lagos:

Byolah Publishers.
Gbadegesin, (1998). Individuality, Community and the Moral Order. In

Coetz, P & Roux, J. (Eds). African Philosophy Reader. New York:
Routeledge.

Momoh, C. (1998). Philosophy of New, Past and an Old Future.
Auchi: African Philosophy Project Publication.
Oluwole, S. (1995). Witchcraft, Reincarnation and the Godhead. Lagos:

Excel Publishers.
1. Religious;
2. (a)
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Unit Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.3 Nature of African Religion
4.3.1 Structure of African Religion
4.3.2 Challenges of African Religion
4.3.3 Values of Religion
4.4 Summary
4.1 Introduction
This unit introduces us to the African traditional religion. The African

religion is said to be the source of cosmology and ontology in African
societies. The African’s relationship with supernatural being brings
about two different responses; he may seek to control the supernatural
being or adopt the attitude of submission. The African believes that the
universe was a created by a Supreme Bering who is called God, and he
also believes that this God is worthy of worship and submission. The
African religion comprises of institutionalized system of symbols,
beliefs, values and practices focused on questions of ultimate meaning
and reality. It is a religion believed have been handed down by the
ancestors who lived a long time ago before this generation. The main
medium of transfer and preservation of this religion is oral tradition;
proverbs, myths, wise sayings, songs, and so on. The African world is
ultimately explained religiously and every African, no matter his
immediate culture and society, believes in one the spiritual beings and
gods. The African religion could properly designate as the search and
quest for ultimate cause of things, the Supreme maker of the universe.
This Supreme maker of the universe who is said to be God, has stipulated
some basic and fundamental laws in nature about individual and group
relationships and conduct.
Traditional beliefs, history, culture and the environment have had

tremendous influence on the African religion, as well as accumulated
experiences in the universe. The African religions are not also some sets
of dogmas, every person just have to assimilate whatever religious ideas
and practices that are held in his family and community (Metuh 1978: 19).
In the African religion, there are gods, goddesses and other spirit beings
which are regarded as intermediaries to the Supreme Being. Africans
consult and pour libations for these intermediaries to be able to reach the
Supreme who is believed to be over and above the rest of the lesser
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gods and spirit beings. In studying this religion, we shall explore the
nature, values and challenges of it. The religion as we understand is
embedded deep into the African culture; as it is very difficult for one to
differentiate one from the other. That is why some scholars believe that
African religion is the culture, tradition and customs of the African
peoples. What is known as African tradition and customs can also be
called African religion. We should note that some Africans who are
practicing Christians still value and maintain these customs and
traditions in their day to day lives.
• explain the meaning and sources of African religion

• examine the challenges of African religion
• discuss the structure of African religion
• explain the values of African religion.
4.3 The Nature of African Religion
What is the nature of African religion? How does it differ from other
forms of religious practices? Mbiti (1977: 10) observes that religion can
be defined in five different dimensions and parts, as no one aspect has the
entire meaning of religion in it. He explained religion in form of:
• Beliefs, this is that which show the way people think about the
universe and their attitude towards life itself. African religion is
concerned with beliefs such as God, spirits, human life, magic,
the hereafter, and so on.
• Practices, ceremonies and festivals, these are also very important

in any religion. They show how people express their beliefs in
practical terms, and they involve praying, making of sacrifices,
rituals, observing various customs, and so on. There are festivals
to mark harvest time, planting time and so on as we have earlier
noted.
• Religious objects and places, these are the things the people have
set apart as holy in the religion. These things and places are notb
commonly used except for special worship occasions. Some of
these things are made by man while others are taken in their natural
form.
• Values and morals, these also form part and parcel of any religion
including the African religion. These are the norms that guide the
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relationship between individuals and communities. They cover

topics such as truth, justice, decency, love, respect, keeping of
promises, and so on. These values help to maintain order in the
society and harmony in the society.
• Religious leaders, they are the people who conduct religious

matters such as ceremonies, sacrifices, formal prayers, and
divinations. These people have better knowledge of religious
matters and they act as priests, diviners and priestesses. They are
well respected within the community as without them religious
activities will not function properly. They act as the human
keepers of religious heritage. They form an essential part of
African religion since the religion will not function without them.
These are the major components every religion, and the African religion
also has them. They are what contribute to make up any religion and we
cannot define religion by only one or two of these components, they have
to be considered together to form a genuine definition of religion.
African religion is the product of thinking by the African forefathers who

formulated religious ideas, beliefs, and ceremonies by observing their
natural environment and surroundings. By so doing, they evolved laws
which safeguarded the life of the individual and the community. These
laws and traditions are what combine to make up what is known as the
African religion. Religion for Africans, has been the normal way of
looking at life and observing the universe through the ages. It is part of
the African heritage, and as we have said in the previous units, no
traditional African is entirely without a religion, that is, if religion is said
to the relationship between man and the invisible world of the spirits. The
African believes in the spirit, and also acknowledges that the spirit world
and the physical work together as part of an indivisible reality. Mbiti
(1977) notes that Africans who live according to their traditional values
are said to be religious. Therefore, African tradition is a tradition with
religious undertone; one cannot actually separate the two. Metuh (1987:
p1) has also noted that the African religion is ethnic religion. They are
folk religion which has grown out of the experiences and practices of the
people who live in small scale societies, so their tenets are tailored to suit
their unique needs. That is to say that the African religion was evolved
to see to the particular social, political and environmental needs of the
African peoples. African peoples for a long time understood that a
religion should be able to solve real time unique challenges of the people.
The African religion does not have a systematic writing through which
the tenets of the religion is spread, but this does not limit the influence of
the environment, history, culture, and accumulated experiences of the
people over the years(ibid). The main medium of spreading and passing
this religion from one generation to the other is oral tradition.
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4.3.1 Structure of African Religion
By structure of the African religion, we mean the hierarch of beings

in the religion. The African has structured his religion and God, the
Supreme Being at the highest of it, followed by the ancestors who are
departed members of the community overlooking the affairs of the
community from the land of the living-dead, we have priests and
priestesses who carry out the religion as its professionals, and lastly, we
have the ordinary man in the community who relates with the spirit world
through these priests and priestesses. Parrinder (1975) explains that the
supernatural powers in the African religion are believed to be in
hierarchies. There is no wild confusion of forces and explanation is given
why some powers are a believed to be more potent than others. The
highest in this structure of beings and forces is the Supreme Being- God
who is believed by the African to have created everything in the universe
and made man the centerpiece of that creation. He is often considered
to be remote that men do not pray to him regularly, but in time of great
distress, Africans turn to God directly. Ancestors and other spirit beings
are intermediaries between man and the Supreme Being, sacrifices and
offerings might be made to them which should be passed on to the source
of all, which is God. God is experienced as an all-pervading reality. He is
the constant participant in the affairs of human beings. About Him,
Africans confess to know little or nothing (Edet 2009). The African
believes that God, since He cannot be approached directly in most cases,
should be approached through intermediaries like the ancestors and spirit
beings. Mbiti (1977) contends that the African knowledge of God is
expressed in proverbs, short statements, songs, prayers, myths, stories
and religious ceremonies. In the African traditional life, there are no
atheists.
As we have stated, second on the structure are the ancestors and other
spirit beings that are believed to be closer to God than the rest of us. The
ancestors are the living-dead who once co-existed with the rest of us, but
later died a natural death at old age in order to keep watch over the
community form the land of the living-dead. That is why Africans
usually describe death as joining one’s ancestors. It is believed that these
ancestors are still alive, ordinary humans cannot be able to see them.
They are the ones who pass the request of the community to God and
also look over from the land of the living-dead to make sure that the
moral values of the community are kept by all and sundry. Anyone who
violates any of these moral codes could be punished by the ancestors,
even with death. Another stage of the structure of the African religion
is the stage of the diviners, priests and priestesses. These are the people
that communicate and commune with the spirit world in order to find
solutions to the challenges of the individual and the community (Edet
2009). They are the ones that, after due consultations, will specify
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the form of sacrifices and appeasements to be offered to the gods and

spirits. Individuals consult them for individual problems, while the
community consults them as a whole for any problem that affects the
whole community. The ordinary is at the last stage of the structure of
the African religion. But he is also arguably the most important because
without him, the religion will not have worshippers and adherents. He
worships the Supreme Being through the ancestors, gods and spirit being
because he believes that the Supreme Being cannot be often reached
directly by an ordinary mortal. He pours libations, sacrifices and offering
in order to appease and pleads whenever he has violated any of the moral
values of the community, in order to avoid punishment.
4.3.2 Challenges of African Traditional Religion
The African also has its own challenges which it has grappled with for a
very long time. The earlier interpretation of the religion by the Europeans
who came to African did not help matters about the perception of the
religion. They described the religion in derogatory terms like animism,
primitive culture, fetishism, heathenism and so on. This is a challenge of
derogation that the African religion is still contending with till this day
(Mbiti 1982). This wrong characterization of the African religion by
Western colonialists and scholars put a dent on the integrity of the
religion. This was also a ploy by the West to make Africans abandon
their own traditional religion and accept Christianity. Christianity is
another challenge that confronts the religion. This is because Christian
preachers have continued to derogate the religion of the Africans by
demonizing it and associating with evil. This is not to say that, just like
every other religion. African religion does have areas to improve, but the
onslaught against the religion and way of life of the Africans by some
Christian preachers and adherents is quite unwarranted. Another source
of challenge for the African religion is the fact that there is no written
holy book for its adherents to consult, just like other religions. This has
made it difficult to find any form of uniformity in the religion, as
different peoples in African practice it the way they deem fit. Some
scholars have also observed that the lack of written scripture is a unique
distinguishing feature of the African religion, and should not be regarded
as a challenge in any way.
The African religion also has a problem of lack of common language of

practice. We have so many languages in the African communities and
local societies, so each community practices it with its own local
language. This means that if another African visits a different
community, he may not be able to practice the religion comfortably
because the language and ways of practice will be different from what
he is used to in his own community. This is why Mbiti has argued that
there is nothing like African religion, but we have African traditional
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religions; meaning that each local community in African has a particular

and unique way of practicing the religion, which of course differs from
the next community. That also brings us to the problem of lack of
centralized leadership. The African religion, due its communal nature, has
no centralized leadership like Christianity and Islam. This means that
decision making is left to the autonomous communities and individuals
to make; after consulting with their priests and diviners.
4.3.3 Values of Religion
Does religion possess any instrumental end and value? Values are
important because they are regarded as belonging to a higher level. They
cannot be replaced easily, just as they are not negotiable (Cipriani , 2017).
Mbiti (1977) analyses the different values of religion to mankind. And
the African traditional religion also plays these roles in the African
communities. Religion is a very aspect of the human existence and it
helps man psychologically, spiritually, socially and economically. There
is nothing the traditional African does that does not have a religious
meaning, because the African believes that the world is a religious one.
The traditional African religion is responsible for cultivating the whole
person of the African (Mbiti 1977: 198). The following are some the
values of religion according to Mbiti (1977):
 It is the duty of religion to provide people with a view of the

world in that it helps the African to understand the world in which
he lives. Some questions which arise from the experiences of the
world are answered by religion, and the African has found these
answers practicable and meaningful in his life. Religion gives
people a way of understanding the world and their own existence.
Some of these questions are questions nothing else can answer,
but the fact that the people are obliged to believe their religion,
they believe also in the answers even though they might not be
satisfactory;
 The African religion provides us with moral values of the world.

