The Mind-Body-Problem from the Perspective of the Yoruba (African) Concept of a Person

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2003 in the subject Philosophy - General Essays, Eras, Obafemi Awolowo University (Faculty of Arts), course: Philosophy, language: English, abstract: This thesis is a critical study of the traditional mind-body problem from the perspective of the Yoruba (African) concept of a person. The thesis attempted to see a plausible Yoruba response to the mind-body problem vis-à-vis the problem of defining a person. The methods of inquiry are those of critical exposition, conceptual clarification and analytical evaluation. The research involved consultation and analysis of existing inter-disciplinary literature on the Philosophy of Mind; a critical study of relevant published Ifa Literary Corpus; and discussion sessions with practitioners of Ifá and other genres of Yoruba folktales, as well as Yoruba-speaking individuals on their ideas of the Yoruba concept of a person.

The specific objectives are to critically outline the nature of the mind-body problem, analytically present what may be regarded as a plausible account of the Yoruba concept of a person, see whether the mind-body problem arises for the Yoruba concept of a person, do a comparative study of contemporary scientific concepts of a person and the Yoruba concept of a person and finally, to do a philosophical appraisal of the Yoruba concept of a person vis-à-vis its response to the mind-body problem, and the implication of that concept of a person for social existence.

The thesis uncovered what may be identified as the Yoruba Multiple-aspect concept of a person, in the light of which the mind-body problem does not arise when, rather than viewed as a separate entity the mind is viewed as a state or ability of the body. The research concluded, in the light of what it outlines as the Yoruba Multiple-aspect concept of a person, that the socio-ethical problems and the destructive and negative uses to which the fruits of the advancements of the physical sciences have been pu