INTERROGATING ARISTOTLE’S BIFURCATION OF REALITY AND

ASOUZU’S “IBUANYIDANDA ONTOLOGY”: SEEKING THE WHOLE FROM

THE UNITS
By
Alloy S. Ihuah1
ABSTRACT

One of the main problems facing humanity today is the crisis of relationship resulting from
Aristotle's Substance/Accident bifurcation of Being. This bivalent metaphysics has been treated
as orthodoxy in the history of thought that draws a line between what is of 9+ and what is not,
(Aristotle 1926: Book A, 2, 6, 8). This paper argues that, this thesis has wider implication not only
in metaphysics but also in all the sciences of human relations because the same line runs through
race, faith, gender and ethnicity; and also between the "self" and the "other"; the most dangerous
problems of humanity today. Through the mechanism of Ibuanyidanda Ontology, an emerging
theme in African Philosophy, the paper deconstructs this substance/accident dualism and unvails
an authentic understanding of and the relationship between the "self" and the "other" thereby
correcting the Aristotelian “error of thought” which has divided humanity into warring factions of
an inferiority/superiority tussle between the "self' and the "other". The paper argues the conclusion
that philosophical inquiry could take many approaches, from bivalent to multi-valent logical
systems though, a multi-valent system where the idea of straightjacket thinking, discrimination
and lop-sidedness will be whittled down is preferable. Reality is not dichotomised, bifurcated or
polarised. Every reality serves a missing link in a complementary relationship of all there is and,
it is here argued as a viable alternative for reconstructing being from the perspective of its
interconnectedness and interrelatedness for global beneficence.

Keywords: Aristotle; Bifurcation of Reality; Accident; Substance; Complementary

Synthesis; “Ibuanyidanda; Intercultural Philosophy; Ontology.

1
Alloy S. Ihuah is a Professor of Philosophy and Director,Centre for Research Management, Benue State
University, Makurdi-Nigeria
Introduction
Aristotle is undoubtedly one of the greatest philosophers in human history. His contributions to
the enterprise of philosophy can only be matched by a handful of thinkers. One of such contribution
has to do with his conception and bifurcation of reality into such poles as substance and accident.
This bifurcation, to a very large extent has exerted considerable influence on the conception of
reality by thinkers in all the epoch in the history of philosophy. While some accept and celebrate
this theory, others feel very strongly that his thoughts are flawed and stand in need of a total
overhaul. Among the latter is Innocent Asouzu, who conceptualizes reality in complementary
terms. This thinking is based on the central methodological thesis of his philosophy, the
Ibuanyidanda philosophy which stipulates that everything that exist serves a missing link of reality
and is geared towards the joy of being.

In this paper, we seeks an explication of the Aristotelian balkanization and bifurcation of reality
as well as the complementary synthesis of reality within the context of Asouzu’s Ibuanyidanda
ontology also known as the philosophy of complementary reflections. To achieve this aim, the
paper shall first expose Aristotle’s bifurcation of reality into substance and accident; secondly, we
shall give an overview of Asouzu’s complimentatry ontology (Ibuanyidanda); the synthesis of
reality in contrast to Aristotle’s bifurcation of the same. The paper concludes that, being is a unity,
not a division and so, man’s ability to introspect, to think and to create within himself the things
he most wanted; peace, reconciliation, harmony through the act of intense open-heartedness makes
him an authentic being akin to what the Zulus call Ubuntu; a philosophy that considers the success
of the group above that of the individual- “I am what I am because of who we all are”

Making sense of Aristotle’s Philosophy of Essence

The object of inquiry in Aristotle’s Metaphysics is the question of being and by extension that of
what constitutes substance. According to Aristotle, metaphysics is the first philosophy; this for
him is because while other science concerns themselves and investigates aspects of being,
metaphysics investigates being qua being and in its totality. Substance for Aristotle is
 That which being present in such things as are not predicated of a subject, is the
cause of their being, as the soul is of the being of an animal. It is that part which
present in such things, limiting them and marking them as individuals and by whose
destruction the whole is destroyed.2

