CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Logic and philosophy are two concepts generally derived from political thought that originated in ancient Greece and has been reformed over the years by other ideas borrowed from several locations across the world right through the ages. Contemporary political thought can then be said to have generally evolved through several historical eras and can best be captured as the ideas of notable scholars and philosophers alike gleaned from multiple cultures across the world. But before delving into such an arduous analytical task here, it is pertinent to make some conceptual clarifications pertaining to some of the basic concepts that are widely used in the contemporary discourse on logic and philosophy. Ideally, the materials contained in this book are intended to facilitate a general understanding of the essence of Logic and Philosophy and as these concepts have also impacted on social rational thinking and scientific enquiries in other disciplines. Logic is a sequence of linkage between factual, rational or hypothetical arguments embedded in any social thought. All social thought are said to consist of a series of related ideas about any phenomenon under focus and geared towards how best to tackle any social problem - especially, how best to organize the human society. It is from such a systemic inter-linkage of ideas that the notion of Philosophy emanates. This is in the sense of saying that Philosophy entails a systematization of socially acceptable ideas and of which a people generally accept as authoritative and hence morally binding on them and on their ways of life. As much as there are multiplicities of human endeavours, so also there are multiples of philosophies about many social phenomena especially the notion of social organization. It is however incisive to understand here that, the focus of logic and philosophy on human organization is ideally premised on how to ascertain the ethical essence of politics in the human community. To better understand the dynamics, scope and content of political thought, it is pertinent at this instance to clarify some of the salient ideas which are composed in the linkage between logic and philosophy as well as to chronologize the ideas of some of the notable scholars who have propounded them. Generally speaking, the historical eras that comes into view here in the analyses span from the Ancient/Classical Era; the 1

Medieval Era; Era of Renaissance; Era of Reformation, The Modern Industrial Era; and to the era of PostModernism. 1.1 LECTURE 1: CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS As a general practice in Political Science and much of the Social Sciences, every social enquiry must logically or rationally begin with some form of conceptual introduction wherein all basic tools and concepts to be employed are clearly defined and put in their right definitional perspectives for purposes of clarity and for the purpose of aiding analytical certainty. No better place to begin on such an onerous task than to focus at the onset here on the two primary concepts of Logic and Philosophy. What is Logic? By definition, it could be taken to mean the structural linkage between two or more ideas or concepts. Some English Language Dictionaries define it also as the principles that guide reasoning within a given field or situation. And at other instances, it could be taken also to mean, a system of rational reasoning. It usually consists of a dialectical interaction between a set of ideas. And when the linkage pertains to two or more political concepts this is generally called political logic. Logics are generally derived from ideas about the world. What is an Idea? An idea can be taken to mean any knowledge, personal view, opinion or information about a social phenomenon. It also evokes a sense of cognition or awareness about a phenomenon. And it can be a plan of action that produces a social action. When such awareness, cognition, opinions or information pertain to the authoritative social organization of a human society, it is called a political idea. Related ideas transform generally into philosophies. What is Philosophy? The linkage of closely related ideas by logic or rational reason often creates a system of knowledge about a set of related social phenomenon. Philosophy can then be taken to mean a system of related ideas about any social phenomenon. Usually, such ideas pertain to how to achieve solutions to any given social problem. And when these ideas are authoritatively accepted by a people as binding on them, they translate into political philosophy. Philosophies usually progress into ethics. What is Ethics? 2

They are the underlying principles of right and wrong or acceptable social conducts which an individual or a social group accepts as authoritatively binding on them socially. They are derived from related systems of ideas, philosophies or belief systems that have gained moral force over long period of usage by a people. They are therefore a set of moral codes about the notion of the good life in the human community. Political ethics or the ethics of politics, therefore pertain to a determination of what ought to constitute the moral code for the authoritative allocation of power and resources within the state and where the question of how to attain the truest essence of universal justice is usually the principal consideration. All ideas, logic and philosophies originate from mans cognition or his conscious thought about the polity he resides in as his natural habitat. This is generally referred to as his political thought. What is Political Thought? Ideas and the logic that link them together into different coherent systems where they readily become philosophies, actually originate from mans cognitive faculty and awareness about his natural habitat. In this sense, political thought can be taken to mean the outcome of the cognitive prowess of man in the sense of using his mental abilities to bring into reality a state of being in his natural habitat through mental preoccupation. Political thought and political philosophy are therefore synonymous and are basically the outcome of mans mental pre-occupation about how to authoritatively organize his socializing community politically in order to enable him live the good life - that is, a burning desire to live within the ambience of universal justice in harmonious association with other fellow men. Political philosophy and political thought are also usually conduced into the notion of political theories generally. 1.2 LECTURE 2: THE ESSENCE AND DYNAMICS OF POLITICAL THEORIES Overview of Political Theories Political theories are derivatives from the generic notion of a theory as applicable in both the natural, physical and social sciences. A theory is generally regarded as a composite part of the culture of every human social organization. They are usually road maps formulated with the view to explore for concrete solutions besetting man in his social community which we fondly call the society. In essence, theories are largely a set of commonly evolved ideals of the people that are accepted as the basic standards or operating rules that could rationally and authoritatively govern the affairs of any social phenomenon.