Since man has both physical and spiritual components, it is
religion that nourishes his spiritual component. Religion helps to
provide spiritual insights by form of prayers, rituals, ceremonies,
sacrifices, devotions and so on. The African religion, as we have
seen, has many rituals which are channels for the contact between
men and the spirit world;
 Religion is also said to have inspired great ideas (Mbiti 1977: 200)
concerning the moral life- courage, love, endurance, helpfulness,
sense of kinship and so on. It has also helped us in the area of
cultural achievements like arts, dancing, music, carving and
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architecture. It has helped to keep marriages, political systems,

kinship, and so on;
 It is also a means of communication in terms of social

communication and the communication between man and God. In
terms of social communication, people interact together and
perform rituals together; they also meet indirectly through having
common myths, legends, values, traditions, morals, and
worldviews. In the aspect of communication with God, religion
helps to turn our lives towards God so that we can communicate
with Him. This is because, African peoples believe in spirit beings
and the invisible powers of nature as an essential dimension of the
African religion;
 Religion also helps to make people understand their limitations in

that it tells them that they are created and have limited powers and
control over the universe. This is what drives them to trust in God
through rituals, ceremonies, and divinations. It makes people to be
humble, and to understand that the universe has a maker who is all-
powerful; and
 The African religion also celebrates life. We have seen different

forms of ritual in the African traditional religion meant to
celebrate life and the joy of living. African religion does not
promise people a better life after this. People have passed did
not go to a better place or a worse place, but it teaches us to
celebrate the joy of being alive.
4.4 Summary
The African traditional religion is a part and parcel of the African

worldview. And as we have said, the African does not do anything
without his religion, and although most Africans now subscribe to either
Christianity or Islam, an African does not entirely abandon his religion.
So, this religion is an essential part of the African traditional thought and
philosophy. It is embedded in the cultural practices of the people and
gives the people some sense of the sacred and community. There have
been many detractors of this religion; especially the Western influence of
Christianity and colonialism. But the despite the many challenges that
confront it in the contemporary times, it is imperative to note that with
slight changes, the African religion will continue to wax strong because
it is part of the life of the average African. This unit has treated the African
traditional religion which is an aspect of the African philosophy. One
cannot talk about African philosophy without talking about the religion
of the Africans, since religion forms a nucleus of the worldview and
reality of the African peoples. As Parrinder (1976) has opined, we find
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mixed form of religious belief in Africa; dynamism, spiritism, and

theism. The spirit powers are ranked hierarchically and approached
based on needs. Magical powers are meant for teething troubles, the
ancestors are consulted over land disputes and other related matter, while
above all these is God the creator. All these powers are essential because
they help in his fight against disease, drought or witchcraft. Religion is
not just for a special class, though there are specialists in ritual; it is not
for those who feel piously inclined, though there are divergent
temperaments. But religion is part and parcelof the life of all Africans
as certain transitional rites have to be passed in order to gain access into
the more spiritual classes. Religion provides the moral and legal values
which the society cannot provide on its own by secular sanctions.
1. Mbiti identifies _______ numbers of values of religion (a) 1 (b) 2

(c) 4 (d) 5
2. The African religion has a problem of lack of common language of

practice (a) Certainly true (b) Certainly false (c) Possibly true (d)
Possibly false
Cipriani, R. (2017). “Religion, Culture and Sustainable Development”.

Religion, Values and Sustainable Development. vol. 1.
Edet, E. (2009). “The Concept of God in African Traditional Religion”.

Sophia: An African Journal of Philosophy. vol 12. No1
Mbiti, J. (1982). African Religion and Philosophy. London: Heinemann.
Metuh, I. (1987). Comparative Study of African Traditional Religions.

Onitsha: IMCO Publishers.
Parrinder, G. (1975). African Traditional Religion. London: Sheldon

Press.
1. (d);
2. (a)
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1. The African world is ultimately a _______ one and that is why it
isbelieved that the moral values are founded on religion
2. Momoh’s _______ is reducible to the Golden Rule, but despite

that, there are still some points of divergence
3. The African religion has no problem of lack of common language

of practice (a) Certainly true (b) Certainly false (c) Possibly true
(d) Possibly false
4. Momoh’s moralism is not reducible to the Golden Rule, but

despite that, there are still some points of divergence (a) True (b)
False (c) Undetermined (d) None of these
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MODULE 4 SOME SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT/

CONCEPTS IN AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY
Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African Philosophy

Unit 3 African Political Theories
Unit 4 African Traditional Thought and Western Thought
Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African

Philosophy
Unit Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.3 Contemporary African Philosophy
1.3.1 School of Logical Positivism/Analytic Philosophy
1.3.2 The Scholastic School
1.3.3 Philosophical Materialist School
1.3.4 The Conversationalist School
1.4 Summary
1.1 Introduction
The schools of thought in contemporary African philosophy represent

the principles and logical character, as well as the individuals who
played important roles in formulating the various systems and
viewpoints. Members of a particular school are recognized based on
their interest in a particular philosophic tradition or the other. It is also
based on the defence and common view shared by such figures and
philosophers. The contemporary African philosophy was born after
colonialism and the subsequent fight for liberation by different African
philosophers and political leaders. This also has to do with the great
intellectual movement which came with the adoption of philosophy as
a formal course of study in African institutions of higher learning
(Nwala 2010: 119). Resulting from that, many schools of thought in
African Philosophy were born. These schools of thought mirror the
Western pattern of schools of thought in philosophy, but the
difference is that this time around, they are promulgated by
philosophers and scholars of African origin who sought to use these
ideas to champion the liberation of the continent and also compete with
what is obtainable in Western philosophy.
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• explain the meaning of contemporary African philosophy

• identify the important figures in contemporary African
philosophy
• discuss the different schools of thought in African philosophy.
1.3 Contemporary African Philosophy
Contemporary African philosophers attempt to re-think the challenges

that confronted their pioneer counterparts. While the pioneer African
philosophers discussed and argued on issues bothering on meta-
philosophy, their successors in the contemporary stage, in a bid to give a
novel response to the same issues, ended up introducing innovative
frameworks and entirely fresh perspectives, new themes and solutions.
Contemporary African philosophy, having started from the days of
Tempels’ La Philosophie Bantou, has made tremendous progress,
having the issue of African identity always featuring as a prominent
theme (Asiegbu 2016). The problem of African identity has always been
a basis of the discussion in contemporary African philosophy. Indeed,
one might argue that there is no other issue in contemporary African
philosophy apart from the issue of identity. This issue of identity was
sparked by the desire of Africans to defend both their skin colours and
their ability to reason cognitively, as well as Africa’s contribution to the
development and civilization of the world. That was largely the quest to
overcome Western hegemony by African scholars during and
immediately after colonialism. The world over, whether it be Chinese,
Indian, or American contemporary philosophy, the issue has always
been that of identity (Asiegbu 2016). It was not only about liberating
Africa from the clutches of the West, but it was also about the issue of
identity. Freedom and the quest to defend their identity as Africans was
what led to the birth of what is now known as contemporary African
philosophy.
Makumba (2007: 94) describes contemporary African philosophy as the

period from around the second half of the 19th century to this day. The
contribution of the 20th century to African philosophy was a
monumental one as contemporary African philosophy, with the
establishment of philosophy as a course of study in the institutions of
higher learning in Africa and the rest of the world, has spread across the
continent of Africa and even beyond. Contemporary African philosophy
is putting African philosophy on the map of formal and scientific
philosophical research in the world (Makumba 2007). Though
contemporary African philosophy took off on a defensive note, to
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defend the continent, and black people in general, against cultural,

scientific and historical degradation of their integrity by the West,
coupled with colonial oppression and exploitation. But these have been
overcome and contemporary African philosophy has now moved on to
other concerns: that of strict philosophical research which treats all the
central themes of philosophy (Makumba 2007: 95). Another area which
contemporary African thought is concerned with, as it is, is the
development and economic emancipation of the continent of Africa.
Poverty, illiteracy, diseases, famine, and so on, are still very present at
an alarming level in Africa. So, African philosophy should also begin to
device ways of tackling these vices. Makumba (2007) observes that true
development and emancipation need to be built on a solid
foundation, and philosophy has the task of providing such solid
foundation.
Nwala (2010: 119) observes that contemporary philosophy is largely not

distinct from the social philosophies formulated by great social thinkers
and leaders of the African liberation movement. According to him, it
includes the contemporary social thought in Africa such as the
philosophy postulated by Senghor, Nkrumah, Nyerere, Azikiwe,
Awolowo, etc. The Great Debate about African philosophy was about
the existence, scope, and nature of African philosophy. Contemporary
African philosophy has not been limited within the boundaries of the
continent alone; it has also gone far and wide all over the world, carried
along by both scholars and philosophers of African heritage, as well as
those that are not of African origin. By and large, it is worth
reiterating that the essence and value of contemporary African thought
was that of emancipation and liberation, as well as the establishment of
African thought and civilisation as an important contributor in world
civilization and development. But today, professional philosophers in
contemporary Africa have a lot of work to do in the area of proffering
workable solutions to the challenges confronting the continent.
Abanuka (2013: 119) asserts that the skepticism concerning the

existence of African philosophy marked a stage in the progress of
African reflective consciousness, as the authentic African mind cannot
afford to doubt the existence of African philosophy. It is the non-
African, Abanuka (2013) contends, that will have doubts about African
philosophy because he does not understand African culture and
civilisation.
1.3.1 School of Logical Positivism/Analytic philosophy
This group is the group that flatly rejects the concept of ethno-
philosophy. Nwala (2010: 125) argues that most of the philosophers in
this school are largely Western trained and influenced by the logical
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positivism of the Vienna Circle and British empiricist movement. This

school of thought believes that epistemology and logic are the only
keys to philosophy. They share a common perception with the post-
modern which argues that science should be the only method and
standard used in measuring philosophy. Nwala (2010: 125) continues:
“while some emphasize conceptual analysis and clarification of meaning
as the central concern of philosophy, others emphasise reliance on the
findings of the experimental sciences for the derivation of the
fundamental concepts and properties of philosophy.”
Niekerk (2015) asserts that the analytic style focuses on testing the
coherence, validity and truth of specific propositional claims. Analytic
philosophy also has to do with formulating and reformulating
propositions in ordinary language such that the meaning will be broken
down as much as possible. Nwala mentions the likes of Robin Horton,
Kwasi Wiredu, Henry Odera Oruka, Peter Bodunrin, John Sodipo, E. A
Ruch, Gene Blocker, and so on as members of this school of thought in
African philosophy.
This school of thought disagrees with the claim that anything that
does not relate to the analytic tradition of Western philosophy does not
qualify as philosophy. The analytic tradition of African philosophy is
interested in three related assumptions (Kayange 2018: 6):
• That philosophical problems are a consequence of the misuse

or misunderstanding of the meaning of language;
• That philosophy is the logic of meaning and truth; and
• That meaning is determined by the use of language
They insist that the misuse of language and meaning will cause us to
draw false inferences. Analytic philosophy places emphasis and
importance on the concept of analysis, or better still, logical analysis. It
is generally about breaking something into smaller parts so that it
becomes intelligible. In the 19th century, positivism became an
empiricist interpretation and systematization of sciences, which was
combined with the general theory of history of the society as a
theoretical articulation of the definite set of political problems. Positivist
African philosophers believe that African philosophy is supposed to
align with the methods of science, empiricism and the knowledge of the
senses. In the final analysis, we should note that the major belief of the
positivists is that the rules of the experimental sciences should govern
philosophy.
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1.3.2 The Scholastic School
This school in contemporary African philosophy was instituted by the

clergy. The first books on traditional African philosophy were written by
clergies like Placide Tempels, John Mbiti, Abe Kagame, and so on.
These people set the stage for the practice of scholasticism in African
philosophy. The main feature of scholasticism is the belief that religious
concepts and principles are the basis of traditional mode of thought
(Nwala 2010: 126). They agree that Western thought is scientific, while
also insisting that African thought is religious. They also teach that
the traditional African mode and the Western scientific mode are
concerned with two different domains of reality, the non-empirical and
the empirical. Nwala (2010) agrees that there is continuity between the
traditional categories of thought and the scientific categories. He
believes that one stage can transform to another stage. This school of
thought also emphasizes a particular function and character of
philosophy, i.e., the assumption that there is only one way of arriving at
the truth philosophically. The truth which philosophy seeks is related to
the ultimate truth, and the good which philosophy seeks is not the
practical good of this life, but the ultimate good which lies beyond this
life.
The Good, according to scholastics is God. So the meaning and