It is that of which everything else is predicated, while it is itself not predicated to anything else. 3
Again, the substance of a thing is “that which is peculiar to it, which does not belong to anything
else”4. For Aristotle, the real character of being is substance and without substance there is no
being at all. The substance of a thing according to Aristotle means “that the essence of the thing is
nothing else… (the primary mode of existence) but all attributes are accidental (the secondary
mode of existence or qualifications); for this is the distinction between substance and accident”.5
Substance is thus given as interrogated above both to the subject of action itself as that which
primarily exists, and to its nature considered precisely as a nature or essence, what a thing is, that
in virtue of which the subject of action is what is and claims existence pure and simple”6. Substance
therefore, is a thing or nature whose property is to exist by itself or in virtue of itself (per se) and
not in another thing
Conversely to substance in the Aristotelian bifurcation of reality is accident which for Aristotle is
“that which attaches to something and can be truly asserted, but neither of necessity or usually…
all that attaches to each thing in virtue of itself but is not in its essence…”7 Properly understood,
accident for Aristotle will mean the attributes that are appended to substance or the essence of
things which are not in themselves, the substance of such a thing. For him, the accident “cannot
even exist if severed from the whole”8. Accidents so to say, are increments, or accretions that only
accrues to primary existence, it is a nature or essence whose property is to exist in something else.
In other words, to exist, they (accidents) must belong to another being previously existing. They
exist in something other than themselves
In his interrogation of this bifurcation of reality into substance and accident, Asouzu intimated that
“one of the things most striking about his metaphysical teaching is that it is conceptualized with a

2
See Richard McKeon (Edited) The basic works of Aristotle (New York: The Modern Library Press, 2001), Pg. 761
3
Ibid. Pg. 785
4
Ibid. Pg. 805
5
Ibid. Pg. 740
6
Jacques Maritain, (Translated) E.I. Watkin, An Introduction to Philosophy, London, Sheed and Ward Ltd, 1979,
p.168
7
See book V; Chapter 30 of Aristotle’s Metaphysics (Pg. 777 of Richard Mckeon Edited The basic works of
Aristotle
8
See Chapter 10 of Book VII
mindset that sees reality, human interpersonal relationship and science in a polarized, exclusivist,
non-complementary mode”9. The philosophy of essence was postulated by Asouzu. For him, the
expression, “philosophy of essence” is rather used here in a broader sense, to designate any attempt
to understand and relate to reality after the mindset of Aristotle's metaphysics. This is the very
beginning of the divisive orientation of the "self" and the "other" which we project in this work as
lending credence to the structure of globalisation in our world today. Asouzu therefore describes
Aristotle's ontology as the philosophy of essence that is divisive, polarising and dichotomising
(Asouzu in Chimakonam 2015: 42-45).
It is the attempt to relate to the world in a disjointed, disharmonious, exclusivist, polarising mode
as to negate the mutual complementary interrelatedness between all existent realities. It is for this
reason that Asouzu sees “philosophy of essence” quite given in extreme forms of existentialism,
idealism, realism, positivism, relativism, absolutism, Afro-centricism, Euro-centricism,
rationalism, empiricism etc, that chart a path of philosophical orthodoxy, which seeks to exclude
aspects of reality from its consideration.10

Asouzu’s Ibuanyidanda Complementary Synthesis

The bifurcation of reality by Aristotle has no doubt influenced the philosophic temper of
philosophers and thinkers after him. Asouzu himself intimates about the implications of this
philosophical temper that:
Undeniably, Aristotle's philosophy of essence played a major role in shaping the
way later generations understood reality and human interpersonal relationship. This
is why most later-year philosophers and scientists, who were committed to a
philosophy of essence, after the mind-set of Aristotle, had to contend with some of
its most severe implications. It is interesting to note, that most contentions in
Western philosophy, in diverse guises, revolve around the relationship of substance
(essence) to accidents. Besides, most metaphysical text books, used in teaching
teachers of teachers for decades, for example, have subscribed to Aristotle's radical
distinction between “essence” or “substance” and “accidents”. For this reason, they
subscribe largely also to Aristotle's teaching that substance or essence does not need
accidents to subsist, whereas accidents need substances on which they inhere.11