Ideally speaking, many definitions actually abound about this concept. Almost every English Language Dictionary would have multiple definitions of this concept. Taking for instance the popular PC-compatible WordWeb English Dictionary, the ranges of definitions offered include the followings: a) According to the Dictionary expression, a theory from a generic point of view, can be taken to mean a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world [which can also mean] an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena. b) It can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses c) It can also be taken to mean a tentative insight into the natural world [or] a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena. d) Or better still, it could be taken to mean also, a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing [and then] becomes a scientific theory. e) And finally, we could also take it to mean, a belief [system] that can guide behavior. However, the choice of a suitable meaning to be applied in each circumstance would readily require a great deal of rational or logical reasoning on the part of a scholar who wishes to utilize such a concept for his or her analyses. And the central question for consideration here would be: for what purpose is that concept going to be deployed in the analysis? And for the purpose of the analysis here in this book, our primary aim is to highlight how social ideas have influenced social thoughts and actions with respect to how the human society has been organized according to a set of accepted and authoritative ideas in the past. This answer proffered in the foregoing, highlights the fact that all things political naturally flow from that basic determination which Harold Laswell (1946) had famously enjoined us long ago to adopt when we wish to play politics or engage in the act of organizing the human society authoritatively. He defines politics as a science that compels us to rationally determine who gets what, how and when? If we then take this stand point as given, it therefore becomes evident that the last dictionary connotation that defines a theory as a belief [system] that can guide behavior and of course with a little modification of our own, seems to suit our intentions here. And as it were, this chosen definition is technically void of the notion of authority and force which are required to maintain law and order in almost all known human social communities. If we then add the missing link of authority to our chosen definition here, we would then have successfully devised a working definition of what political theory is intended to mean to us here in this study. The original Dictionary definition can then be rephrased here to read as follows: an authoritative belief system that can, and that is mandated to guide social behavior in a politically organized human society. 4

Aims and Objectives of Political Theories: a) They are intended to influence social thought b) They are intended to influence social action c) They are also intended to influence social organization Essence of Political Theories: a) They have the character of logicality b) They have the character of validity c) They have the character of social relevance d) They have the ability to stimulate social discourse aimed at social re-engineering Dynamism of Theories: a) They create a variety of rational ideas, beliefs, thoughts and opinions about any social phenomenon. b) They are liable to change over a broad range of historical time and under varying circumstances c) The environments of socialization in which they originate impact directly on their characters as well as their compositions and they in turn exert reciprocal impacts on their environments of origin. 1.3 LESSION 3: GREEK ORIGIN OF MODERN POLITICAL THOUGHT

Political thought originated from Greece during the early times. It owes its existence in Greece to the need to correct prevailing ideas already in vogue and it began when the many started to answer by arguments, the claims of Aristocratic prestige. Therefore, the weighing of the claims of the wise and virtuous few against those of the many was always a constant staple of Greek speculation and from where political thought emanated originally. This trend though was also influenced by the element of geography. Greece generally, has a rugged topography outlined by multiple mountains and a land mass separated by the sea. In the hinterland, the adjoining mountains created a series of very narrow valleys which provided the means to support very limited population that basically survived on agriculture. Access to neighboring valley habitations was greatly limited by the rough topography and this compelled each community to develop in relative isolation. The harsh realities of topography also prevented the development of a unified federation of Greek City-States. The limited space for habitation also compelled in a way the Greeks to be largely gregarious thereby making the cities social places and avenues for recreation/leisure. It also helped to generate a very vibrant political culture and activism in such a manner that politics became everyones business. In totality the cities were separated but unified communities and 5