mission of philosophy is the search for God and its moral and spiritual
function is said to be more important to the scholastics than its technical,
theoretical, or materialist functions (Nwala 2010). This is saying that the
scholastic school of African philosophy borrows its ideas from the
Thomist philosophy of the West in insisting that philosophy’s main goal
is the search for the ultimate Good. That the moral and spiritual
functions of philosophy are more desirable than its intellectual and
material essence. Scholastic philosophy reduces every philosophical
theory to religion and theology. They assume that we cannot do
philosophy, or traditional philosophy without the religious and
theological undertone. This school of thought in African philosophy
places religion and the belief in God at the centre of the philosophical
enterprise in Africa. Scholastic philosophy had its origin in the
foundation of Carolingian schools, an event which was the beginning
of the intellectual renaissance of Europe (Turner 1903: 417). It was the
philosophy of the schools which resulted from the attempt to dispel the
intellectual darkness of the European age of barbarism, and throughout
the course of its development, it bore the mark of its origin. They
fought to banish mysticism and adopt reason. They were the
schoolmen who sought to unify philosophy and theology, to discover
and demonstrate the relationship between natural truth and the truth of
supernatural order.
112
They attach independent value to philosophy and theology, while also

conceding that philosophy and theology can never contradict. The
doctrine of continuity and independence of the natural with respect to
the supernatural order of truth is the core of the doctrine of scholasticism
(Turner 1903). This is the thought which inspired the first speculative
attempts of the schoolmen, and which, after having manifested itself in
so widely different forms in the philosophy of Erigena, of Abelard, and
of St. Anselm, was finally crystallized in the principles in which St.
Thomas enunciated his definition of the relations between reason and
faith. The day has long gone by when a historian could, without fear of
contradiction and protest, represent Scholastic philosophy as the
subjugation of reason to authority. It is now universally conceded that
the phrase ancilla theologize implied no servility on the part of
philosophy (Tuner 1903), but rather the honorable service of carrying
the torch by which the path of theology is lighted. One has but to look at
the vast number of volumes which the schoolmen wrote to realize how
much value they attached to philosophy and how inexorably they felt
the need of exercising their reason.
1.3.3 The Philosophical Materialist School

This school affirms the necessity of analysis and the scientific basis of
philosophical propositions. It believes that both thought and nature have
dialectic characteristics, and also emphasizes the social basis of
consciousness (Nwala 2010: 130). To them, the categories of thought
have both historical and generic characters. While they recognize the
speculative dimension of philosophy, they believe that by and large, this
speculative thought must bow to the scientifically established principles
and theories (Nwala 2010).
Philosophy, like any other intellectual activity, must be able to serve

the fundamental needs of humanity. This is because, philosophy is not
all about formal activities alone, the truth of philosophical activities
must be by practice in real life. They conceive philosophy as an agent of
change and goes try to establish a link between philosophy and
ideology. This is to say that, to the materialist school of African
philosophy and even the materialist school all over the world,
philosophy should serve as an agent of change, a special intellectual
engagement that will translate to improving the welfare of human
beings. It should not only limit itself to the walls of universities and
institutions of higher learning. It is not all about rationalism, but about
the material needs of the people and the physical emancipation of the
human race. The materialist philosophy has been a source of social
development in contemporary Africa. The socio-philosophical thought
of this school brings to the fore the need for philosophy to become
relevant to people and lead to material and economic change (progress)
in the world.
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They criticise what they understand to be the apparent abstract nature of

analytic philosophy as they believe that it makes philosophy a
disinterested activity, which is only involved with abstract reality. The
contemporary materialist African philosophers draw inspiration from
Karl Marx, because Marxism was the most plausible perspective for
interpreting a 20th century world which was shaped and dominated by
colonialism and neo-colonialism (Nwala 2010: 123). In this regard,
Nwala cites Okolo (1990: 130) as follows: Karl Marx made use of
philosophy, not just to interpret the world, but more importantly to
change it, a pointer the clear conception of the social and practical
function of philosophy. This conception is equally reminiscent of
Mao’s constant call to liberate philosophy from the confines of the
philosophers’ lecture rooms and text books and to turn it into a sharp
weapon of struggle in the hands of the masses.
This is to say that the materialist school of contemporary African
philosophy is interested in the idea of social change. It also implies that
philosophy should not be confined to the class rooms and libraries alone,
but should be used materially to effect social change. They believe that
philosophy, especially African philosophy, should be a tool for social
change, and the emancipation of the African peoples from the clutches
of colonialism and neo-colonialism. It was a philosophy for mass action,
for the people to awake and take their destiny in their own hands. To
them, if philosophy cannot be used as vehicle for social change, then
philosophy could be said to be useless to the ordinary man on the streets
of Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, Sudan, and so many
African countries where the people are struggling to feel any form of
impact of leadership in a positive way.
Enhancing social change should be the job of philosophy, and
philosophers in Africa should begin to look towards that direction in
their day- to- day involvement in the enterprise of philosophy. This
philosophy of change should also be constructed with respect to the
social realities of Africa and the Third World. Kwame Nkrumah was
able to construct a philosophy of change in his Consciencism and
mapped out the stages and theories to be adopted by Africa in order to
enact this social change. Franz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth was also
a philosophy built on the idea of material social change, which
encourages the people not be passive observers of the activities
happening in their land, but to actively participate in the affairs of their
society. Fanon goes on to assert that the problem is to know the place
the leaders give their people, and the kind of social relations that they
decide to set up as well as the conception that they have of the future of
humanity (Fanon 1980, p189). This is a clear- cut expression that the
social condition of the people should be the jurisdiction of philosophy.
The main challenge to contemporary African philosophers today is how
to explore this aspect of the potential of philosophy and turn it into a
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veritable tool for the economic, political, social and material wellbeing
of humanity, and of Africans in particular.
1.3.4 The Conversationalist School

This school of thought in African philosophy emphasises relationship,
interface, mutual interdependence and dialogue between African
cultures in order to conceptualise a more sophisticated thought system in
Africa (Chimakonam, 2017). This school of thought posits that
philosophizing in Africa will be more robust and thought provoking if
the different cultures could come together in dialogue, in order to
present a template for the evolution and reconstruction of ideas that pre-
dominate African philosophy. it is about the revision of positions and
opening of new vistas for thought (Chimakonam, 2017).
This school of thought priortises the sustenance of conversations and

engagements over outcome, because it is about argumentation, but about
shuffling of thoughts to benefit the African society. it can occur both at
the level of individuals and between cultures, worldviews and traditions.
The school of Conversationism is related to the Socratic method of
dialectics; where questions are used as tool to investigate and reach
logical truths. Chimakonam has also argued elsewhere that
Conversationist African philosophy streamlines the minimum
requirement, mode, focus and direction of thinking in contemporary
African philosophy (Chimakonam 2015). This will provide a standard
and guide against illicit philosophising in contemporary African
philosophy.
In the face of the criticisms leveled against the Universalist and

Ethnophilosophy, the Conversationalist school becomes a veritable
replacement for both schools. This school argues that the philosophers
who tried to dismantle both the Universalist and Ethnophilosophy
during the Great Debate had not proposed any form of replacement for
these schools of thought, thereby leaving an empty space in the debate
and conversation (Chimakonam, 2015). The Conversationalist school as
a new epoch in African philosophy, has come to fill that gap.
1. __________also has to do with formulating and reformulating

propositions in ordinary language such that the meaning will be
broken down as much as possible.
2. __________ posits that philosophizing in Africa will be more
robust and thought provoking if the different cultures could come
together in dialogue, in order to present a template for the
evolution and reconstruction of ideas that pre-dominate African
philosophy.
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1.4 Summary
These schools of thought in contemporary African philosophy have no

doubt, strengthened the discussion and the enterprise of African
philosophy a lot. We have learnt that the background of contemporary
African philosophy was the fight against colonialism and neo-
colonialism, to liberate Africa and set her up for sustainable
development. It was a philosophy of liberation. But the question of
whether Africa has truly been liberated today is an ongoing question
which should be left to every African to answer. But despite the answer
each individual may give to the above question, it remains an
indisputable fact that the travails of African philosophy and African
culture and civilization in the hands of the European colonialists and
cultural hegemonists were curbed to a large extent, by contemporary
African philosophers. This unit has been able to treat contemporary
African philosophy while analyzing some of the schools that emerged
as a result of the struggles of contemporary African scholars against
colonial denigration. The school of logical positivism believes that
science should be the only tool with which to measure philosophy. To
them, there is not much difference between philosophical methods and
the scientific method. They are related to the philosophers of the
Vienna Circle and believe that positivism is the only way forward for
philosophy. The Good, according to scholastics is God. So the meaning
and mission of philosophy is the search for God and its moral and
spiritual function is said to be more important to the scholastics than its
technical, theoretical, or materialist functions (Nwala 2010: 129).
Oladipo (2000: 17) argues that there is crisis of relevance due to the
kind of training given to students of philosophy in African Universities.
This training, he maintains, is heavily reliant on the views of Western
philosophers and scholars. The training gives African students the
impression that Western Philosophy is the beginning and the end of
philosophy. The crisis of relevance lies in the fact that, despite these
philosophers being of African descent, they will always try to solve
African problems and contribute to African issues using Western ideas
(ibid). The scholastic school maintains that religion and philosophy
should be fused together and there is really not much difference between
both. And lastly, the school of materialist philosophy argues that
philosophy should serve no other purpose but that of leading and the
midwife of observable material social changes. This school as we have
said, is a call for mass action; a call for the people to arise from passivity
or inactivity to activity and participation in the affairs of their nations.
By so doing, humanity is expected to feel the impact of philosophy.
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Asiegbu, M. (2016). “Contemporary African Philosophy: Emergent

Issues and Challenges”. OGIRISI a New Journal of African
Studies. Retrieved from: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/org.v12i/.1.
Accessed 2/10/2.

Publishers.
Chimakonam, O.J. (2017). “Conversationalism as an Emerging

Method of Thinking in and Beyond African Philosophy.” Acta
Academica. vol. 49. no. 2. pp. 11-33. Retrieved from:
https://dx.doi.org/10.18820/24150479/aa49i2.1.
Chimakonam, O.J. (2015). “Conversational Philosophy as a New

School of Thoought in African Philosophy: A Conversation with
Bruce Janz on the Concept of Philosophical Space”. Confluence
Online Journal of World Philosophies. vol. 3. pp 9-39.
Fanon, F. (1980). The Wretched of the Earth. London: Penguin.
Kayange, G. (2018). Meaning and Truth in African Philosophy.