9
Asouzu, I.I Ibuanyidanda and the Philosophy of Essence 1 in the Filosofia theoretica Vol. 1. No. 1, Dec. 2011. Pg.
85.
10
Ibid
11
Asouzu, I.I Op. Cit. Pg. 85.
Noting the severe implications of fidelity to the philosophy of essence, Asouzu further alluded the
fact that “fidelity to Aristotle's metaphysics has resulted in the tendency to see reality as something
disjointed, bifurcated and polarized; where what is essential or substantial is easily equated with
what is superior, whereas what is accidental is equated with what is inferior and inconsequential.
Such a dichotomizing and polarizing approach is not restricted to the conceptualization of reality,
but is visibly evident in the philosophy of praxis.12 A cursory look at the implications of the
philosophy of essence reveals that it accounts for why Aristotle elevated metaphysic to the state
of being more science than other sciences which according to the dictate of his balkanization of
reality studies accidents.
According to Asouzu, this unfortunate distinction between metaphysics and the other science
would have a tremendous consequence for the way science is understood and scientific debates
conducted. He contends further that, history of ideas in medieval Europe had much to do with
liberation of human reason from ecclesiastical dogmatism which was largely dictated by a mindset
deeply imbedded in Aristotle's metaphysical orthodoxy13
In his critique of the philosophy of essence, Asouzu intimated that “a consistent commitment to
the philosophy of essence enhances what I call unintended ethnocentric commitment both in
inquiry and human interpersonal relationship”.14 This phenomenon ensues the moment actors seek
to encounter the world with a polarized mindset. According to Asouzu, unintended ethnocentric
commitment is unfortunately quite widespread today even within the academia thus negatively
impacting society and its systems with “value-oriented biases” in inquiry. According to Asouzu,
one of the major reasons for this is because we are dealing here directly with the
impact of clannish and ethnic mentalities on inquiry, and as these have the capacity
to complicate coexistence of peoples in a world of globalization. I have tried to
work out the major features of this phenomenon by reference to the conceited way
many so-called Western philosophers and scientists relate to those they identify as
non-Western philosophers and scientists15

This phenomenon is called an “unintended intrusion” because there is every indication that in spite
of the declared goodwill of many researchers and thinkers to steer the course of scientific
objectivity in their philosophical endeavors, there are often worrisome traces of unintended

12
Ibid. Pg 86
13
Ibid. Pg. 87
14
Ibid. Pg. 91
15
See Asouzu’s Ibuaru: The Heavy Burden of Philosophy Beyond African Philosophy for a more detailed exposition
of the phenomenon of unintended ethnocentric commitment.
ethnocentric commitment in their minds and thinking. These are some of those biases arising from
our value commitments; most especially because of the excessive importance we attach to matters
that concern us most, and matters relating to our ethnic and tribal affiliations. In most cases, in
doing philosophy, we often wish to uphold and defend our ethnic and tribal identities and values
no matter how hard we try to steer an objective course.16
Aristotle’s commitment to a philosophy of essence made it difficult for him to present,
convincingly, metaphysics, which he calls “first philosophy”, as the very ideal of wisdom. Here,
Asouzu retorts,
the wise man must not be ordered but must order, he must not obey another, but the
less wise must obey” then, acquisition of wisdom entails, among other things, all
the processes needed to use knowledge as an instrument of subjugation. If it is the
prerogative of wisdom to command and bring the less wise to obedience and
subjugation, then Aristotle's wisdom has the unavoidable connotation of arrogant
placement of knowledge at the service of power and ideology.17

Worst still is the fact that it is not in the character of such knowledge or wisdom to compromise or
complement. On the contrary, Aristotle's wisdom is not bound to obey the less wise; it is the less
wise who is bound to obey the wise whose prerogative it is to command and not to obey. This
understanding of wisdom or knowledge is clearly echoed in the maxim “knowledge is power”; a
saying attributed to Francis Bacon and one which stops at nothing in misusing knowledge as a
veritable expansionist instrument of conquest, subjugation and domination. Many associate this
doctrine with what is referred to as the triumph of Western rationality.18
Philosophy of Essence and the Contemporary World Order
Relating the Philosophy of Essence to contemporary world politics, Asouzu, quoting Dallmayr
argues that one can see the “same Aristotelian mentality being fostered by most Western powers
as they seek to be in control of most things strategic, and most especially nuclear weapons, under
the supposition that they alone have the higher rationality and the needed self-control to use them
properly”.19
Away from the severe effects and implications fidelity to, as well as the subscription to the
Aristotle’s balkanization of reality into substance (essence) and accident, the synthesis of the same