there was relative harmony between them and the rural communities. In essence, they were community centres owned and shared by all equally. Structural Outlay Of The Greek City State: Athens It is a fact that men are by and large a product of their environments of socialization. Inclement of nature, institutions and operating laws tend to shape such environments and they are in turn shaped by the interactions of individuals within them. If we take this analogy as given, it becomes evident that for us to understand the influences of early Greek political thought or philosophy on modern logic and science, we ought to first grasp the character and structural arrangements within which the early philosophers operated from at the onset. It is only in this light that we can aptly understand the essences of the logic and political undertones embedded in the thoughts of the early Greek philosophers. Characteristic Structure of The Athenian City State Model a). Life was personal and intimate because the location was relatively small in size. b) c) d) e) f) g) It had a gregarious national population with politics as the main activity Citizens lived with their fellows in s spirit of equality and comradeship that generally promoted a sense of common national ethos. Autocracy had no place in Athens. In essence what obtained was a direct participatory democracy. It had a long and turbulent evolution from monarchy through aristocracy, to tyranny and to democracy. Each stage presented a stiff challenge between those who held and those who sought power and the focus of the struggles were usually premised on a full understanding of the ethical basis of politics Geography was a chief determinant of development of the City-State in the sense that it had: i) h) i) j) k) A limited population ii) An isolated development There was a social strata consisting of citizens - 1/3 of the population, slaves and the Metic or resident foreigners who were free men, consisted of the size of citizens. Slaves were more in numbers. Agriculture was a predominant economic activity and operating it in a limited space plus a large population created huge demands for daily sustenance. Citizenship was the right of only those recognized by birth, though it could also be granted to the Metric but by legislation and not by any legal award. The Metic is required to pay special taxes from which the citizens were exempt. Slaves performed most of the works and this freed the citizens to devote time on politics and civic affairs. 6

l)

Athenians were focused more on civic duties than on the pursuit of leisure or luxury living.

m) Whether slave, citizens or Metic, everyone had a comparatively high standard of n) Slaves had rights guaranteed by the law even though they were generally regarded as property of the citizens. Example: a) Physical assault on a slave by a person other than the master was punishable under criminal law. b) The state might intervene to ensure the bond servants protection.

CHAPTER 2

ANCIENT GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT

The origin of contemporary political thought is usually traced from the original ideas of what is also generally referred to as the Greek triumvirate Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The preceding sections will attempt to vividly capture the ideas of these scholars which generally act as the foundation of modern political thought and from where the notion of logic and philosophy are also derived. 2.1 LECTURE 1: SOCRATES (470-399 B. C) An Athenian by birth, he is generally regarded as the fountain- head of ancient Greek philosophy and one of the three Greek philosophers who symbolised the golden age of Greek philosophy . Socrates was active in the P ericlean age and was a contemporary of such great dramatists as Aeschylus, Sophocles Euripedes and Aristophanes. In his formative years, Socrates served with distinction, as a foot-soldier in the Peloponnesian war. During this period he evinced an extraordinary power of selfdiscipline and was largely indifferent to such discomforts as heat, cold, hunger, and thirst. It was also discovered, to the amazement of many that Socrates was in the habit of being lost in trance for several hours in intense mental concentration. Before we delve into the main corpus of Socrate's philosophy, it is fair to mention

that Socrates was exposed to a number of influences. First, his thought was influenced by Anaxagoras insight appertaining to the presence of the mind in the universe. His thought was also influenced by PARAMENDES conviction that being is eternal and abiding. And this was also influenced by Phythagoras various concepts on human souls, contemplation and soul's quest for wisdom. In addition, the most referred and respected Greek oracle of his age, the Delphic Oracle also exerted some profound influences on him. Socrates himself claimed that he was guided by a "DAIMON" or perhaps, "Mind" or Conscience" within him. At this point, three major questions are germane: who was Socrates himself? What are the major sources of his ideas and method of inquiry? What was the substance of his philosophy? To respond 8