Malawi: Springer. Online publication:
https://doi.org/10.100071978-3-030-01962-4. Accessed 2/10/21
Makumba, M. (2007). Introduction to African Philosophy. Kenya:

Pauline Publications.
Niekerk, J. (2015). “The Analytic Appeal of African Philosophy”. South

African Journal of Philosophy. vol 34. No 4. pp 514-525.
Retrieved from:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02580136.2015.1104796. Accessed
2/10/21
Nwala, U. (2010). Critical Review of the Great Debate on African

Philosophy. Enugu: Hilly Press.
Oladip. O. (2000). The Idea of African Philosophy: a Critical Study of

the Major Orientations in Contemporary African Philosophy.
Ibadan: Hope Publications.
Oyeshile, O.A. (2006). “The Individual – Community Relationship as

an Issue in Social and Political Philosophy.” In O. Oladipo (Ed.).
Core Issues in African Philosophy. Ibadan: Hope Publication.
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Oyeshile, O.A. (2006). ―Morality and Social Order in Contemporary

Africa‖, Prajna Vihara: Journal of Philosophy and Religion, Vol.
7, No. 1, January – June.
Oyeshile, O.A. (2007). ―Resolving the Tension between Corporate

Existence and the Individual’s Freedom in African Communal
Society. The Yoruba Example‖, Ultimate Reality and Meaning
Vol. 30, No. 4, December.
Tuner, W. (1903). History of Philosophy. London: Ginn & Company.
1. Analytic philosophy;
2. Conversationalist School
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Unit Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.3 The Concept of Humanism
2.3.1 The Concept of African Humanism
2.3.2 The Challenge of Post-Modernism
2.4 Summary
2.1 Introduction
In a bid to provide an appropriate response to the lingering question of

whether there exists anything called African philosophy, African
philosophers have unearthed a particular type of philosophy which is
basically humanist in orientation and ideology. This brand of philosophy
has been tagged African humanism. This brand of philosophy has its
foundation in the African worldview which is overtly humanistic in
orientation and characterization (Eleojo 2014). In other words, the
African outlook views everything according to its relationship with the
human person. Every philosophy has its orientation and existential
base, an acceptable mode, which can serve as a canon of identification.
Azenabor (2010) maintains that there is always a certain minimal
organic relationship among its elements in order to have such a general
characterization. For example, we have the British empiricism,
American pragmatism, German idealism, Russian materialism, and
Indian spiritualism. There is always a style of philosophy that is
persistent or dominant in a people’s orientation, and that philosophy
can be seen as the primary philosophy prevalent among such people. It
is against this backdrop that we consider African humanism as a
philosophical ideology and orientation prevalent in Africa and primary
to the people’s way of thought. The African believes that the human
person is of far greater value than any possession or anything
whatsoever in nature. That is why the Igbo have the name Mmaduka.
The name simply echoes the fact that there is nothing under the sun
which could be used to compare a human being. It is the contention of
African humanism that the African values the human person and
relationships more than everything on earth. And that this worldview
should be preserved and promoted to the world stage as part of Africa’s
rich cultural heritage. Therefore, African humanism is a philosophy that
extols not only the good of the human person and the relationship with
others, but also the good of the African person as the main purpose
of all actions in this worldview (Eleojo 2014). It entails an active
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concern for the welfare of the human person as the central object of
policy (Eleojo 2014). This ideology of African humanism encourages
the best in the evolution of society and the treatment of mankind, and in
the exploitation or use of her natural environment (Igwe 2002: 189). This
implies that even ecological concern forms part of the humanist
orientation of an African. This unit examines the core ideas of African
humanism.
• explain the concept of humanism

• explain the African concept of humanism
• discuss the major comparisons between African and Western
humanism
• analyse the post-modernist critique against humanism.
2.3 The Concept of Humanism
The idea of humanism appeared as a protest to the personal

immortality of Christianity. It is a call for man to make the most of the
current world in form of achievements and building a better life on earth
(Azenabor 2010). It argues that all human values and morality could be
grounded in this earthly existence and experience. There is no conscious
survival after death, so we should endeavour to make maximum use of
the time we live in order to affect people’s lives and make positive
impacts on our world. Humanism as an ideology believes that one’s
service to fellow men is the ultimate moral ideal of the society; nothing
could be compared to rendering service to humanity and contributing
one’s quota to the development and welfare of humanity. “It repudiates
discrimination and reaffirms the spirit of cosmopolitanism, the spirit of
international friendship, brotherhood, and compassionate concern for
fellow human beings throughout the globe” (Azenabor 2010: 111).
Humanism as a concept, just like the materialist we studied above, is

more interested in the solution of the problems of the human being. It is
a human-centered concept. It considers all forms of the supernatural as
myth and sees nature as the totality of being, drawing from the laws of
science and believing that man is an evolutionary product of nature.
The ultimate goal is the improvement of his condition and welfare. This
places the concept as a important ideology for Africans who are badly in
need of improvement on their lives and welfare.
There is this concern that philosophy is unprogressive; discussing the

same questions that were discussed in ancient Greece, which do not
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have any bearing on the individual or humanity in general (Sogolo

1993: 18). This geared up the humanist philosophers, who are bent on
making sure that philosophy becomes a tool for societal reconstruction
and cohesion. To them, we should not always be talking about issues
that were prevalent thousands of years ago in ancient Greece.
Philosophy should be used to settle real life issues and uplift humanity.
Philosophical concepts and principles should not be discussed for their
own theoretical interests, but for the application on the understanding
and improvement of human life. Masolo (1994: 170) has argued that
philosophy must be practical to the extent of being able to change and
transform society. It should not be about theories alone.
The humanists maintain that there must be a connection between

philosophy and the problems of the society; it must serve the community
and humanity in general. The stance of the humanists is in
contradiction with the anti-humanists which hold that all consciousness
is casually or structurally determined, and so humanism places so much
on the decisive influence of social, economic and psychological
structures, as man is left just as a pawn in the game of life, or the self-
determination of the individual is only but an illusion (Eleojo 2014).
But the human person is called upon to make the best of life in this
world, take delight in earthly achievement, and build a better life here
on earth; thereby rejecting religious scholasticism and humble piety
(Mautner 2000).
Azenabor (2010: 113) expresses that there are five stages and
dimensions to humanism:
• The ethical sense of humanism involves the belief that human
beings should be accorded compassion and respect;
• The sociological sense argues that social structures are best
viewed as the products of human agents;
• The historical sense denotes periods such as renaissance, in
which man became the center of scholarly attention. This sense
may also connote the belief that there is an important distinction
between man and animals;
• The fourth is the idea that human beings are sovereign, as against
the issue of the divine or supernatural. Some scholars have
criticized this idea as an atheistic dimension of humanism. In this
stage, humanism becomes the opposite of supernaturalism,
insisting that man should rely on his own capacities rather on
some supernatural powers believed to exist; and
• The fifth sense is placing primacy on human sense or nature. This
puts primacy on the importance of the virtue shared by humans
as a result of their humanity. And in this sense, we talk of
“Africanity” or Africanness”.
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If man relies on the power of reason, courage and vision, he will become
the master of his own destiny. The first notable humanist was
Protagoras, the Greek philosopher who famously said that “man is the
measure of all things”. Humanism is a universal phenomenon; it is
present in all civilizations. At any point where man becomes the center
of active intellectual, religious, philosophical, ideological and artistic
concern, humanism is said to have taken place (Azenarbo 2010: 115).
2.3.1 The Concept of African Humanism
African humanism is, simply put, the adaptation of the humanist

ideology to the concrete situation of the African. It is an attempt to
identify values, practices and cultures indigenous to Africa which set
Africans apart from other peoples of the world. That is, humanism from
the African point of view, the African experience. Azenabor (2010: 115)
stresses that African humanism sets the pattern of African thought and
defines its style, methodology and terms of expression. African
humanism believes in the worth and possibilities of the African,
emphasizing on the African person, his dignity and culture, rather than
science and technology which is the emphasis of the West. Azenabor
(2010) maintains that African humanism stresses interdependence and
relationships among people in the society. This is obviously the idea of
social interaction and cohesion which goes back to the African concept
of personhood which we have studied earlier. So, there is a valid
relationship between the African conception of the human person and
that of African humanism. Both stress the need for social engineering
and cohesion. Obioha & Okaneme (2017) declare that African
humanism is a community- based idea; meaning that the community is
the concern of the concept. They insist that there is really not much
difference between African communalism and African humanism.
Communalism is a doctrine of social organizations, relations and
networking; making it an offshoot of African humanism. African
humanism constitutes all human beings into one universal family of
humankind having one universal father-God (Obioha & Okaneme
2017). They assert that:
In descending into a human society, the human person does not live a
solitary and uncooperative life (the type that characterizes Hobbes’ state
of nature. This is itself a rejection of the concept of the state of nature,
as explicated by Hobbes and other eighteenth-century European
philosophers who asserted the existence of an original pre-social
character of man) but from the outset is involved in an intricate web
of social relationships with other humans in the society (Obioha &
Okaneme 2017: 46).
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This idea further expands the belief that man in the African conception
of humanism is an important, not an isolated entity, but a part and parcel
of the whole societal process, relations and cohesion.
African humanism believes in God, and also believes that man, being a
creation of God, also possesses some of the intrinsic values and
characters of God, hence deserved of some form of dignity and self-
respect. That we are all children of God has a way of influencing the
values and unity attached to the African people (Obioha & Okaneme
2017). And the belief in the human soul which permeates all human
beings constitutes all persons into a universal family of humankind and
brotherhood. Everybody has the nature of man (soul) and merits dignity
and self-worth. This communal personhood simply means that man is a
social animal who is able to interact and relate within the community,
and also pursue his own dignity, as well as the dignity of others. African
humanism states that human beings deserve help and therefore ought to
be helped, and that human beings should be the object of moral standard
of the society. It is aimed at creating a sense of authenticity, and
dedicated not to abstract thinking and conceptual analysis, but to finding
purpose and meaning in the African life and existence (Azenabor 2010:
115).
With African humanism we appreciate the significance of philosophy

within the African context and environment; thereby helping to deepen
the African sense of fellowship and solidarity (ibid). So, man needs his
fellow man to overcome life’s challenges, and life’s ambitions are better
achieved in a cooperative and communitarian environment where all
hands will be on deck to think out solutions and proffer them
accordingly. As the Igbo use to say, Igwe bu ike (there is strength in a
crowd) and I di n’otuotu bu ike (unity is strength). The above sayings
typify the essence of African humanism. Just like the materialist school,
it is a clarion call for a unity of action and for philosophy to be used as
launch pad for social change. And the only agent of this change is the
human person.
Godwin Azenabor ( 2 0 1 0 : 1 2 4 ) discusses the major differences

between the African and Western humanism. One major difference he
identifies is that African humanism does take analysis as its central
focus as it is in the West. He maintains that unlike the African
humanist ideology, the West has this obsession for system building and
the search for certainty. According to him, that is what has led the West
to be able to control and dominate nature including every living thing in
it. The Western idea of humanism requires the ability to analyze and
explain phenomena. Whereas the African literary culture takes
interpretation as its own main focus, the West talks more about analysis
(Azenarbor 2010: 125). But this attitude of interpretation, as
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Azenarbor explains, constitutes a viable alternative to the pure analysis

of the West. Again, the African doctrine of interdependence and
communitarianism is in opposition to the Western doctrine of
individualism. The African concept of humanism has this
communitarian outlook, as against the Western idea of everybody being
overly independent of the community.
Another major difference in the African humanism is about holism
rather than the Western atomism. In holism, the whole is greater than the
parts. Holism upholds systems and it is with the holistic system of
thought that we are able to establish synthesis of human knowledge.
This is quite different from the Western view of atomism where the
part is said to be of more importance than the whole. In the African
humanism, the part is nothing without the whole, because it is the
whole that gives legitimacy and existence to the parts.
The African humanism also goes back to the past, to draw from the
African traditional/indigenous past. Having the African tradition as
major source of knowledge is a major difference between the Western
and African concepts of humanism. The sources of inspiration for both
types of humanism differ greatly. While the Western humanism will
be inspired by Western tradition, the African humanist will always be
influenced by his own traditions and customs. Azenabor also notes that
another source of difference between both forms of humanism is the
urge of the African to co-exist with, instead of conquering nature and
the world. While the Westerner wants to conquer the world by virtue of
his extreme individualism and quest to scientifically subjugate the rest
of the world, the African sees nature and the world as a home where he
needs to exist comfortably and feel at home. The African humanist
understands that the universe is part and parcel of reality; therefore, if he
brings any form of damage to the universe, he is also damaging himself.
Another source of difference is the metaphysical outlook of the African
ontology. The ontology of the African is replete with beings which are
spiritual forces and even the ancestors and other beings; visible,
invisible, concrete and abstract existence. This is what Azenabor (2010)
calls “spiritual empiricism”; meaning that when the right spiritual
apparatus is applied, even nothing will become something. He finalises
it thus:
1) Values derive from human interest - what is good is what
promotes human interest, what is decent for man, what brings
dignity, respect, contentment, prosperity, joy to man and his
community. And what is morally bad or objectionable is what
brings misery, misfortune and disgrace and what is hateful to
both the spiritual and ancestral beings. So, African humanism is
founded exclusively on the consideration of the African
wellbeing.
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(2) Human fellowship or communion is the most important of human