16
Asouzu, Ibuanyidanda, quoted in the Filosofia Theoretica… Pg 91
17
Asouzu I.I Filosofia Theoretica Pg. 92
18
Ibid
19
Ibid. Pg. 93.
by Innocent Asouzu, through the framework of his Ibuanyidanda philosophy or the philosophy of
complementary reflections will be accounted for in what follows.
The philosophy of complementary reflection (otherwise known as the Ibuanyidanda Philosophy)
as earlier stated was developed and championed by Innocent Asouzu, a Professor of Philosophy at
the University of Calabar- Nigeria. It is a philosophy that emphasizes and elevates the
imperativeness of a mutual dependence and interdependence of reality. At the background of this
philosophical system is the lesson from the dandas (the Igbo cognate of the ants). According to
Asouzu,
The concept Ibuanyidanda draws its inspiration from the teachings of traditional
Igbo philosophers of the complementary system of thought. The closest English
equivalent to the word “Ibuanyidanda” is “complementarity”. Danda are ants that
have the capacity, in mutual dependence and interdependence, to carry loads that
appear bigger and heavier than themselves. What this implies is that they can
surmount very difficult challenges when they are mutually dependent on each other
in the complementation of their efforts. Hence, traditional Igbo philosophers insist
that: ibu anyi danda (no task is insurmountable for danda). It is from this synthetic
idea “ibu anyi danda” that serves a heuristic pre-scientific function within the
context of traditional Igbo experience that the synthetic-analytic concept
“Ibuanyidanda” is derived through abstraction.20

Deducible from the above is the fact of the importance of mutual dependence and the benefits of
same. Asouzu further intimates that Ibuanyidanda Philosophy is a transcendent complementary
comprehensive systematic inquiry into the structure and dynamics of human consciousness as to
determine the reason for the subject-object tension and dichotomy by reason of which the ego
always seeks its autonomy outside the foundation of its unity. It is an attempt at addressing this
tension with a view to providing workable solutions towards its containment in a complementary
comprehensive mutually harmonized fashion.21 The central methodological thesis of the
philosophy of complementary reflections is hinged on the fact that anything that exists serves a
missing link of reality. It is on the basis of the above methodological thesis that the Aristotelian
bifurcation of reality will be here interrogated.
For Asouzu, everything that exists serves a missing link of reality and the joy of being. This
position of course is antithetical to the Aristotelian bifurcation of reality into substance and

20
“Ibuanyidanda” and the Philosophy of Essence: Philosophy, the Missing Links of Reality. (Calabar: University of
Calabar Press, 2011), Pg. 11
21
Ibid. Pg. 38.
accident and the elevation of substance over and above accident. According to Aristotelian
philosophy of essence, substance belongs to the real character of being as against accident that is
merely a dependent variable of being. Properly situated within the context of the temper of the
philosophy of complementary reflection (Ibuanyidanda philosophy), both substance and accident
serves a missing link of reality. In fact, Asouzu defines being as,
that on account of which anything that exist serves a missing link of reality. In other
words, within an Ibuanyidanda context, reality presents itself to us as a missing link
of reality within whose framework the idea of being reveals itself and is defined…
therefore, to be is to be in complementary relationship its negation is to be alone
and nothingness.22

The question however is: What is a missing link? According to Asouzu, missing link connotes,
The diverse units that make up an entity within the framework of then whole and
as they are complementarily related. They are all the imaginable, fragments, units,
components, and combinations that enter into our understanding of any aspect of
our world. They are also all the units and combinations necessary in the
conceptualization of an entity or of the whole. Thus missing links are, for example,
thoughts and the thoughts of thoughts. They are diverse modes of manifestation of
being in history. They are categories and the categories of categories. They are the
units and the units of units, entities and the entities of entities, and things and the
things of things. They are ideas and the ideas of ideas, etc., as these can possibly be
abstracted and related to each other as conditions of possibility of their perfectibility
in a harmonious systemic manner.23

