The Tiv of Middle-Belt Nigeria are a unique ethnic nationality whose feminine gender is regarded ... more The Tiv of Middle-Belt Nigeria are a unique ethnic nationality whose feminine gender is regarded as the heartbeat of the house holder, the measure of all things for the husband and the epicenter of the community. Contrary to the conclusion of the African Neo-cultural positivists, the feminine gender in Tiv is assigned noble roles that elevates than demean her status as a woman. She is neither marginalized nor oppressed and exploited in social, political, economic and religious spheres. Gender discrimination is sine qua non in traditional society though, it is benevolent. The paper argues further that, redemption from discrimination for the kwase Tiv 1 is neither found in liberating her, for she is not enslaved, nor in centering her, she is the epicenter of the house holder. Womanhood in her feminine roles supplements and compliments the men for universal beneficence; the common good of Tiv society. She has womb, kitchen and cradle, but in further empowerment of her female power. We conclude that the roles tradition assigns to women are meant to advance the anatomy of their female power to receive life's impulses to husband its stability and persistence of Tiv society. Woman is a female, and man is a male, different as biological facts though, they both seek in each, the other and the being of their beings.
Madonna University Thought and Action Journal of Philosophy Vol. 1 No. 2 , 2022
Unless it shall come to pass that philosophers are kings or those who are now called kings and po... more Unless it shall come to pass that philosophers are kings or those who are now called kings and potentates be imbued with sufficient measure of genuine philosophy … there will be no cessation of ills for the state nor … for the human race; neither can the commonwealth, which we have now sketched in theory, ever till see the light of the day. (Plato, 473). The Mandela Leadership Portrait Thinking of Leadership in Africa brings to mind the shepherd analogy which here serves as a crucial requirement of a leadership philosophy that has aided other contemporary peoples of the Abstract Good leadership and governance are key to sustainable human institutions. In Africa, Nelson Mandela stood out as an African icon and an international leader amidst the challenges of the South African environment. The disconnection between the rulers and the ruled suggests that African nations can develop only when the leadership question is rightly settled. Drawing lessons from the Madiba Nelson Mandela conundrum, we argue the thesis that, without comprehension, mental magnitude, spiritual depth, selflessness and incorruptibility which are the core indigenous African leadership qualities that defined the Mandela persona, our long walk to democratic consolidation will ever remain a distant dream. I argue further that, there is need for a revolution in the aims and methods of power engineering to promote the socioeconomic and political desires of man. I argue the conclusion that, African leaders should domesticate the capacity and ability to appreciate and grasp the salient details as well as the practical and temporal implications of a given problem or situation; to lead and live by the personal example set by the Madiba Nelson Mandela, one leader crafted of gold and delivered to Africa for leadership lessons
Nigerian Journal of Philosophical Studies Vool.1.2, 2023
Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all create... more Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all created beings. This power makes the lower beings subservient to humanity though, it is only intended to be beneficent in the advancement of the common good of all created beings. In traditional communities however, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has not only acquiesced a scientific technology whose laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its
This paper probes the very difficult and unique question of being; the question of our inner poss... more This paper probes the very difficult and unique question of being; the question of our inner possibility, of our understanding of being and the temporal meaning enclosed in this idea; the question of being as being. Using a triple filtered approach the discourse shall; 1. Investigate into the 'being' structure of man. This shall be an exposition of the unique character of man's being as finitely free being in contrast to the Being (reality) of things; the what-and how-being, something, nothing and
Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all create... more Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all created beings. This power makes the lower beings subservient to humanity though, it is only intended to be beneficent in the advancement of the common good of all created beings. In traditional communities however, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has not only acquiesced a scientific technology whose laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its
Human actions and decisions are most of the times not only grounded on emotional reactions, they ... more Human actions and decisions are most of the times not only grounded on emotional reactions, they are irrationally debasing. While such emotions and heuristics were perhaps suitable for dealing with life in the Stone Age, they are woefully inadequate in the Silicon Age. The substitution of traditional news agencies and communication platforms in Nigeria with social media networks has not only increased human capacities, it has aided the common good and further eased communication and increased the human knowledge base. For instance, the Silicon Valley in the state of California in the United State of America has proved the extent to which human ingenuity can be exerted in beneficial ways. Here in, the top of the multibillion-dollar communication companies like Apple, eBay, Cisco, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard (HP), Google, Netflix, Facebook, Oracle, Tesla, etc. whose yearly budgets far exceed the entire yearly budget of Nigeria, has proved that, ICT remains the building blocks of contemp...