needs, hence inter-dependence and communalism rather than
individualism. This is an offshoot of African cultural ontology,
which is holistic - there are no isolated individuals, man is a
being in relations to others, life is sharing. This spirit is important
to uphold human dignity which is the basis of African humanism
- the conscious attempt to demonstrate a concern for human
interest and problems in Africa in order to enhance progress and
development. Humanism is therefore a concern for a necessity
of finding a harmony between cultures. It is an attitude of
accepting the other for what he is, simply as a human being,
irrespective of his individuality or characteristic. But post
modernism is opposed to this harmony or commonness
(Azenabor 2010: 126-127).
2.3.2 The Challenge of Post-Modernism
Post-modernism has posed a very serious challenge to the concept of

humanism in general. Post-modernism is both a form of culture and
thought. As a form of culture, it emphasizes pluralism and the belief that
we should celebrate difference. As a form of thought it is suspicious
of the classical notion of truth, reason, identity, objectivity,
universalism, and any form of single framework or ultimate grounds of
explanation (Eagleton 1996). This simply means that post-modernism
does not accept ultimate thinking and value standards in the society. It
preaches against absolutist excesses and questions the validity of taking
any form of model or reality as a standard or yardstick for judging
others. It does not agree that the society should set standard on how
people should behave or how they should relate with one another in the
society. The moral standard and values of the society should be set
aside and people should be treated according to the way they have
decided to live their lives. The society should be all-embracing and no
one should be rejected because of the moral standards such a person has
decided to maintain. The post- modernist movement argues that truth
has many sides; hence no one should use a particular side or version of
truth to impose judgment on another person. Adopting a particular
standard and using it as a yardstick to judge others, just like in
humanism, is anti-freedom, and dictatorial, hence it is not acceptable in
the modern world.
The idea of a dominating mode of thought like humanism really needs

reconstruction because no specific system in the world provides an
absolute. This is comparable to Karl Popper’s critical rationalism. No
intellectual tradition in the world is capable of serving as the universal
paradigm from which every other alternative should be assessed. It is
against universalism, immutability, sameness, and essentialism
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(Azenabor 2010: 128). Truth is a relative thing and setting universal

standards for anything is a mistaken idea.
No universal standard should be set, rather the world should celebrate

diversity of ideas and alternatives, as it is the hallmark of the modern
world. To them, there is no essence, or common in the sense of certain
properties that humans share based on their Africanity or humanity. It is
just about the individual person and his unique ideals and characters. It
poses a radical challenge to any system that adopts absolute values,
culturalism, metaphysical foundations, and identity; it mobilizes
multiplicity, non-identity, anti- foundation, and cultural relativism
against these values (ibid, p128). It believes that allowing multi-
culturalism is tolerance, and the idea of setting standards can even be
seen as racism and anti-Semitism. As Azenabor (2010) asserts, the main
thrusts of post-modernism are: “There is no absolute or universal truth,
knowledge, reality and morality.”
This simply implies that the post-modernists believe that philosophy

should close shop; as well as its essential branches like ethics and
metaphysics. We only have interpretations which are according to our
biases, race, class and gender. Post-modernism is a profound attack on
the idea of standard and moral values, but we can imagine what can
happen in our world when we set no standard moral values or when we
lower them to mean just everything anybody thinks. Morality and values
should not be anything anybody thinks, they should not just be based on
individual standards. There are universal values and morality also is
universal; people can only strive to meet with these universal
standards. So the fact that some people have decided not to even try
to strive does not mean that these standards do not exist. Besides,
postmodernism mistakes perception for truth. Different people perceive
different aspects of the truth. But none of these perceptions represents
the truth. As they are, they are just approximations of the truth. They
are simply aspects of the truth, not the truth itself.
1. __________ is the adaptation of the humanist ideology to the

concrete situation of the African
2. Azenarbo identifies ______ dimensions to humanism
2.4 Summary
The idea of humanism is broadly based on the idea of seeking for human
welfare and dignity. It is the concept of keeping the human being at the
center of every activity in the world. Academics and philosophy in
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particular, should not be about abstractions, but about the human being,
about solving real life problems of man. African humanism brings the
concept of humanism home to Africa; it gives it a coloration that is
based on African values, culture and tradition. At the center of the
African worldview is the idea of communitarianism, the idea that the
whole is greater than the part, that one person cannot do it alone. That is
what informs that idea of African humanism, and that is also a point of
departure from the Western concept of humanism. Post-modernism has
been a huge challenge to the concept of African humanism; accusing it
of authoritarianism and lack of inclusion. Post-modernists argue that
setting of standards in the world is akin to imposing bias standards on
other people. This unit has been able to introduce the student the
concept of humanism; and especially the concept of African humanism.
We have analyzed the concept and understood that humanism is a
clarion call for philosophy to arise from dogmatic slumber, to arise and
be able to affect human life in tangible forms. African humanism is
concerned with the values and life practices indigenous to Africa and
which distinguish them from Europeans. The spirit of humanism shapes
the thoughts and daily lives of the Africans. It is an attempt to
understand man and nature as regards to relationships with others. The
idea of African humanism is also connected to the idea of African
communalism and cooperation, which keeps everyone bound together.
Azenabor (2010: 130) insists that the idea of tracing African humanism
to the African traditional past is based on the fact that when one does not
have a good knowledge of the past; it will be difficult to have a clear
vision of the present and of the future. We must look at our past in order
to formulate a clear, progressive, relevant and positive idea of the future.
One must have a good knowledge of the past before one can to think
clearly and coherently of the future. Knowledge of the past is essential
for the African in order to understand where we are coming from as a
people, and where we are supposed to go.
Azenabor, G. (2010). Modern Theories in African Philosophy. Lagos:

Byolah Publishers.
Eagleton, T. (1996). The Illusions of Post-Modernism. Oxford:

Blackwell.
Eleojo, F. (2014). “Africans and African Humanism: What

Perspectives?” American International Journal of
Contemporary Research. Vol 4. No 1.
Igwe, O. (2002). Politics and Globe Dictionary. Enugu: Jamoe

Enterprise.
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Mautner, T. (2000). The Penguim Dictionary of Philosophy. London:

Penguim Books.
Obioha, P. & Okaneme, G. (2017). “African Humanism as a Basis for

Social Cohesion and Well-Being”. International Journal of
Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE). Vol 4.
Issue 1 Pp 43-50. Retrieved from:
https://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2349- 0381.0405005. Accessed
3/10/21

University Press.
1. African humanism;
2. Five
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Unit 3 Some African Political Theories
Unit Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.3 Nyerere’s Ujamaa
3.4 Nkrumah’s Consciencism
3.5 Fanon’s Theory of Violent Revolution
3.6 Summary
3.1 Introduction
As we have noted earlier, colonialism helped to engender a

defensive and liberation-based political philosophy among Africans
(Sogolo 1993: 186). It was partly the need for freedom from oppression
and exploitation that led African Philosopher-Kings of the post
independent era to propound people- oriented political theories that
helped African liberation from colonialism and neocolonialism. Another
major influencing factor is the African socialism; the idea that that we
should care for ourselves and act as a united force, instead of acting
individually to the detriment of the community. Marxism came to be the
endearing idea of these early African leaders, as there was a unity of
vision between the ideas of African identity and freedom, and some
elements of Marxism (Makumba 2007: 113). The social and political
thinking in Africa is determined by the social conditions in which
Africans find themselves (Sogolo 1993: 185), and the conditions they
found themselves pre and post- independence. Professional academics
have the responsibility of directing new political theories and ideas, but
that was not the case in Africa, where social and political theorists have
been men of active political leanings and participation, who seek to
make meaning out of what they do by formulating these views
(Sogolo 1993: 186). Those early strugglers against colonialism were also
Western educated folks, who had been aware of the dangers of
colonialism through their contact with Western education. The goals of
the social political theorists of Africa should change now. In other
words, the socio- political African theorist should understand that there
are more to be set as the goals of the African continent than mere
political or economic liberation from colonialism. Where there were
social conflicts between the colonialists and the natives for instance, that
was gone at the end of colonialism, and the focus will inevitably shift to
internal strives among natives (Sogolo 1993). Another area of
concentration after colonialism should be to liberate Africans from
the conflicting ideologies of the so-called developed countries of the
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world. The African continent is still currently caught in the midst of

these ideological warfare of the West, despite having won independence
for many decades. Currently, Africa is still actively caught between the
political philosophy of China and the West. These competing
economic and military forces of the world have continued to profit from
the Africa’s lack of leadership by providing slavish loans and other
aids which make African countries indebted, thereby robbing them of
their voice in the international community. So, African political
philosophers of this time should be more aware of, and in touch with the
currentrealities of the continent.
• explain the background to African political philosophy

• analyse concepts like Ujamaa, Negritude, Consciencism and
violent resistance in African political philosophy
• discuss the importance of these political ideologies in the
emancipation of African independence.
3.3 Nyerere’s Ujamaa
Julius Nyerere was the former President of Tanzania. He was born in

1922, and he studied in the University of Edinburgh, where he bagged a
Master’s Degree in History and Political Economy. He was also the first
Tanzanian to study in a British University and just the second to gain a
university degree outside Africa. He returned to Tanzania in 1952 and
quickly became involved in politics, and worked hard to bring a
number of different nationalist factions into one umbrella and formed the
Tanganyika African National Union (TANU). In 1954, Nyerere’s
integrity, ability as a political orator and organizer, and his readiness to
work with different groups was significant in winning the
independence of Tanzania without bloodshed (Abanuka 2013, p106). In
the 1960s, Tanzania was one of the world’s poorest countries; this made
the position of Nyerere as President a very difficult one. The country
was suffering from a severe foreign debt burden, like many other
African countries then and now. The prices of commodities were high
and the foreign aids were no longer coming because of their fight
against colonialism and exploitation. He inherited from the colonialist a
country that was on the highway to economic and political implosion;
hunger became the order of the day and the economic hardship bit so
severely on the people. At this juncture, we may then ask: what is the
main doctrine of Ujamaa?
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Nyerere decided to tackle this problem by advocating socialism with a

human face, which he christened Ujamaa socialism. It is a
Kwaswahili word which is translated as familyhood or brotherhood
(Makumba 2007: 140). He believed that family is embracive of all
human beings and the human society at large. The concept of African
socialism, to Nyerere, is extended to the whole world, and the African
sees the entire humanity as brethren and members of his ever-extending
family (Makumba 2007). His brand of socialism was deeply based on
the idea of African socialism, and therefore opposed to the idea of
capitalism which was viewed at that time as a weapon of Western
exploitation and oppression, and Marxist socialism which seeks
happiness through strife between persons. African communalism is
never any of these, rather it is an idea rooted in the belief of being
one’s brother’s keeper. Nyerere believed that humanness in its fullest
sense, rather than wealth creation, should come first, as societies
improve through the improvement of people rather than gearing up of
production (Abanuka 2013: 106).
Ujamaa involved that people worked and lived on a cooperative basis in

organized villages or familyhood. It was not a product of class struggle
but born from the very nature of African society which highly values the
responsibility towards and relationship with tribesmen and community.
Nyerere defines his socialism thus:
Socialism – like democracy – is an attitude of the mind. In a socialist

society it is the socialist attitude of the mind, and not the rigid adherence
to standard political pattern, which is needed to ensure that people care
for each other’s welfare... It has nothing to do with the possession or
non-possession of wealth. Destitute people can be potential capitalists
– exploiters of their fellow human beings... But a man who uses his
wealth for the purpose of dominating his fellows is a capitalist. So
would the man who would if he could! (cf Makumba 2007: 140-141).
Ujamaa was a political theory which combined nation-building policies