The above can be read against the backdrop of the philosophy of essence to mean that both
substance and accident serves a missing link of reality and that accident is as important as the
substance and not inferior in relation to substance as such. It is in this thinking that Umera Bassey
intimated that “Ibuanyindanda is a new ontological horizon provided by the idea of comprehensive
complimentarism which seeks to eradicate the difficulties posed by Aristotle's bifurcation of reality
into substance and accidents, which has coloured our minds with the belief that substance and
accident lie in diverse regions and that substance does not need accidents to exist because it has
the capacity to exist on its own. On the other hand, accidents cannot exist on their own but rather

22
Asouzu I.I Filosofia Theoretica Pg. 103
23
Asouzu, I.I The Method and Principles of Complementary Reflection in and Beyound African Philosophy. (Calabar:
University of Calabar Press, 2004), Pg. 277-278
rely on substance for their own existence”.24 Within the context of the temper of complementarity,
there exists a mutual complementary relationship between all things that exist in the world.
In this thinking, the idea that substance is superior to accident is flawed and does not stand to logic
neither does it stand erect in the human court of reason. It is in this regard that Asouzu urges man
to see reality in complementary terms. He argues that, the only way we can capture reality as it is,
is by seeing everything that exist not in a polarized manner but as serving a missing. In this way
we will be spared the implications of fidelity to the philosophy of essence which have blurred our
understanding of reality which has prevented us from enjoying the joy and authentic experience of
being.
In his synthesis of the reality and critique of the philosophy of essence, Asouzu intimated that

There is need to recognizes the fact that the ultimate idea of being is very
constitutive in our understanding of reality and in our relationship to the world. It
is the very idea that drives science and society. In this point Aristotle is right when
he points at the fundamental, enduring and ultimate character of the notion of being.
However in seeking to arrive at this ultimate enduring idea of being, all the means
needed to attain it must remain harmonized with the ideal it enshrines. This is where
Aristotle's approach calls for an overhaul. If for Aristotle metaphysics which ”treats
universality of being as being, is the study of substance or essence” it cannot do
this successfully if essence and accidents are conceptualized as if they are situated
at diverse regions of being.25

Asouzu can be further understood as stipulating that in doing philosophy or metaphysics, there
must be the possibility to relate being to its attributes in the most natural way, and such that makes
it possible for us to uphold a harmonized idea of reality. Furthermore, it is only by recourse to such
a harmonized idea of being that our idea of science and human interpersonal relationship can
remain complete and harmonized. This can be achieved if there is a way to relate essence
(substance) and accidents, ends and means, practical reason and theoretical, practical reason and
technical, such that in their realization they are mutually harmonized.26 In this regard, “any
philosophy that can help us achieve this must help the ego perceive reality, and the world in
general, in a complementary mutually harmonized way. Besides, the method of such a philosophy

24
Umera J. B. “Authentic Experience of Being through the process of Neotic Propaedeutic” in the IGWEBUIKE: An
African Journal of Arts and Humanities Vol.2 No 4, September 2016. Pg. 25.
25
Asouzu, I. I Filosofia Theoretica Pg. 100
26
Ibid
should be adequate towards penetrating and understand the internal workings of the human
consciousness in view of addressing the tension thereby generated. This is important because such
tension is the major cause of the subject-object divide and dichotomy. Such is the character of
Ibuanyidanda philosophy”.27

A philosophy of essence targets human actions due to the impact theories have on action. To revise
this exclusivist and hegemonic impact of the philosophy of essence on human action, Asouzu
availed Ibuanyidanda; a philosophy of complementation that is valid both as a theoretical and as
a practical philosophy. Ibuanyidanda philosophy unlike Aristotle’s Philosophy of Essence seeks
to harmonize theory and praxis through what Asouzu designated as the principle of integration,
“truth and authenticity criterion”. To quote him,
I call the metaphysical variant of the Ibuanyidanda principle, the principle of
integration. This principle claims: “Anything that exists serves a missing link of
reality”. The principle of progressive transformation serves as the practical variant
of this principle. It states: “All human actions are geared towards the joy of being”.
The imperative of ibuanyidanda philosophy states: “Allow the limitations of being
to be the cause of your joy”. Whereas the truth and authenticity criterion states:
never elevate any world immanent missing link to an absolute instance.28