to these posers, one can say that, Socrates is a very complex subject for both the historian and philosopher alike. And, according to Betrand Russell, "in the case of Socrates, the uncertainty is as to whether we know very little or a great deal" about him. The reason is that, in spite of enormous, philosophical teachings and his enviable pride of place in Greek political thought, Socrates generally used a unique method of conversation generally referred to as the Socratic Irony. Notably, Socrates wrote no book. But he envisaged his reforming mission as one of seeking wisdom for both himself and those whom he conversed with in the streets of Athens. In fact, much of what we know of his doctrines, activities and methods are based on the writings of his pupils, XENOPHON, a soldier with minimum philosophical equipment; and PLATO, who idealized him. XENOPIION wrote the MEMORABILIA while PLATO gave us the DIALOGUES where he made Socrates his chief character. Besides, ARISTOTLE who was later a disciple of Plato also made some references to Socrates in his writings. The snag however, is that the three of them say different things about Socrates. For example, the problem with Xenophon's account is that he was not intellectually equipped to cope with the complex ideas of Socrates, while in the case of Plato, it is difficult to judge how far he portrays the historical stature of Socrates and how far the Socratic Dialogues were the mouthpiece of his own opinions. On the other hand, Aristotle's account of Socrates was largely secondary as he had no direct encounter with the subject. In spite of these observations, Plato's account is adjudged by scholars as the best sources of information on Socrates. Principally, from Xenophon's and Plato's characterization of Socrates, the picture of him which emerges was that of a man of profound ideas and intellectual fecundity. An Athenian citizen of moderate means, Socrates spent the bulk of his time in philosophical disputation, speculation and teaching philosophy to the young. Unlike the Sophists, Socrates never took money/fees for his teachings. He was interested in ideas for the sake of impacting knowledge and as a means of seeking wisdom. Like the Sophists, however he discarded metaphysics, natural science and mathematics, and made the study of man as a citizen his major preoccupation. Socrates conceptualized individual's culture as the goal of education, irrespective of its effect on state, religion and traditional beliefs. Socrates believed in God, immortality of the soul and a happy life after death. In espousing his philosophical world-view, Socrates' method of reaching was dialectic i.e. the method of seeking or acquiring knowledge through questions and answers. Socrates never gave lectures to a large body of audience but was rather involved in conversing with people, asking them question and helping 9

them to seek the answers. He believed that everyone is endowed like a pregnant woman who needs a midwife to help in bringing forth knowledge about the truth of the universe. Thus, Socrates conceived himself as a midwife of sort. He however, carried out this task by asking people question during conversation and guiding them to think out the answers. In particular, he induced his students to have mental clarity on and distinct definitions of such concepts a justice, law, piety, friendship, and courage, truth and temperance. Through this method and process, he contended that it was possible to have universal idea of justice, the idea of law, the universal idea of man, etc. Another fundamental component of Socrates' philosophy is what has been termed "Socratic Irony". In the course of his quest for philosophical inquiry, Socrates often professed that he was ignorant and that he was in search of knowledge. But through his discourse method, he generally led people to knowledge though he claimed that both his interlocutors and his humble self were seeking knowledge together. Such a scenario is what is termed the SOCRATIC IRONY. A friend of Socrates is said to have gone to the Delplue Oracle to find out who was the wisest man in Athens and the Oracle pronounced Socrates as the wisest. To find out the veracity in this pronouncement, Socrates visited all the men reputed for great wisdom, engaged them in discussion but was amazed at the level of ignorance exhibited by them. The oracle was certainly right because, those who claimed knowledge actually know nothing, while he who claimed no knowledge, knew at least one knowledge that is the truth that he knew nothing. A man who is aware of his ignorance is wiser than one who is unaware and greatly steeped in ignorance. We need to add that Socrates' Dialectic method was not wholly original. The method was invented originally by Zeno, the disciple of Parmenides but Socrates practiced and developed the method. The dialectic method - a method of seeking knowledge through classification of idea by questions and answers - has some usefulness. It is a useful method for discovering logical inconsistencies with the object of reaching what is logically consistent. It is an appropriate definition of non-empirical ideas and the right usage of words. However, as Bertrand Russell opines, it is no use in the discovery of new facts. Another important component of Socrates philosophy is his contention that know ge is virtu led e". Indeed, Socrates saw his mission in life as that of persuading men "to seek virtue and wisdom". And for him virtue and wisdom are one. He was convinced that ignorance was the cause of wrong doing and that no man, who knows what is wrong, would willingly do it. Socrates was strongly of the view that it a wise man

