Vital Force, Personhood, and Community in African Philosophy: An Ontological Study

Abstract

Vital force is believed to be a peculiar trait of African philosophy and the cosmology which defines and shapes the framework within which the interwoven concepts of personhood and community, as extensions of Africa’s concept of “beingâ€, are founded and reified. Vital force is at the core of Africa’s understanding of life which is deemed to begin from the creator, from whom all created spring. Vital force permeates all creation, including every aspect of the environment from where the person and the community jointly suck sustenance. Identifying this force as the core of the key differences between African and Western philosophies, the study underpins certain fundamental distinctions, namely: Africa’s dynamic notion of being vs. the static concept of Western philosophy; the inclusive view of community in African philosophy vs. the reductionist notion dominant in Western societies; and Africa’s notion of human rights as a derivative of communal rights vs. Western notion of human rights as individualistic rights.