with a social and economic development strategy. It was based on the
idea that full development could only be achieved in a condition of full
autonomy and self-reliance (Fouere, 2014) rather relying on foreign aid
and investment. Green (1995) asserts that Nyerere promoted a moral
economy based upon justice and equality for all, it was built of concrete
government policies like communitisation of the work force, the
collectivization of the means of production, the nationalization of
private businesses and housing, the provision of public services-
especially in healthcare and education (Cliffe & Saul 1972). It was
reliant on a powerful state controlled by the bureaucracy and a one-party
system.
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Nyerere provides a home for many African liberation movements

including the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan African
Congress (PAC), and a host of others. The doctrine of Ujamaa
preaches that if a society is so organized that it is concerned with the
interest of each member, on the condition that he should work, then no
individual in the society will occupy himself with what ought to be
tomorrow, for which he would strive to amass wealth today (Abanuka
2013: 108). The attempt to accumulate an unending wealth is anti-
social because it is an attempt to outdo the rest of the citizens in
everything, including clothing, housing, comfort, and so on.
Idleness was not tolerated as it was regarded as an inconceivable

dishonour. The lazy, the parasite, who sat down, intending to profit from
the hospitality of the society as a right, but gave nothing in return, was
not welcome, as that is not the African way of life. In African
traditional society, every member of the community, apart from infants
and infirm, contributes in the work that gave rise to the production of
good in the community. No one was left behind, so the issue of laziness
and parasitism was not tolerated. Nyerere argues that the traditional
African never has employees to work for him until the arrival foreign
capitalists. Socialism for him is also a distributive dispensation and not
only a system of production (Makumba 2007: 141). It is not only
enough to produce the good, but the ability and will to distribute them
equitably also matters.
Love, sharing and work are the basic principles for the existence of any
society. The primitive idea of equality of all human beings is the
foundation of the socialist society, and the equality has to be applied to
the different sectors of the society, economic, political, and social.
Every 14th of October in Tazania is celebrated as Nyerere Day. It is a
public holiday, marking the death of the statesman and the
commemoration is organised in the major cities where politicians
celebrate and pay tribute to the contributions of Nyerere to Tanzania and
the whole of Africa.
3.4 Nkrumah’s Consciencism
Born in Western Ghana around 18th September, 1909, Nkrumah entered

Lincoln University in Pennsylvania in 1935 where he studied,
philosophy, economics sociology and education. He was also
interested in the writings of Marx and Lenin, and nationalism, especially
Marcus Garvey, the Black American leader of the 1920s. When he came
back to Ghana, he was invited to become the general secretary of the
United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), formed by his countryman
J.B Danquah. He was responsible for addressing meetings all over
Ghana and the creation of a socio-political base for the new movement
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of liberation. Nkrumah formed the Convention People’s Part in 1949,

to take advantage of a social split within the UGCC; this split was
between the middle-class leaders of the party and the more radical
supporters of Nkrumah. Nkrumah became the first independent
president of Ghana is 1957.
Nkrumah’s vision for Africa was that of socialism of consciencism. He

looked forward to the emergence of Africa as a vital world force after
the freedom from colonialism and economic domination. Thus, he
believed that the building of socialism in Ghana had to be accompanied
with the building of socialism all over Africa (Makumba 2007: 136). He
was eager to reconcile his own socialist ideas with the African
personality and Pan-Africanism. His idea was that of a united Africa that
could act with oneness of purpose and of mind. For him, socialism is the
only socio- economic political system which shares the ideals of the
African traditional communal societies; it should be the system to be
adopted for the harmony of the African society. The process of
liberation from colonialism and to national unity is marked by some
stages; the first stage being the independence from colonialism and
imperialism, the second stage is the stage of consciencism, where there
will a roadmap for the ways in which African would gain genuine
independence by thwarting the whims and caprices of neo-colonialism,
another stage is the taking of positive actions against internal enemies
and the formation of a mass party. In 1964, Ghana was officially
designated as a one-party state, with Nkrumah as life president of both
country and party (Abanuka 2013: 94). This is what commentators
regard as one of the undoing of Nkrumah and his ideology of
consciencism.
Philosophical Consciencism involves the dialectical relationship and

unity between the traditional, Christian and Islamic Africa, in order to
create a distinct form of the African personality. It is the philosophy of
decolonization. The triangle represents the tripartite elements of the
African society and at the base of the triangle is the communal African
society which upholds the principles of humanism and egalitarianism.
That base represents the foundation upon which the harmonization and
the accommodation of the sides of the triangle is to be built, it digests
and absorbs the other sides. The main doctrine of consciencism is the
accommodation of the Euro-Christian and Islamic ideas by African
traditional way of life. The African tradition should digest the foreign
elements in order to bring harmony that will bring back the
egalitarian and communal principles of traditional African society.
Nkrumah insists that the Western and Islamic ideologies could be
developed in such a way that they will be able to fit into the African
personality (Nkrumah 1970: 79). “Capitalism is but a gentleman’s way
of slavery” (Nkrumah: 1970: 72). Consciencism defines African
personality as:
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…the cluster of humanist principles which underlie the traditional

African society. Philosophical consciencism is the philosophical
standpoint which, taking its start from the present content of African
conscience, indicates the way in which progress is forged out of the
conflicts in that conscience (Nkrumah 1970: 72).
The basis for such philosophical consciencism is materialism, but

matter is not to be construed as being inert. Matter has both absolute and
independence existence and capacity for self-motion. The materialism of
Nkrumah in consciencism accommodates spirits (Abanuka 2013: 96).
Nkrumah did not envision a kind of socialism that will bring some sort
of Marxist revolution, but one that is a natural evolution from traditional
communalism.
Nkrumah’s style of government was authoritarian, but his popularity

rose as new roads, bridges, schools, and healthcare facilities were built.
Also, his policy of Africanisation created better career opportunities for
Ghanaians. One of the major criticisms of Nkrumah was his totalitarian
and autocratic style of leadership.
In 1958, Nkrumah’s government legalized imprisonment without trail of

those considered to be security risks. His focus on the generality of the
African continent soon began to make him loose touch with realities at
home in Ghana (Abanuka 2013). And his government was involved in
bogus and ruinous development projects that made a once prosperous
Ghana to become crippled with debts. His government’s second
development plan was abandoned in 1961, by which time the deficit in
the balance of payment was more than $125 million. These economic
difficulties led to a wide labor unrest, and to a general strike in 1961
(Abanuka 2013).
As the economic situation worsened and the shortages of foodstuff and

other goods became chronic, Nkrumah was overthrown by the army and
police in 1966, and Nkrumah found Asylum in Guinea.
3.5 Fanon’s Theory of Violent Revolution
Franz Fanon was born in 1925, in Martinque, where he was first

educated and later continued in France. He studied medicine and
psychiatry and came in contact with North Africa while serving in the
French army. He worked in an Algerian hospital during the uprising
against the French, and later joined the Algerian rebels in 1954 to fight
for Algeria’s independence. He died in 1961 at the age of 36.
Fanon’s travels brought him face to face with the experience of racism
in Europe, African and the French Caribbean (Makumba 2007: 144).
134
Fanon was very critical of Europe’s demeaning of the Negro, as well as

the attempt by the blacks to find refugee-fulfillment in white personality.
He described that as the fantasy of the Negritude movement, despite its
attempt to free the native intellectuals from dependence on metropolitan
culture (Makumba 2007: 144). He saw the return of violence for
violence as a refusal not be treated as animals, and the only way one
can recapture his humanity from the oppressor. J.P Sartre puts it
succinctly in the preface to The Wretched of the Earth:
Hatred, blind hatred, which is as yet an abstraction, is their only wealth;

the Master calls it forth because he seeks to reduce them to animals, but
he fails to break it down because his interests stop him halfway. Thus
the ‘half natives’ are still humans, through the power and the weakness
of the oppressor which is transformed within them into a stubborn
refusal of the animal condition (Fanon 1980: 15)
Fanon believes that decolonization should be a violent phenomenon

because it has to do with two opposing forces; forces that result from
and are nourished by the situation in the colonies. It should be violent
because it seeks to correct a situation which was also instituted by
violence. The way colonialism sought to uproot colonised natives from
their cultural placing, and create out of them new creatures at the
disposal of the colonizer, so will decolonisation become a veritable
way of creating individuals who will have the capacity and courage to
free themselves through any means possible, including violence.
Makumba ( 2 0 0 7 ) explains that Fanon was not advocating violence

for the sake of it, but rather was encouraging the colonized to be ready
for it because it seeks to put the society upside down and making the
first to become the last, and vice versa. The situation of clash between
the white ideology of oppression and exploitation, and the idea of
freedom raging in the mind of the native, is already an active strife. But
the native should not surrender his heritage and culture without a fight.
Because they did not go to meet the colonialists in their country, but
the colonialists came to Africa to culturally displace us and rob us of
our God-given natural endowments. It is not an issue of sheepish
surrender; it must be a fight to finish because that is the only option left
for the oppressed native. The black should know that the only true
liberation is the liberation from the desire to be white; liberation must
be a return to the self, the restoration of things to their proper places
(Makumba 2007: 145). Fanon (1980: 176) explains:
This is because the native intellectual has thrown himself greedily upon
Western culture. Like adopted children who only stop investigating the
new family framework at the moment when a minimum nucleus of
security crystallizes in their psyche, the native intellectual will try to
make European culture his own.
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PHL 251 MODULE 4
The native intellectuals, according to Fanon, should also be liberated

from the clutches of European culture in order to embrace the native
cultures and ways of life. He describes it as the native “tearing himself
away from the swamp” (Fanon 1980: 175). The black man must move
from the situation of alienation and degradation which was never
intended by God, to the point of self-redemption and worth.
1. __________ involves the dialectical relationship and unity

between the traditional, Christian and Islamic Africa, in order to
create a distinct form of the African personality.
2. __________ believes that decolonization should be a violent
phenomenon because it has to do with two opposing forces.
3.6 Summary
The response of African intellectuals and political leaders to colonial
oppression and suppression has been discussed in so many platforms
and in many academic research works. The fact that the average
traditional African is communal by instinct made it possible for all these
political theories to tilt towards the need to cater for the needs of the
majority. As Fanon (1980: 28) notes, decolonisation influences
individuals and modifies them fundamentally. It was really the case for
African nationalists who fought European exploitation and degradation
ideologically. It transformed them to “privileged actors” with the glare
of history’s floodlights on them. Through their actions, Africans
“became men” during the process of decolonisation. It gave a new
impetus to the age-long African attempts to free itself from the clutches
of slavery and racism; it gave Africa a new brand of heroes who rose
to the occasion in order to salvage the continent by putting their
individual intellectual and political effort. This unit has been able to
open our eyes to some of Africa’s political philosophies of the 20th
century. These ideologies helped to usher in a new era of African
consciousness, their deficiencies notwithstanding. As we can see, all
the concepts revolve around this African concept of communitarianism
which the student is advised to take a closer look at by consulting other
relevant materials and reading as wide as possible. If colonialism threw
up African men of timber and caliber that fought to liberate the continent
from exploitation and oppression, it is also a clarion call for this
generation of African leaders to arise from slumber and take the bull by
the horn in order to take the continent to the next stage of political and
economic development and/or liberation. The African continent is still
a developing one after over six decades that some the African
countries had independence. This is a great challenge to the present crop
of intellectuals in the continent.
136

Publications.
Fanon, F. (1980). The Wretched of the Earth. London: Penguim Books.
Cliffer, L. & Saul, J. (1972). Socialism in Tanzania: an

Interdisciplinary Reader. Niarobi: East Africa Publishing House.
Foure, M. (2014). “Jilius Nyerere, Ujamaa, and Political Morality in

Contemporary Tanzania”. African Studies Review. vol 57. Issue
1. Pp. 1-24. Retrieved from:
https://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_s000002020614000031.
Green, R. (1995). “Vision of Human Centered Developments: A Study

of Moral Economy”. Nwalimu, the Influence of Nyerere. Colin,
L. & Mmari, G. (Eds). pp 80-107. London: James Curray.