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that knows what is right, that will do what is right. Any man who is genuinely convinced that a certain action will promote his own true happiness will certainly perform that action. Thus, a virtuous life and an enlightened life are one and the same thing. The virtuous man is one who knows the moral goodness, the man of wisdom. This explains why insight is so crucial in the life of every human being. And we need however to point out that the Socratic doctrine of ethical intellectualism failed to take into account the inherent weaknesses in man a point which had been well underscored by Aristotle. A close reading of Platos Dialogues and Auaxophones Memorabillia, also reveal that Socrates was a passionate humanist and moralist. He was certainly not interested in abstract speculative philosophy that has no bearing on human conduct. He was arguably, the first moral philosopher in the West. In the earliest Platonic Dialogues, Socrates was mainly preoccupied with the definitions of ethical terms. The Charmides is concerned with the definition of temperance or moderation; the Lysis with friendship, and the Laches with courage. Although no conclusion is arrived at, Socrates consistently maintains that the search for knowledge is of the utmost importance. It is however instructive to note that Socrates applied the same line of thought to politics. He was continually according to Bertrand Russell, preoccupied with the problem of getting competent men into positions of power. He would pose such questions as if I wanted a shoe mended, whom should I employ? To which some enlightened youths would answer a shoe maker, O Socrates. He would then proceed further to query the carpenters, the coppersmiths, etc. and finally, he would then ask the jugular question: who would mend the ship of the state. According to Socrates, the ship of state should be entrusted only to the wise, morally upright and competent men. Democracy as conducted under the ambit of Athenian speech makers and arrogant rhetoricians did not lead to the enthronement of democratic culture and the emergence of public spirited civic officials. In the same vein, the General in the Navy, the Army and even the War Minister were chosen by the motley of uninformed and ignorant multitude. Thus, Socrates fell into conflict with the Thirty Tyrants which came into existence during the brief oligarchic government established by the Spartans at the end of the Peloponnesian War. It is also on record that, when Socrates was a member of a Committee of Senate, he refused to collaborate in the plot to arrest and murder Leon of Salamins whose property the ruling class wanted to confiscate. In both cases, the authorities were acting illegally but Socrates emerged as a man of great moral courage till the end.

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Expectedly, any society ridden with corruption, hypocrisy, would not tolerate a moral philosopher and principled man like Socrates. In fact, the application of his teachings aroused the hostility of several existing office - holders. Socrates had instilled in the minds of Athenian youths the spirit of criticism, frequent reflection and self-questioning. In the year 399 B.C, when he was about 70 years, Socrates was accused by the state of corrupting the minds of the youth, undermining the influence and power of political office-holders and not worshipping the gods which the Athenian state worshipped. At his trial, Socrates demonstrated uncommon courage, principle and determination in the face of death. After he had been found guilty, his friends plotted an escape for him but he rejected the idea. Moreover, at the trial, he refused the custom of allowing one's wife and children to come and weep before the judges in order to soften their hearts. He insisted that, it is not the business of his family or himself to convince the judges, or to ask for favour or clemency. The rule of the state must always take its natural course even if to the detriment of the individual. Socrates posturing in this light, comes from the standpoint that, man is always a political animal and his entire being invariably belongs to the state which ought to be supreme over him. Man is therefore obliged to be perpetually subjected to the state in total obedience. But then, he also concludes that a man has a much higher obligation to his conscience, to eternal truth and to the seeking of virtue which is knowledge. And if such a duty to the state clashes with such much higher ideals, every man ought to be willing to forfeit his life to the state instead of compromising his conscience and such higher ideals. Even when he had the chance to escape, he chose to sacrifice his life for such higher ideals. Two versions however, subsist about the circumstances surrounding his death. One says he was stoned to death while standing for his views. Another version says Socrates was executed by been forced to drink poison (hemlock). The details of Socrates defense at his trial has been captured by PLATOs Apologia. According Betrand Russell (????????), the picture of Socrates which emerges from Apologia is that of "a man very sure of himself, high minded, indifferently to worldly success, believing that he is guided by a divine voice, and persuaded clear thinking is the most important requisite for right living". Socrates considered himself a Gadfly to the society but M.M Sheriff sees him as the greatest thinker of his generation. He was highminded, eminently pious, frank to a fault, amazingly different to worldly success comforts of life, and remarkably high in the estimation of the youths. However, Socrates place inWs et ern thought is best captured by A. H. Armstrong (????????) who

asserts that: There is no one else in the whole history of European philosophy who has changed the direction of thought so completely simply by what he was; for Socrates thought springs directly and 12

inevitably in a very special way' from the whole wise and just". 2.2 LECTURE 2:

character and makeup of the man. To his great student

and disciple, Plato, Socrates was "the best (man) of all his time that we have known, and moreover the most