MADONA UNIVERSITY Thought and Action Journal of Philosophy, 2022
Abstract:
Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African
Tra... more Abstract: Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African Traditional Thought, Gyekye’s (1992) Akan Concept of a Person and Mbiti’s (1970) African Religions and Philosophy has shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the context of this communal living, they have argued that, an individual owns no personality, and only becomes a person through social and ritual incorporation. For these scholars, personhood has been pictured as a state of life that is acquired “as one participates in communal life through the discharge of the various obligations defined by one’s stations” (Menkiti, 1984 p.176). Personhood they say, is a quality acquired as one gets older. Hence, according to them age is the determinant factor. This paper argues that, this mode of thinking not only ignores the essentials of personhood, namely, self-determination and the rights of the individual but it also, exposes the overbearing mode of the community and scuttles the inherent freedom and primacy of the individual thought and his right to question communal ideas. The youth has a different point of view from that of an older individual, though both are defined by the quality of personhood. African wisdom literature upholds that life in its existential meaning is human fellowship and solidarity among individuals though, the rights of individual persons and freedom of self-expression within the communities are not in doubt. The paper argues the conclusion that, while communal ethos matures the individual in the community, such conclusion does not have ontological and epistemological precedence over individual persons. In his lone level, the individual experiences varying modes of competing epistemologies that activates his moral arsenals to evaluate, protest, distance and effect reform on some features of the community to ingratiate his widely varying needs and interests. Key Words: Communitarianism, personhood, personal identity, ethical maturity, human well-being, African thought, African philosophy, African heritage, inter-cultural philosophy, African studies.
This Book is an attempt to outline the Archaeology, History and Environment of the Middle Benue V... more This Book is an attempt to outline the Archaeology, History and Environment of the Middle Benue Valley. The Valley is a contested landscape with a rich and varied history. The different chapters are aimed at sharing basic information and heightening interdisciplinary conversations on the different aspects of the scholarship on the Middle Benue Valley. The first four chapters deal directly with aspects of the environment, ecology and archaeogenetics in the Middle Benue Valley. Chapters 5-7 deal with aspects of the archeology of the Middle Benue Valley while the remaining Chapters (8-11) deal with the historical representations of parts of the Valley focusing on the Kwararafa Question and the Etulo as well as the dissemination of agricultural technology and techniques by migrant farmers in parts of Tivland. The last Chapter deals with the role of women in rice cultivation in Gwer West. The Book is the first to come out of the Archeology of the Valley that engages both archaeologists, ...
Modern science and technology have enhanced man's power of manipulating and controlling natur... more Modern science and technology have enhanced man's power of manipulating and controlling nature, of reducing drudgery and improving the quality of human life though,its uses has generated many problems. Today, the historical dialectics of science and technology are increasingly assuming paradoxical dimensions, more purposeful and purposeless, more meaningful and bizarre, and more useful and destructive. While the achievements in science and technology have served to prolong life, they have also served to provide resources for its brutal extermination. This Book argues that, a pro-active ethical approach to scientific and technological endeavours guarantees asustainable and more human friendly development. The work explicates the healing power of the science of human conduct and recommends the morality of human integration as a catalyst that conducts humanity back into its essential nature on earth, to live a life that is in harmony with other members of the biotic community. This...