Pauline Publications.
Nkrumah, K. (1970). Consciencism – A Philosophy of

Decolonization. London: Pengium Books.

University Press.
3.8 Possible Answers to SAEs
1. Philosophical Consciencism;
2. Frantz Fanon
137
PHL 251 MODULE 4
Unit 4 African Traditional Thought System

Unit Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.3 Theories of Thought
4.3.1 African Traditional Thought and Western Thought
4.3.2 Challenges of Modern African Thought System
4.4 Summary
4.1 Introduction
This unit will introduce you to African traditional thought system.
African thought is essentially a form of integrative thought; binding
everything together in a form of unanimism. It is also communal and a
form of holism. The whole is greater than the part and the African looks
at reality from a holistic perspective. The Africa way of thinking is more
concrete than the Western abstract scientific way of thought. It is pre-
scientific because it implies the everyday knowing, the common-sense
knowledge of things. The African does not compartmentalise reality; it
is taken as a whole. Both the physical, spiritual and material worlds
form a part and parcel of one reality. Again, we shall also find out that
the African thought is spiritual because spiritualism is a part of life, and
everything has spiritual implications according to the African way of
thought. The African thought is also dynamic in that it believes in
powers which must be acquired to make life more meaningful. Such
powers give man control over the world, and owing to the capricious
nature of the African traditional world, the African spends most of his
life acquiring spiritual powers to help him manipulate his environment
to his advantage and to the advantage of his community. In the course
of our study, we have seen that there is a way the traditional African
thinks, which is quite distinct from the thought system of people from
the other parts of the world. This unit will take a cursory look at those
thought patterns of the African tradition.
 explain the African thought system
 analyse the basic attributes of the African thought system
 differentiate between the modes of thought in Africa and in
the West
 describe and appraise the challenges of modern African thought
system.
138
4.3 Theories of Thought
We can know the theories of thought better only after understanding

what thought is. What is thought? Thought is a system of reinforcing
what is already in a person. It is a complex and unbroken process that
underlie the world. Thought emanates because of previous ideas and
experiences one has had. There is a relationship between thought
system and language; meaning that thought is a flow of meaning. An
individual thinking must correspond to the overall thinking of the
larger society; meaning that the society and culture influences what the
individual thinks. That is why it is called a system; it is culture-based
and every society will have the individuals think in a certain way which
will help to perpetuate the cultural values of the society. There is no
thought without a cultural value to which it corresponds. Therefore,
there is a relationship between culture and thought. So, since thought
system should agree with an already established system of ideas, it
means that it is culture specific. Thought is an instrument of organizing
the world; it creates meaning out of meaninglessness, stability from
chaos and instability, and order out of disorder (Osegenwune 2011:
114).
Thought is a process of arranging ideas in a pattern of relationships or

adding new ideas soon to be related to such a pattern. It also means to
turn something over in the mind or to have a specified opinion. It is to
determine something by reflection (Osegenwune 2011). Thinking and
especially critical thinking is the theme of philosophy. Thought is the
base of cognitive activities; it involves the manipulation and analysis
of information received from the environment. It is a mental process
through which we process and analyze the acquired or existing
information from nature. Such processing and analysis occur by means
of abstracting, reasoning, imagining, problem solving, judging, and
decision making.
Thought is mostly done systematically and it is also goal-oriented. It is

an internal activity which can only be inferred from overt behavior. It
becomes a standardized system when it has to do with a community or a
certain group of people. Arlow (1958) has argued that a thought system
is an essential attribute of any culture, and civilizations have survived by
deriving thought systems from their environment and modifying them as
need be, in order to continue to fit into the contemporary society. There
is also the individual thought and thinking, but what we should concern
ourselves here is the thinking of a people; the thought system associated
with a particular people, like the Africans, Europeans, Chinese, and so
on. Thought system, having a root in the culture of a people, gives birth
eventually to the philosophy of such a people. That is the way European
thought system gave birth to Western philosophy, and African
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PHL 251 MODULE 4
thought system also produced what we now know as African

philosophy. Language has also been identified as the vehicle for
thought (Osegenwune 2011) such that without a language, it will be
impossible for us to convey our thoughts, and express it outside
ourselves. If we don’t have a language of expression, other people might
not be able to know what our thoughts are and what we are thinking
about.
A systematic thought system also involves the way the people

involved have been able to respond to and tackle the challenges that
confront them. These challenges in turn, help the people to evolve a
thought system to be used; just the way colonialism helped African
leaders and intellectuals to evolve a system of socio- political thought
with which they fought it.
A thought system must be coordinated in the sense that every member

of the community will be able to key in, and to understand what the
thought system represents and what it means. Children who are born
into the society, by acquiring the culture of the society, automatically
acquires the thought pattern of the society. As long as civilizations,
cultures and environments differ, thought system will also differ.
Thought determines actions and emotions too.
Sometimes the influence of thought and its power towards our actions
and inactions is lost on us, we might not really know how powerful
thought is until we act and witness the repercussions of our actions.
Therefore, it is through the power of thought that societies enact laws
and are ordered for the sake of harmony. So, in human life thought is
very crucial. Following from the brief exploration of what thought is, it
is now pertinent to inquire into the question: What are the theories of
thought?
By theories of thought we mean some of the factors that influence the

human thought and cognition. So, what specifically are these theories?
How do they add to our understanding of the world? Let us commence
with linguistic theory of thought.
Linguistic theory of thought: As we have said before, language is the

vehicle through which thought is expressed. Without the use of
language, we will not be able to pass across our thoughts and cognition.
Language is a reflection of what is available in our vocabulary, word
structure, and semantics which determine our thought pattern. This
theory asserts that the capacity for people to think will be determined
by what is available in their language, culture, and general worldview
(Asoulin 2016). The idea of this is that the internal computational
process of the language faculty generates linguistic objects that are
140
employed by the conceptual-intentional systems of thought and the

sensori-motor systems to yield language production and
communication (Asoulin 2016). The basic stance in this theory is that
there is nothing we think about which is not in our language, so
basically one cannot think beyond the limit of one’s language. The
linguistic theory of thought places language at a very strategic position
because without language, we would not be able to communicate our
thoughts; neither would we be able to think at all. Therefore, language is
both the vehicle of thought and the object of thought. We can only
think of what is available in our lexicon according to this theory,
therefore we as Africans have a duty to begin to develop and expand
our knowledge in such a way that it will accommodate as much words
as possible in order for us to be able to also expand our thought limits. It
is only objects and ideas that exist in one’s culture and civilization that
he will be able to represent in his thought system. Also a society’s
thought pattern will always be towards and limited to the things that
can be named.
A major critique against this theory is that it presents issues as if the

limit of language is the limit of thought, whereas, it is the other
way round. That is, the limit of thought is the limit of language.
Although language is very crucial to thought, but it does not set the limit
to thought, because there are things which can be conceived but which
cannot be spoken of or expressed. So the limit of thought is the limit of
language. Even the possibility of non-verbal communication diminishes
the potency of the argument that thought can only be conducted in
language. Again, however, this argument has been countered by
insisting that even non- verbal communication is still conducted in
language.
Biological theory of thought: This theory argues that the neurons help
us to think through the nervous cell, via electrochemical signaling. That
the thought systems are triggered by nerves, because the nerves are core
components of the brain, vertebrate, spinal cord, the invertebrate
spinal cord, etc. everything is connected to the brain so the brain works
through these parts of the body to help us think. Essentially, that
thinking is coming from the brain and from the nerves that are
connected to the brain. Peripheral nervous system, automatic nervous
system, genetic and epigenetic regulation of brain structure and
function, is a biological basis for our emotions and important chemical
messages. Each of these works together to form who we are and how
we respond to our environment. This thinking is philosophy, because
according to Karl Jaspers: “philosophy is a process of thinking as inner
action comes to an authentic awareness of himself and reality by
pressing beyond or transcending everything objective” (cf Ugwuanyi
2006: 10). It comes from an inner curiosity about reality and wonder
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PHL 251 MODULE 4
about the universe. The biological theory of thought states that it is our
environment that elicit thought in us, it is our environment that triggers
our thought systems in order to respond to what we feel and how we
feel. Charles Frankel in Sogolo (1993: 160) explains this theory thus:
Mankind’s social institutions and mores are products not simply of

traditions, historical accident, ideology or the mechanizations of ruling
class, but of dispositions and drives of the human animal that has
developed in the process of biological evolution and belong to the
species’ generic heritage.
Cognitive Psychology: This theory teaches that thought develops from

one stage to the other; from stage of the child, to the adolescent and to
the adult. The quality of thinking and thought differs, depending on the
stage and age in life. Thought continues to grow with age. The
experiences we have in life helps to shape our thought pattern and
quality, hence it is with age that we develop from one stage of thought
to another. That is why if children behave the way they are, we always
understand that with age they will know better and they will exhibit
quality thinking. This might be the reason why Africans believe that
parents should inculcate good morals and training in their children so
as to give them the needed platform to develop quality thought as they
grow. Children need the care of reasonable adults who will direct
them on the right steps to take, to help them become responsible
members of the community when they grow up. In African worldview,
it is a source of worry when a child has not been able to develop
according to his age; when he is still acting and thinking like a child
when he is supposed to be a grown adult. The society scolds and
reprimands such a child, because Africans believe it is not a normal
situation. Going by the communitarian worldview of Africans, each
member of the society is expected to contribute his quota to the
wellbeing and development of the entire community when he is of age,
but in a situation where he grows up to become a truant and a wonderer,
instead of being a responsible member of the community, it is always
blamed on wrong upbringing and lack of parental care.
4.3.1 African Traditional Thought and Western Thought
Here, we shall make a comparison of the African traditional way of

thinking and the Western way of thought. This comparison was made
popular by Robin Horton in his essay African Traditional Thought
and Western Science, where he laid some fundamental differences and
similarities between the two modes of thought. It will first appear that
the traditional African thought does not fall within the category of
explanations generally associated with science-oriented thought systems.
The reason for this is that in seeking to understand events, the prevalent
142
explanatory models adopted by a given culture are determined by the

peculiarities of that culture (Sogolo 1998: 177). This entails that the
African traditional system of thought cannot be said to be totally
lacking in any form of scientific orientation in comparison with the
Western thought system. Sogolo (1998) agrees with Horton that both
modes of thought have the commonsense and theoretical levels of
thought. That both are primarily concerned with explanation, prediction,
and control of natural phenomena, and secondly, in doing so, they evoke
theoretical entities, albeit of different kinds. (Sogolo 1998). What then is
the differentiating mark between science and traditional thought?
Science involves impersonal theoretical entities while traditional

thought draws on personal theoretical entities. This simply implies that
reality evolves from one stage to the other, the stage of tradition, as
Horton insists, is the first stage of arriving at the scientific. The
difference between both modes of thought is simply the manner of
explanation; whereas the African way of thought focuses on the
commonsense explanation involving the physical day to day material
objects and language, the Western version of thought involves
mechanisms not susceptible to observation language (Sogolo 1998).
That is Horton’s secondary and primary theories.
Both traditional African thought and Western science are concerned

with explanation, and to create order where there is disorder and chaos.
By analogy, what the African traditional diviner aims at is the same as
what modern preventive medicine is aiming at. In orthodox preventive
medicine, the practitioner aims at preventing his client from being
attacked by or afflicted by certain diseases, he knows that his client
could catch malaria when bitten by the appropriate parasite-carrying
mosquito. What he does by his prescription of drugs is not to stop the
parasite from causing malaria but to ensure that his client is not
predisposed to it. Similarly, the traditional African diviner claims to
know that events of misfortune will always occur. He cannot stop them
from occurring, but he claims to be able to prevent his client from being
predisposed to them. With the events of traditional Africa seen in this
light, it is clear that the traditional African does not seek to control
natural phenomena (Sogolo 1998: 179).
Sogolo explains that “the history of science is replete with instances of

phenomena that were at one time explained in supernatural terms, but
which at the dawn of experimental science had their scientific principles
fully uncovered by scientists”. This is to say that scientific thought
proceeds from non-scientific thought. The African sees disease from a
holistic perspective, which might be considered unorthodox by modern
medical practice. But medicine itself, as history has taught, began from
the spiritual or non-scientific approach. It began with tradition and
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PHL 251 MODULE 4
spiritualism as the Hippocratic Oath of the medical profession proves.