POLITICAL THOUGHT OF PLATO (427 347 BC) Plato's political theory can be divided into two broad categories. The first is that postulated in THE REPUBLIC during his early years while the second is contained in the STATESMAN AND THE LAWS written in his old age. The second was even a reflection on the first and an attempt to meet practice with the theory. The Political Theory Of The Republic The first discernible feature of Plato's political theory has to do with his conception of justice. According to him, the bedrock of the ideal polis is justice which he equated with public and private morality. It is both a public and a private virtue because the highest good both of the state and of its members is thereby conserved. Plato trips up his definition by giving a teleological definition of Government. According to him, government is an art, whose purpose must be the pursuit of the good of the ruled rather than of the ruler, because all arts are so understood. Navigation for instance, regards the interest of the passengers, medicine the good of the patient, and sheep-herding the good of the sheep. i) Platos Notion Of Justice In the Republic, Plato did not leave anybody in doubt that he was more concerned with social justice than a juristic justice. According to him, it is social justice that can enhance the good of all and sundry in the polis. He defines social justice as: ... the principle of a society, consisting of different types of men... who have combined under the impulse of their need for one another and by their combination in one society, and their concentration on the separate functions, they have made a whole which is perfect because it is the product and image of the whole of the human mind.

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Evidenced from the above definition is Plato's obsession with "giving to every man his due". For what is due to him is that he should be treated for what he is, in the light of his capacity and his training, while what is due from him is the honest performance of those tasks which the place accorded him requires. Such an arrangement centers on Platos notion of justice and plan for the ideal state. Plato through the dialogue presents his argument from the assumption that three forces generally motivates man: his desires/appetites, his spirit and his reason (rationality). A society also, he adds is usually composed of three classes of people in whom each of these forces are most prominent. Every class then ought to play the role in society according to the forces most prevalent in them. His Logic: Those motivated by desire/appetite will be greater in number Those motivated by spirit/courage will be lesser than the former and also more that the latter Those motivated by reason will usually be few in numbers It is however the result of the common yearnings for social community that could facilitate the attainment of these three fold desires which readily culminate in creation of the state as a political organization. Thus, while one class pursues its desires, it helps the other classes to achieve their own desire and these in turn help it to achieve its own aims further. It is a reciprocal relationship that benefits all classes and is one that is premised on the principles of social specialization. No class can on its own form a state Plato insists. Therefore, justice in the ideal state amounts to a product of class division founded on specialization of functions. And in this sense, justice is giving to each man his rightful dues. This means each man ought to be assigned a role to play in the society in accordance with his most pronounced skills and attributes most times obtained through training or education or a general lack of it. The intention here is to achieve a unique sense of social harmony amongst men and between them and the state. In conclusion, Plato asserts that, the need for statehood arises in response to demand for an organized community that could help facilitate the abilities of each class to realize its aims. And that which satisfies such needs best is a best state and that which satisfies them perfectly is a perfect or an ideal state. Here two notions of justice emanate from Platos definition: a) As it applies to an individual and when he is given his rightful due in the state b) As it applies to the state in terms of whether it can easily facilitate realization of the multiple desires of the three groups simultaneously with less friction.

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According to Platos logic, it is evident that from reason most pronounced in the minority class who ought to be the rulers, also flows the three most useful virtues of the state: wisdom, courage and selfcontrol. These are vital qualities that ought also to be prevalent in the ruling class in an ideal state. In all, every impulse in man must be subjected to temperance in the sense of harnessing every pronounced attribute in the service of the state and the curbing of lesser impulses so as not to allow them inhibit the smooth functioning of the state. ii) Plato's Communism