Studies in Intercultural Philosophies have shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly l... more Studies in Intercultural Philosophies have shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the context of this communal living, some African scholars have argued that, an
Today, we are in the era of post-truth, an era in which objective facts are less influential in s... more Today, we are in the era of post-truth, an era in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. An era that harbours corruption of intellectual integrity and damage to the whole fabric of democracy. The battle to protect information integrity and expose fake news becomes sine qua non. We shall in this paper explore the dark side of the age of information, a side that has been exploited by the media mavens, political hacks, and ideological propagandists who promote lies, illusion, confusion, and other forms of demented or manipulated imagination. In doing this, we shall proceed as follows: i. Historicize the concept of ‘fake news’ here referred to as post-truth. ii. Interrogate the concept of ‘information’ and its goal in human affairs iii. Evaluate the nexus between ‘truth’ values in ‘information’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘dis-information’ iv. Situate the role of Philosophy in the era of post-truth.
My later notions of leadership were profoundly influenced by observing the regent and his court. ... more My later notions of leadership were profoundly influenced by observing the regent and his court. I watched and learned from the tribal meetings that were regularly held at the great place. As a leader, I have always followed the principles I first saw demonstrated by the regent at the great place …
In traditional African communities, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on... more In traditional African communities, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has acquiesced a scientific technology that its laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its indigenous communities. The paper argues on the last line that the indigenous farmers exert their energies on creating long term processes that allow for the implications of different approaches to knowledge in the management of the endowed resources of nature.
The Tiv of Middle-Belt Nigeria are a unique ethnic nationality whose feminine gender is regarded ... more The Tiv of Middle-Belt Nigeria are a unique ethnic nationality whose feminine gender is regarded as the heartbeat of the house holder, the measure of all things for the husband and the epicenter of the community. Contrary to the conclusion of the African Neo-cultural positivists, the feminine gender in Tiv is assigned noble roles that elevates than demean her status as a woman. She is neither marginalized nor oppressed and exploited in social, political, economic and religious spheres. Gender discrimination is sine qua non in traditional society though, it is benevolent. The paper argues further that, redemption from discrimination for the kwase Tiv 1 is neither found in liberating her, for she is not enslaved, nor in centering her, she is the epicenter of the house holder. Womanhood in her feminine roles supplements and compliments the men for universal beneficence; the common good of Tiv society. She has womb, kitchen and cradle, but in further empowerment of her female power. We conclude that the roles tradition assigns to women are meant to advance the anatomy of their female power to receive life's impulses to husband its stability and persistence of Tiv society. Woman is a female, and man is a male, different as biological facts though, they both seek in each, the other and the being of their beings.
Madonna University Thought and Action Journal of Philosophy Vol. 1 No. 2 , 2022
Unless it shall come to pass that philosophers are kings or those who are now called kings and po... more Unless it shall come to pass that philosophers are kings or those who are now called kings and potentates be imbued with sufficient measure of genuine philosophy … there will be no cessation of ills for the state nor … for the human race; neither can the commonwealth, which we have now sketched in theory, ever till see the light of the day. (Plato, 473). The Mandela Leadership Portrait Thinking of Leadership in Africa brings to mind the shepherd analogy which here serves as a crucial requirement of a leadership philosophy that has aided other contemporary peoples of the Abstract Good leadership and governance are key to sustainable human institutions. In Africa, Nelson Mandela stood out as an African icon and an international leader amidst the challenges of the South African environment. The disconnection between the rulers and the ruled suggests that African nations can develop only when the leadership question is rightly settled. Drawing lessons from the Madiba Nelson Mandela conundrum, we argue the thesis that, without comprehension, mental magnitude, spiritual depth, selflessness and incorruptibility which are the core indigenous African leadership qualities that defined the Mandela persona, our long walk to democratic consolidation will ever remain a distant dream. I argue further that, there is need for a revolution in the aims and methods of power engineering to promote the socioeconomic and political desires of man. I argue the conclusion that, African leaders should domesticate the capacity and ability to appreciate and grasp the salient details as well as the practical and temporal implications of a given problem or situation; to lead and live by the personal example set by the Madiba Nelson Mandela, one leader crafted of gold and delivered to Africa for leadership lessons
