The Mind-Body-Problem from the perspective of the Yoruba (african) Concept of a Person (PDF)

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 put are the unfortunate consequences of man's rather unfortunate attempt to define himself in the simplest and most parsimonious terms.