Another novel political feature of the REPUBLIC is Plato's great distrust for the existing political class of his day. To him, democracy was the gentle art of gathering votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other. Oligarchy was also distasteful to him as the state would only be governed in the interest of true well born whom the possession of private property is hereditary. He also criticizes plutocracy because of its overwhelming concern for the powerful and rich in the society. From the above critique, it is evident that Plato sees economic cleavage between the citizens of a state as a most disturbing influence in government. In other words, Plato believes that great diversity of wealth was inconsistent with good government and he seeks to eliminate the evil by postulating a communist theory of the state. It needs to be emphasized, however that his communism was quite unlike the communism of Marx and Lenin which envisages a proletarian paradise. He does not mean to use government to equalize wealth, but he equalizes wealth in order to remove a disturbing influence in government and promote national cohesion. Plato's communism has three main features. First, he divides the Good Society into three layers: The Guardian Class, the Soldiers and the Peasantry: the latter comprising of farmers, craftsmen and artisans. The Guardian Class, according to him, should make policy, both domestic and foreign in whatever they believe "is for the good of their country". They are expected to give special attention to certain problems of policy national defence, keeping territorial expansion consistent with political unity, the prevention of excessive riches and poverty in the community (a chief cause of social conflict) and above all, breeding, recruitment and training of the next generation of rulers. The soldiers, in Plato's ideal Polis must be mend with an aptitude different from the farmers. They must not only have the aptitude to prosecute war, but must be persons in whom the spirit of anger higher element of irrational soul is a dominant characteristic. The third layer consists of tradesmen, farmers, and artisans otherwise daubed the productive class.

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It is appropriate to remark that Plato is quite silent on the work to be done by the slaves. This has led Constantine Ritter (??????) to opine that in the Republic slavery is in principle abolished. This seems to be a far stretched interpretation since Plato did not expressly mention that he would want to abolish such a universal institution. A more appropriate inference is that Plato did not take the trouble to work out his plan in detail. This is further buttressed by the fact that he did not also devote any detail on how to recruit or train the soldiers. The second feature of Platos communism is the abolition of private property whether houses, land or money to the rulers. According to him, the Guardian class whose social function require them to think every moment only of the common good must be prevented from developing private interests. The theory further provides that the Guardians must live in barracks and have their meals at a common table. These Guardians are forbidden to handle gold and silver of their own. It is important to note that communism in the Republic applies only to the Guardian class - that is, the soldiers and rulers. So far as the productive class is concerned, it is sufficient to prevent radical inequality which might disrupt the community. However, how this is to be made consistent with promotion from the lower rank to the higher is not explained. The third feature of Plato's communism is the abolition of a permanent monogamous sexual relationship and the substitution of a regulated breeding at the behest of the ruler for the purpose of securing the best possible offspring. Plato's abolition of marriage and family is predicated on three beliefs. First, in order to ensure that the best raw materials possible comes from the Guardian class in each generation, he requires that the Rulers should devise a mating system for the Guardian which will make certain that unions are effected among the persons of the best moral, intellectual and physical qualities, and discouraged between them and the inferior class. When men of "gold or silver" are discovered among the "iron and brass" of the productive class, they are to be promoted Guardian rank Plato advises. And similarly, if "baser materials" are found among the young of the Guardians, they are to be "thrust-out among the craftsman and the farmers". Second, Plato regards family affection as a sub-national interest resisting national unity. In other words, love and anxiety for one's children competes for the loyalty of the rulers which the state has the right to demand. Third, Plato was appalled by the role of women in the Athenian society of his time. The breeding role of women - to Plato, seemed to deny to the state the services of half of its potential Guardians. Moreover, he believes that women's natural capacity, intellect and endowments qualified them to take part in political and military duties. The women of the Guardian class will consequently share all the works of the men, which will make it necessary both that they receive the same education and be free from strictly domestic duties. 16

In other words, Plato was preference for the overall improvement of the social status of women. In conclusion, Plato's thesis is that if the unity of the state is secured, property and marriage must be abolished among the Guardian class. iii) Platos Education Although Plato attached much importance to communism as a means of removing political encumbrances from the part of the statesman, it was on education that he placed his main reliance. Much of the ideas in the Republic are, in fact, devoted to educational process that made several people, including Rosseau, conclude that it is not a political treatise as such, but a magnum opus on education. This is because of his conviction that the state itself is an educational institution whose role is to teach virtue. And if virtue is knowledge, it follows that the state cannot afford to toy with the education of its citizens. The logic of the situation is that the state cannot leave education to private and a commercialized enterprise. Plato's plan, therefore, is for a state-controlled system of compulsory education. His educational scheme is further divided into two categories viz elementary education for young persons before the age of twenty and higher education for the guardian class. Plato's call for the active engagement of the in management and funding of education is a clear criticism of Athenian educational system where individuals were left to give education they could financially afford to their children. The Athenian segregation of women in educational life also falls under the same criticism. Since Plato could not fathom any difference in the natural aptitude of boys and girls, he consequently contended that both should be given unfettered and unhindered access to same educational opportunities. This should not, however, be taken to mean an argument for women's rights or emancipation. Rather, Plato's concern was for making the whole supply of natural capacity available to the state. Despite the importance that Plato attached to education, it is amazing that he did not make any provision for the education of the artisans. Critics like Zeller (??????) have seen this as an evidence of Plato aristocratic contempt for workers. But a thorough appraisal of the Republic indicates that it is part of the looseness that characterizes the book. For apart from the fact that he did not exclude the artisans, he wrote that promising children born of artisan parents should be promoted to the guardian class. At this point, it is appropriate to consider the curriculum of Plato's educational system. The first stage, as earlier stressed, was elementary education for people under twenty. This educational stage was a reform of existing practice and the curriculum was designed not to develop the reasoning faculty but to inculcate habitual virtues in such things as honesty, temperance, courage, endurance, humility and the moral qualities. This is the object both of the musical and gymnastic training of the young. Under the heading of music came all literary influences on the child especially the stories of Homer and 17