Nigerian Journal of Philosophical Studies Vool.1.2, 2023
Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all create... more Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all created beings. This power makes the lower beings subservient to humanity though, it is only intended to be beneficent in the advancement of the common good of all created beings. In traditional communities however, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has not only acquiesced a scientific technology whose laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its
This paper probes the very difficult and unique question of being; the question of our inner poss... more This paper probes the very difficult and unique question of being; the question of our inner possibility, of our understanding of being and the temporal meaning enclosed in this idea; the question of being as being. Using a triple filtered approach the discourse shall; 1. Investigate into the 'being' structure of man. This shall be an exposition of the unique character of man's being as finitely free being in contrast to the Being (reality) of things; the what-and how-being, something, nothing and
Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all create... more Nature has endowed humanity as the supreme force, the most powerful and dominant among all created beings. This power makes the lower beings subservient to humanity though, it is only intended to be beneficent in the advancement of the common good of all created beings. In traditional communities however, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has not only acquiesced a scientific technology whose laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its
Human actions and decisions are most of the times not only grounded on emotional reactions, they ... more Human actions and decisions are most of the times not only grounded on emotional reactions, they are irrationally debasing. While such emotions and heuristics were perhaps suitable for dealing with life in the Stone Age, they are woefully inadequate in the Silicon Age. The substitution of traditional news agencies and communication platforms in Nigeria with social media networks has not only increased human capacities, it has aided the common good and further eased communication and increased the human knowledge base. For instance, the Silicon Valley in the state of California in the United State of America has proved the extent to which human ingenuity can be exerted in beneficial ways. Here in, the top of the multibillion-dollar communication companies like Apple, eBay, Cisco, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard (HP), Google, Netflix, Facebook, Oracle, Tesla, etc. whose yearly budgets far exceed the entire yearly budget of Nigeria, has proved that, ICT remains the building blocks of contemp...
MADONA UNIVERSITY Thought and Action Journal of Philosophy, 2022
Abstract:
Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African
Tra... more Abstract: Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African Traditional Thought, Gyekye’s (1992) Akan Concept of a Person and Mbiti’s (1970) African Religions and Philosophy has shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the context of this communal living, they have argued that, an individual owns no personality, and only becomes a person through social and ritual incorporation. For these scholars, personhood has been pictured as a state of life that is acquired “as one participates in communal life through the discharge of the various obligations defined by one’s stations” (Menkiti, 1984 p.176). Personhood they say, is a quality acquired as one gets older. Hence, according to them age is the determinant factor. This paper argues that, this mode of thinking not only ignores the essentials of personhood, namely, self-determination and the rights of the individual but it also, exposes the overbearing mode of the community and scuttles the inherent freedom and primacy of the individual thought and his right to question communal ideas. The youth has a different point of view from that of an older individual, though both are defined by the quality of personhood. African wisdom literature upholds that life in its existential meaning is human fellowship and solidarity among individuals though, the rights of individual persons and freedom of self-expression within the communities are not in doubt. The paper argues the conclusion that, while communal ethos matures the individual in the community, such conclusion does not have ontological and epistemological precedence over individual persons. In his lone level, the individual experiences varying modes of competing epistemologies that activates his moral arsenals to evaluate, protest, distance and effect reform on some features of the community to ingratiate his widely varying needs and interests. Key Words: Communitarianism, personhood, personal identity, ethical maturity, human well-being, African thought, African philosophy, African heritage, inter-cultural philosophy, African studies.