Early medical practice in Scotland took the form where healing lay in
propitiating the powers against which the patient might have offended
(Clough 1981: 183, cf Sogolo 1998: 182). Such supernatural factors
play an important role in all pre-literate ancient and contemporary
societies of the world.
Psychological states, attitudes and believes also play significant roles

in traditional African medicine. They now provide acceptable
explanations to diseases earlier attributed to supernatural forces. That is
why, according to Sogolo, the traditional African way of diagnosis
takes both primary cause, which might be bewitchment which is
believed by the African to be the cause of anxiety, and a secondary
cause. These, he maintains, are the causes of ailment in Africa which
are supernatural; the gods, deities, spirits and so on, and natural forces
which are germs, parasites and so on. It is difficult to be understood
by a non-African, but as Sogolo (1998: 119-130) argues, a clear
dichotomy between the natural and supernatural does not exist in the
African thought system. Africans always look at the “why” aspect of
disease management and treatment, and not only the “how” aspect of it.
The primary cause of the disease gives the traditional African healer a
mirror into the secondary cause, unlike his Western counterpart who
only relies on pharmacology. The healer may be confident of the
pharmacological activities of his or her herbs, but that is not all, the
herbs can only be efficacious only when the primary cause of the
disease has been taken care of (Sogolo 1998: 183). In the words of
Horton:
The gods…do perform an important theoretical job in pointing to certain

interesting forms of causal connections; they are probably not useful as
the basis of a wider view of the world. Nevertheless, there do seem to be
few cases in which they are the basis and may have something to
contribute to the theoretical framework of modern science…More
specifically, there are striking resemblances between psycho- analytic
ideas about the individual mind as a congeries of warring entities and
the West African ideas about the body being a meeting place of
multiple souls (Horton 1970).
The African pre-scientific knowledge can be compared to the Western

scientific knowledge in many forms. This is to teach that cultural
superiority is a mistaken idea, as every culture develops and expands
according to the environments and circumstances that befall it.
However, this is not to say that Africa has arrived. We are still lagging
behind in technological and scientific orientations. That is the reason
why we must continue to evolve, develop and update our culture and
thought system, not to be like the West, but to be able to attend to the
peculiar African challenges we have.
144
4.3.2 Challenges to Modernity in Africa
Modernity is a period characterized by the emergence and acceptance of

certain norms and ideals. It is dotted by the advancement of the human
race from the medieval or traditional conception of the world to a man-
centered one, which gives access to forms of knowledge that have the
potential for freedom, humanism and progress (Ugwuanyi 2010).The
ideal which characterizes modernity for the African is humanism. The
role of thought in modernity cannot be overemphasized. This is because
it is through thought that societies evolve and modernize. The need to
conceptualize modernity in Africa so as to serve the basic principles of
African humanism has become urgent, going by the contemporary
challenges of the African continent. Ideas and thought move the world,
as those of Descartes, Newton, Locke and others have helped
tremendously in shaping modern Western thought.
Ugwuanyi (2010) notes that the African thought and culture have a
theory of humanism. That theory of humanism harbors a potential to
spur a people to seek a human-centered world. So, the issue of African
modern thought should hinge on this human-centered ideology of the
African worldview. One of the challenges of African modernity is that
modernity came to Africa as misleading positions of texts, histories and
interventions that defined modernity as domination and colonialism.
There was no distinction between modernization and colonialism and
undue dominance (ibid). For this reason, the intervention of modernity
in Africa was inhuman and took the shape of what should not be
associated with man in Africa, going by the African concept of
humanism.
The Western concept of modern thought which was brought to Africa by

means of colonialism, slavery, and oppression is far different from the
African concept of modernity. Therefore, there continues to be a clash
between both ideologies in the mind of the African. Does he adopt
wholly and entirely, the Western oppressive modernity, or does he
stick to his own indigenous view of modernity and modernization? As
we have studied, modernity in the African context is man-centered;
man is the focus in everything because he is the agent at the center of
modernity and civilization. But the relationship between Africa and the
west in terms of models and rationale for modernization has been a
tortuous one in the sense that the West sees modernization from the
perspective of domination and racism, while the African sees it from
the humanist perspective. Ugwuanyi (2010: 13) insists that modernity in
Africa that was brought by the West was not human enough as it did
not recognize even the minimum of what should amount to or define
African humanism. Hence, freedom, which is the most laudable
feature of modernity, was intertwined with slavery, colonialism,
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PHL 251 MODULE 4
exploitation, racial prejudice, and oppression. The West promoted

medieval ideas in Africa in form of modernity. And that has crept into
the psyche of the average African leader, who does not have regards
and respect for his people; invoking colonial and oppressive policies
against dissent. That cannot be said to be modernity.
Therefore, what we call modernity in Africa at the moment needs a

reassessment in order to fit into a kind of modernity to take care of
the most important features of the African worldview- African
humanism, and also be able to tackle challenges that are uniquely
African. We have seen that the material essence of philosophy is to
see to the wellbeing of the human being, hence, any idea that does not
conform to this should be expunged from the African world, so as to
maintain a society where the welfare of the people will be the measure
of the good.
1. ________ holds that thought develops from one stage to the

other; from stage of the child to the adolescent, and to the adult.
2. _______ involves impersonal theoretical entities while _______

draws on personal theoretical entities.
4.4 Summary
Thought systems all over the world have been centered on the cultural
worldviews of the people, and the African thought system is not an
exception. But we have to understand that there are still a lot of
improvements for the African thought system to do. It ought to
improve and develop to such an extent that it will relatively compare
with contemporary thought systems in the other parts of the world. This
does not mean that it will leave behind the defining feature of humanism,
but it means that such development will be done in accordance with the
core principle of humanism, while being able to tackle contemporary
African socio-political challenges. This unit has taken us through the
concept of thought and the African thought system in particular. In
comparison, we found out that, whereas the African traditional thought
system uses common sense, the Western mode of thought employs
theories of science. The aim of the two modes of thought remains the
same; that of creating order in the midst of chaos and apparent
disorder. Again, virtually all civilizations began from the cultural and
supernatural perspective, before proceeding to the modern. But the
challenge for Africa now is how to keep on improving our thought
system in order to be able to solve our contemporary challenges.
146
Arlow, J. (1958). “The Psychoanalytical Theory of Thinking”. Sage

Journals. Retrieved from:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000306515800600111. Accessed
6/10/21.
Asoulin, E. (2016). “ Language as Instrument of Thought”. GLOSSA

aJournal of General Linguistics. Vol 1. Issue 46. Pp1-28.
Bohn, D. (1994). Thought as a System. New York: Routledge.
Buchanam, T. & Tranel, D. (2009). “Central Nervous System

Interactions: From Mind to Brain and Body”. Intl Journal
of Psychophysical. Vol 72. No 1. Retrieved from:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho,2008.09.002. Accessed
7/10/21
Horton, R. (1970). African Traditional Thought and Western

Science. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Osagienwune, C. (2011). ”Cognition and Thinking in Heidegger’s

Phenomenological Ontology”. In: Okoro, C. (Ed.). Epistemology
and Philosophy of History. Ogun: Babcock University Press.
Sogolo, G. (1998). “The Concept of Cause in African Thought”. In

Coetz, P. & Roux, P. (Eds.). The African Philosophy Reader.
New York: Routeledge.
Ugwuanyi, L. (2010). “Disabusing the Mind of the Prejudices against

the World of Philosophy”. In Odumegwu, I. (Ed.). Philosophy
and Africa. Awka: Lumos Ltd.
Ugwuanyi, L. (2010). “An Insight into the Dilemma of African

Modernity and a Theoretical Response”. Paper Presented at the
7th Congress of African Studies LIBOA 2010. CIEA7. #38.
1. Cognitive psychology theory;

2. Science/Traditional Thought
147
PHL 251 MODULE 4
End of Module Exercises
1. __________ posits that philosophizing in Africa will be more

robust and thought provoking if the different cultures could come
together in dialogue, in order to present a template for the
evolution and reconstruction of ideas that pre-dominate African
philosophy.
2. Azenarbo identifies ______ dimensions to humanism
3. Concerning African independence, pick the odd choice (a)

Nyerere (b) Toure (c) Nkrumah (d) Babangida
4. ______________ involves the dialectical relationship and unity

between the traditional, Christian and Islamic Africa, in order to
create a distinct form of the African personality
5. ___________ teaches that thought develops from one stage to

the other; from stage of the child, to the adolescent and to the
adult
Ans.: Cognitive psychology
148

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PHL 251 African Philosophy

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COURSE

Course Team Dr. Tunde Akande (Course Writer) -

NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

© 2022 by NOUN Press

This course undertakes critical and analytic look at the African

The study of African philosophy was necessitated by the desire of

However, it is no doubt that the study of African philosophy has further

In order to achieve the primary aim of this course, the following

WORKING THROUGH THIS COURSE

For maximum efficiency, effectiveness and productivity in this course,

Module 1 Understanding African Philosophy

Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy

Module 2 Some basic concepts in African Philosophy

Unit 1 African Ontological Notions

Module 3 Some African worldviews and Ethics

Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in African Worldview

Module 4 Some Schools of Thought in African Philosophy

Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African Philosophy

Similarity index for submitted works by student must NOT EXCEED

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COURSE

This course operates a learner-centered online facilitation. To support

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS/WEB SOURCES

Azenbor, G. (2004). Understanding the Problems in African

Azenabor, G. (2010). Modern African Philosophical Theories.

Balogun , O.A. (2018). African Philosophy: Reflections on Yoruba

Coetzee, P & Roux, P.J. (1998). The African Philosophy Reader.

Ikenga-Metuh, E. (1987). Comparative Studies of African Traditional

Maduka, M. (2007). Introduction to African Philosophy. Nairobi:

Mbiti, J. S. (1977). Introduction to African

Odimegwu, Ike. (2006). Philosophy and Africa (Ed).

Sogolo, G. (1993). Foundations of African Philosophy. Ibadan:

The following links can be used to access materials online:

Module 1 Understanding African Philosophy…………….. 1

Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy……………………… 1

Module 2 Some Basic Concepts in African Philosophy…….. 36

Unit 1 African Ontological Notions………………………. 36

Module 3 Some African Worldviews and Beliefs…………… 70

Unit 1 The Universe and Nature in African Worldview….. 70

Module 4 Some Schools of Thought in

Unit 1 Contemporary Schools of Thought in African

MODULE 1 UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY

Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy

Unit 1 Defining African Philosophy

This unit attempts a conceptual clarification of the key term of this

1.2 Intended Learning Outcomes

• describe African philosophy

1.3 What is African Philosophy?

philosophy, we have to try to get an idea of what philosophy implies.

Philosophy generally emanates from the people’s traditions and way of

Philosophy as an academic discipline is a critical inquiry which seeks to

1.3.1 The Nature of African Philosophy

Drawing from how we have defined philosophy above, we can safely

Hountondji, Nwala, Oladipo, and so on, have described African

Kwasi Wiredu (20 04) distinguishes three levels of African

The second has to do with the thought of a class of individuals in

Wiredu describes the third level as the level of contemporary African

But it is our contention that every philosophy emanates from non-

peculiarities. The quest to understand and systematically study the