The above criterion can be read and understood as stipulating that no aspect or part of reality, be
it substance should be elevated over and against the others. He further asserted that “what is
striking about the principles and imperative of Ibuanyidanda philosophy and its truth and
authenticity criterion is that they lay much emphasis on human insufficiency, while bearing in
mind human determination to absoluteness and comprehensiveness in his future reference.
Ibuanyidanda philosophy seeks to show how the essential and accidental, how being and its
various modes of expression form an integrated complementary whole. Here, being becomes
manifest as the authentic mutual joyous experience that unifies all missing links in the service they
render to each other.29
It may thus not be out of the line to view Aristotle’s philosophic temper as conscious autonomy,
and so describe his philosophy of essence as a charade. In reality, “We are lived, and yet we don’t

27
Ibid.
28
Ibid. Pg. 105.
29
Ibid.
see it as such”30. The suggestion here is that, humanity tend to see itself more as self-determining,
self-conscious agents in all that it decides and does, clinging to that image as its essence, straining
and striving against that grain of reality all in an effort to see itself as autonomous and self-
sustaining individual. Unfortunately though, we are typically wrong on this score. Indeed, we
wrongly ignore the extent to which we as humans are determined by unknown forces much as we
overestimate our self-control.
Contrary to Aristotle’s philosophy of essence which is derived from a metaphysics that polarises
and absolutises aspects of reality, the major task of an ibuanyidanda philosophy is to show how a
systematic non-absolutistic metaphysics is possible; it is an attempt at showing how the ego can
relate to reality in a mutually harmonized non-absolutistic mode. As this relates to the legitimizing
role of philosophy as the ideal of science, Ibuanyidanda philosophy show how the propositions or
statements of any given science, intended for human interpersonal relationship, can be validated,
both to the inside and the outside, without falling into the three fold trilemma of infinite regress,
of circularity, and of arbitrariness. Since all sciences claim to foster human happiness,
ibuanyidanda philosophy shows how this task of legitimization is a responsibility mutually shared
by all the sciences and not one that is reserved specifically to philosophy. With this, ibuanyidanda
philosophy shows that there can be real convergence in the subject matters of diverse sciences,
contrary to insinuations of a philosophy of essence for which the subject matters of the diverse
sciences are at odds with each other.31
Thus understood, while a philosophy of essence polarises reality, ibuanyidanda philosophy
explores a method and principles for coalescing the real and the ideal, the essential and accidental
into a system of mutually complementing units. It is a challenge to show how philosophy can be
relevant to all units constituting a whole, such that the essential and accidental, the necessary and
contingent, the universal and the particular, the absolute and relative, the conservative and the
progressive, the constructive and the deconstructive; both the consequential and inconsequential,
both the essential and inessential, both the real and the ideal, both the transcendental and world-
immanent, can more easily be grappled with within the same framework.32
Ibuanyidanda Ontology: Seeking the Whole from the Units

30
Quoted from Firmin DeBrabander’s “Deluded Individualism”, In Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments, Peter
Catapano and Simon Critchley, New York, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017, pp 85-88
31
See page 101 -102 of Ibuanyidanda and the philosophy of Essence in the Filosofia Theoretica
32
Ibid.
As an emerging theme in African Philosophy, Ibuanyidanda Ontology can best be understood as
a philosophy of Integration, of unity in diversity, of seeking the whole from units. The Zulu of
South Africa calls it Ubuntu, an African philosophy that promotes group mentality above that of
the individual. According to Ubuntu, there exists a common bond between humans and it is
through this bond and interaction with our fellow human beings, that we in turn discover our own
human qualities. For the Zulus then, Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu, i.e., a person is a person
through other persons. That is to say that, humanity is humanity only when we acknowledge the
humanity of others. The South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu best describes
this philosophy thus:

‘It is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught
up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks
about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with Ubuntu is welcoming,
hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and
available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel
threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance
that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they
are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed,
diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The
quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still
human despite all efforts to dehumanize them.”33

The informing idea here is that, a person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming
of others. He does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-
assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished
when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. Such is the
essence of being human; the fact that one can’t exist as a human being in isolation. Being for the
Africa is interconnected and interrelated. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just
individuals, separated from one another, whereas we are connected and what one does affects the
whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Like Ubuntu, Ibuanyidanda essentially aims at reorienting humanity to think the humanity of
humanity as against the prevailing attitude of discrimination, stereotyping and porarization of
humanity along the lines of the “we” and “them”. Ibuanyidanda accordingly projects the benefits

33
Dauglass Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Haappiness in a Changed World, His Holiness the DALAI LAMA,
Archbishop DESMOND TUTU, New York, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2016
of “we-living” or “we-existence” or oneness of humanity universaly as against Aristotle’s
bifurcation which culminates into discrimination. Ultimately, Ibuanyidanda ontology intends to
make the global world a happier and more beautiful place for humanity.

It is difficult if not expressly impossible for entities to exist without tension if they were not in this
sort of relationship of mutual dependence and interconnection. Nothing is by its nature meant to
stand alone. The ultimate structure of being is that of interconnectedness and inter-relatedness.
This relationship is dialectical and it is through the dialectical process that being evolves from one
stage to another. When applied as a process of mutual exchanges between globalising cultures,
globalisation will stand to offer more in terms of world peace, unity, cross-cultural and
intercultural understandings.

Disorder is as a result of commitments to divisive orientation where humans project self-interests

over and above common interests. If it is the natural order that humans live interdependently, then
any anti-Ibuanyidanda act that recognises or promotes the division between the "self" and the
"other" can only lead to disorder. Some of such disorderly indoctrinations based on anti-
Ibuanyidanda acts include: racism, ethnicism, tribalism and religious bigotry, poverty, criminality
and underdevelopment among others. These problems and other forms of orientation that recognise
the line between the "self" and the "other" are central to the disorder in the world today. When for
example, the poor are left to rot in their misery, the misery does not stay contained, and it harms
us all. The crime radiates, the misery offends, and it debases the whole. Individuals much less
communities, cannot be insulated from it.

To remedy the situation and promote a global exchange that does not uphold the "self" and vitiate
the "other" in any form it is practiced, Asouzu offers a compelling insight and a veritable
conception of being, through Ibuanyidanda ontology. This ontological conception of being
harbours within it unity, harmony as well as dependent and interdependent modes. This tirade
questions the human pretense to autonomy. As far as human nature unveils itself, there is no such
thing as discrete individual. The boundaries of me (and the other) are fluid and blurred. We are all
profoundly linked in countless ways we can hardly perceive. My decisions, choices, actions are
inspired and motivated by others to no small extent.34

Thus, understanding the interrelated nature of human existence; the nature of everyone and
everything is the key to diminishing the passions and the havoc they wreck. We are all in this
together. Substance and accidents relate, interrelate, depend and interdepend for the joy and the
good of (humanity) the whole. As humans, we are not the author of our destiny. Our destinies are
entangled, messily and unpredictably. Our cultural demands of individualism are too extreme.
They are constitutionally irrational, and their potential consequences are disastrous. This path no
doubt signposts the death of humanity. On the other hand, the path signposted by joy is much
bigger and better than happiness.

Unlike happiness which depends on external circumstances, joy is more a state of mind and heart;
of what animates our lives, ultimately leading to a life of satisfaction and meaning, transforming
it (joy), from an ephemeral state into an enduring trait, from a fleeting feeling into a lasting way
of being in their diverse modes of manifestation. This state of life is found in the order of units,
the unity of units, and the wholeness of units in diversity. The basic truth of human nature and the
rationalist for being human is that which affirms our dependence and inter-dependence on each
other.