This Book is an attempt to outline the Archaeology, History and Environment of the Middle Benue V... more This Book is an attempt to outline the Archaeology, History and Environment of the Middle Benue Valley. The Valley is a contested landscape with a rich and varied history. The different chapters are aimed at sharing basic information and heightening interdisciplinary conversations on the different aspects of the scholarship on the Middle Benue Valley. The first four chapters deal directly with aspects of the environment, ecology and archaeogenetics in the Middle Benue Valley. Chapters 5-7 deal with aspects of the archeology of the Middle Benue Valley while the remaining Chapters (8-11) deal with the historical representations of parts of the Valley focusing on the Kwararafa Question and the Etulo as well as the dissemination of agricultural technology and techniques by migrant farmers in parts of Tivland. The last Chapter deals with the role of women in rice cultivation in Gwer West. The Book is the first to come out of the Archeology of the Valley that engages both archaeologists, ...
Modern science and technology have enhanced man's power of manipulating and controlling natur... more Modern science and technology have enhanced man's power of manipulating and controlling nature, of reducing drudgery and improving the quality of human life though,its uses has generated many problems. Today, the historical dialectics of science and technology are increasingly assuming paradoxical dimensions, more purposeful and purposeless, more meaningful and bizarre, and more useful and destructive. While the achievements in science and technology have served to prolong life, they have also served to provide resources for its brutal extermination. This Book argues that, a pro-active ethical approach to scientific and technological endeavours guarantees asustainable and more human friendly development. The work explicates the healing power of the science of human conduct and recommends the morality of human integration as a catalyst that conducts humanity back into its essential nature on earth, to live a life that is in harmony with other members of the biotic community. This...
Studies in Intercultural Philosophies have shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly l... more Studies in Intercultural Philosophies have shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the context of this communal living, some African scholars have argued that, an
Today, we are in the era of post-truth, an era in which objective facts are less influential in s... more Today, we are in the era of post-truth, an era in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. An era that harbours corruption of intellectual integrity and damage to the whole fabric of democracy. The battle to protect information integrity and expose fake news becomes sine qua non. We shall in this paper explore the dark side of the age of information, a side that has been exploited by the media mavens, political hacks, and ideological propagandists who promote lies, illusion, confusion, and other forms of demented or manipulated imagination. In doing this, we shall proceed as follows: i. Historicize the concept of ‘fake news’ here referred to as post-truth. ii. Interrogate the concept of ‘information’ and its goal in human affairs iii. Evaluate the nexus between ‘truth’ values in ‘information’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘dis-information’ iv. Situate the role of Philosophy in the era of post-truth.
My later notions of leadership were profoundly influenced by observing the regent and his court. ... more My later notions of leadership were profoundly influenced by observing the regent and his court. I watched and learned from the tribal meetings that were regularly held at the great place. As a leader, I have always followed the principles I first saw demonstrated by the regent at the great place …
In traditional African communities, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on... more In traditional African communities, there is palpable threat to existential conditions of life on earth due to mismanagement of the created resources. Humanity has acquiesced a scientific technology that its laws are far removed from the known system of nature with no self-limiting principle in terms of size, speed and violence to nature and humanity. In today's techno-polis, the machine has replaced human ingenuity and degraded the environment and resources necessary for agrarian practices and harmonious living. This paper argues that African Indigenous Knowledge Resource (AIKR) also known as Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is strategic in salvaging the technologically abused environment. That through indigenous stewardship method (ISM), knowledge resource is harvested by the indigenous peoples of Africa in a painstaking process that spans hundreds of years through direct experience and contact with the environment. The paper concludes that in seeking the whole from the units of the earth resources, strategic management of indigenous knowledge resource in agriculture will surely achieve food security and improved nutrition and economic status of its indigenous communities. The paper argues on the last line that the indigenous farmers exert their energies on creating long term processes that allow for the implications of different approaches to knowledge in the management of the endowed resources of nature.
