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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:African Theory of Mind-Body: An Esan Cultural Paradigm
Author:Azenabor, GodwinISNI
Year:1999
Periodical:Africa Quarterly
Volume:39
Issue:4
Pages:121-133
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:philosophy
man
Esan
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Abstract:This paper is an exercise in positive and comparative philosophy. It is a case study of African theories of mind-body. Taking the Esan community of Edo State, Nigeria, as a cultural paradigm, and drawing heavily on oral literature, the author shows that the African theory does not take a dualistic or monistic countenance; rather, it asserts a pluralism with a leaning towards a peculiar kind of monistic duality. By providing a more plausible theory with regards to the mind-body problem, with its pluralism and insistence on a reality composed of innumerable constituents, an African theory has important consequences for understanding reality and improving our idea of African metaphysics. An African theory portrays mind and body as logically and functionally but not ontologically distinct. In the Esan world view, how mind and body influence each other is easily explained. For all these reasons, an African theory of mind-body has primacy over the Western conception. Notes, ref.
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