The challenge humanity faces today is that of removing the barriers between who we see as “us”
and who we see as “other”. Studies have shown that humanity is on the wrong track of the human
condition and understanding in directing its thinking this way. “The latest brain scan research
suggests that, we have a rather binary understanding of self and other and that our empathy circuits
do not activate unless we see the other person as part of our own group”35. The many wars,
discriminations, disharmonies and injustices as well as the ethnic cleansing against the Tiv of
Nigeria and the Fulani War against other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and the terrorist activities
of Boko Haram in the North Eastern Nigeria has been perpetrated because we have banished
others from our group and therefore from our circle of concern.

34
Quoted from Firmin DeBrabander’s “Deluded Individualism”, In Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments, Peter
Catapano and Simon Critchley, New York, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2017,p. 88
35
Dauglass Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Haappiness in a Changed World, His Holiness the DALAI LAMA,
Archbishop DESMOND TUTU, New York, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2016. P. 183
Conclusion
In the foregoing, attempts have been made to explicate on the basics of the Aristotelian bifurcation
of reality into substance and accident. In Aristotle’s philosophy of essence, substance has been
elevated over accident, i.e. accident necessarily needing substance to subsist. It must be noted that
Aristotle was right when he pursued the ultimate character of the notion of being, however, his
approach while seeking to arrive at this idea is flawed and according to Asouzu “calls for an
overhaul”. This paper shares in the sentiments of Asouzu and argues the conclusion that, fidelity
to the philosophy of essence has caused us more harm than good is a statement of fact that coheres
with the actual state of affair. All forms of tensions that occur and manifest between the "self" and
the "other" in our world today under the nose of globalisation is traceable in the strict and polarized
Aristotelian ontology. Adherence to Ibuanyidanda philosophy as a veritable alternative
programme that could neutralise the tension and engender a balanced global relationship among
diverse cultures and individuals is the way to go in the 21st clime.

When we recognise that Aristotle's divisive metaphysics accounts for much of the disorder in the
world - whether in terms racial problems, religious fundamentalism, political grand-standings,
wars, conflicts, pogroms and mayhems, social injustices, different forms of discriminations and
subjugations arising from ethnicism, tribalism, nepotism, feminism and favouritism - then we shall
be open to an alternative episteme. Asouzu's theory of Ibuanyidanda ontology in unveiling the
challenge posed by the phenomenon of concealment, creditably fills that gap by delicately wiping
the line between the "self" and the "other" in infusing the idea of missing links and
complementarity into our understanding, interpretation and practice of human relationships.
Philosophical inquiry could take many approaches, from bivalent to multi-valent logical systems
though, a multi-valent system where the idea of straightjacket thinking, discrimination and lop-
sidedness will be whittled down is preferable. Reality is not dichotomised, bifurcated or polarised.
Every reality serves a missing link in a complementary relationship of all there is and, it is here
argued as a viable alternative for reconstructing being from the perspective of its
interconnectedness and interrelatedness for global beneficence. This is a call for self-knowledge,
self-possession and self-mindedness, devoid of hankering or dejection but with a desirable
psychological condition which underlies the individualized self. This knowledge of ourselves
teaches us whence we come, where we are going.36 It is as an important missing link as no other
thing. In other living creatures ignorance of self is nature; in man it is curse that harbours within it
but only pleasures of illusion.
Thus, no immanent missing link should be elevated to an absolute instance but every aspect of
reality should be viewed and understood in complementary terms. It is therefore the reasoned
conclusion of this paper that, when humanity begins to see one another as serving a missing link
of reality and not fragments of existence, then ethnicity and departmentalization of human relations
and behavior, and the problem it breeds would be curbed. Then, the “we-them” mentality which
is at the root of the ethnic divide would be obliterated in place of the “we-we” relationship.
Everything that exists is born for no reason other than sharing their differences and drinking from
the same cup of wisdom from whatever source it came from. As humans, we must transcend our
narrow definitions and beliefs of self and other, ours and theirs all in an effort to complement for
the joy of being. Man, is not only responsible for his entire existence and individualism, he is also
responsible for all men.

36
This is credited to Ruysbroeck take from Aldous Huxley”s The Perenial Philosophy, New York, HarperCollins
Publishers, 2009, p. 163