Uploads
Papers by Alloy Ihuah
Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African
Traditional Thought, Gyekye’s (1992) Akan Concept of a Person and Mbiti’s (1970) African
Religions and Philosophy has shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited
to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the
context of this communal living, they have argued that, an individual owns no personality,
and only becomes a person through social and ritual incorporation. For these scholars,
personhood has been pictured as a state of life that is acquired “as one participates in
communal life through the discharge of the various obligations defined by one’s stations”
(Menkiti, 1984 p.176). Personhood they say, is a quality acquired as one gets older. Hence,
according to them age is the determinant factor. This paper argues that, this mode of thinking
not only ignores the essentials of personhood, namely, self-determination and the rights of the
individual but it also, exposes the overbearing mode of the community and scuttles the
inherent freedom and primacy of the individual thought and his right to question communal
ideas. The youth has a different point of view from that of an older individual, though both
are defined by the quality of personhood. African wisdom literature upholds that life in its
existential meaning is human fellowship and solidarity among individuals though, the rights
of individual persons and freedom of self-expression within the communities are not in doubt.
The paper argues the conclusion that, while communal ethos matures the individual in the
community, such conclusion does not have ontological and epistemological precedence over individual persons. In his lone level, the individual experiences varying modes of competing epistemologies that activates his moral arsenals to evaluate, protest, distance and effect reform on some features of the community to ingratiate his widely varying needs and interests.
Key Words: Communitarianism, personhood, personal identity, ethical maturity, human well-being, African thought, African philosophy, African heritage, inter-cultural philosophy, African studies.
Talks by Alloy Ihuah
i. Historicize the concept of ‘fake news’ here referred to as post-truth.
ii. Interrogate the concept of ‘information’ and its goal in human affairs
iii. Evaluate the nexus between ‘truth’ values in ‘information’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘dis-information’
iv. Situate the role of Philosophy in the era of post-truth.
Drafts by Alloy Ihuah
Conceptualization of personhood by Menkiti’s (1984) Person and Community in African
Traditional Thought, Gyekye’s (1992) Akan Concept of a Person and Mbiti’s (1970) African
Religions and Philosophy has shown that communal intimate belongingness is mostly limited
to a micro community more than the totality of a larger African community. Within the
context of this communal living, they have argued that, an individual owns no personality,
and only becomes a person through social and ritual incorporation. For these scholars,
personhood has been pictured as a state of life that is acquired “as one participates in
communal life through the discharge of the various obligations defined by one’s stations”
(Menkiti, 1984 p.176). Personhood they say, is a quality acquired as one gets older. Hence,
according to them age is the determinant factor. This paper argues that, this mode of thinking
not only ignores the essentials of personhood, namely, self-determination and the rights of the
individual but it also, exposes the overbearing mode of the community and scuttles the
inherent freedom and primacy of the individual thought and his right to question communal
ideas. The youth has a different point of view from that of an older individual, though both
are defined by the quality of personhood. African wisdom literature upholds that life in its
existential meaning is human fellowship and solidarity among individuals though, the rights
of individual persons and freedom of self-expression within the communities are not in doubt.
The paper argues the conclusion that, while communal ethos matures the individual in the
community, such conclusion does not have ontological and epistemological precedence over individual persons. In his lone level, the individual experiences varying modes of competing epistemologies that activates his moral arsenals to evaluate, protest, distance and effect reform on some features of the community to ingratiate his widely varying needs and interests.
Key Words: Communitarianism, personhood, personal identity, ethical maturity, human well-being, African thought, African philosophy, African heritage, inter-cultural philosophy, African studies.
i. Historicize the concept of ‘fake news’ here referred to as post-truth.
ii. Interrogate the concept of ‘information’ and its goal in human affairs
iii. Evaluate the nexus between ‘truth’ values in ‘information’, ‘Misinformation’ and ‘dis-information’
iv. Situate the role of Philosophy in the era of post-truth.