Hesicod, about the gods and legendary heroes of Greece. What Plato means by music comprises all the materials in which the persons of both human and of superhuman character are represented to the child as models to imitate. And Plato would establish a rigid censorship over this material, forbidding the gods to be depicted as liars, murderers, drunkards, because persons of such characters should not be displayed to the impressionable child. The Platonic institution of censorship has often been criticized in political theory textbooks because it appears to conflict with the liberal democratic dogmas of intellectual freedom. It should therefore be emphasized that censorship is for the youth of Platos society the immature, malleable minds and not for adults. Platos program for gymnastic training involves the careful regulation on all the physical habits of the Guardian recruits diet and sleep as well as exercise and sports. It is an entire physical regime spanning such sports as racing and football. Virtue - particularly courage depends on physical habits as well as on mental fidelity. Another aspect of Plato's education in the Republic is the higher education for the soldiers and rulers. This is the most original aspect of the Republic. For the rulers, Plato designed a special system of higher education. If they are to legislate well and establish sound norms, they must have direct personal experience of the true form of all norms and values composed in the idea of the universal good. And so Plato provides them with a ten-year course of pure mathematics to develop their faculty for abstract reasoning, as basis to prepare them for this experience. The objects of mathematics are independent, of the material world, pure thought, and so is preparation for one who seeks to apprehend the true essences of natural forms. This is followed by five years of training in dialectic which leads the soul into the world of Forms and the idea of Good itself. Then come fifteen years of practical experience in lesser in the service of the polis. Following this, the few who have excelled both in thought and action will find themselves ready to enter the presence of Good itself. And around itself is ultimate moral and intellectual experience, they take seats in the legislative council and lay down norms for the society. A Critique Of The Republic There are two outstanding omissions in the Republic. The first is that it omits the law and the influence of public opinion. This is because if rulers are qualified by their superior knowledge, it follows that the judgment of public opinion upon their act is irrelevant. In the same vein, it is improper to bind the hands of the PhilosopherKing with the rules of law as to force an expert physician to copy his prescription from the recipes in a medical textbook. In other words, Plato's omission of the law is the logical consequence of the philosophy itself for there was no way of administering law without reconstructing the whole philosophical framework of' which the ideal state is a part. 18

Later in his life, probably as a result of criticism of his ideas, Plato wrote two other works: the STATESMAN and the LAWS, in which he modified his political ideas and now recommends that Laws should now be supreme in the state. Political Theory of The Statesman In the Statesman, Plato continues his attacks on amateurism in government administration. The good statesman should be an expert he argues. He rules over people because he knows how to rule and his knowledge gives him the right to do so. He is an artiste who depends largely on the strength of his superior rational reasoning and not on the dictates of any system of codified laws. He may use laws as he chooses but his rational reasoning predominates always. His task is also to help develop a virtuous people and the facilitation of the citizens education is a vital function of the government. Law is imperfect and inferior to knowledge and hence it is usually not always necessary in civic administration as Plato argues. The law is imperfect because it is a sum of the collective foolishness of a people as well as their own wisdom. It only has value to the extent to which it helps promote stability in the state. But this state is also inferior to that which germane in the ideal state. Types Of States According To Their Virtues a) There is the Ideal State of the Republic b) There is the Lawful State consisting of the followings models: i) ii) Monarchy Lawful rule of one (the best) Aristocracy The lawful rule of a few (second best)

iii) Constitutional Democracy Lawful/moderate rule of many (worse) c) There is also the Unlawful State where the prevailing force is arbitrariness and the absence of legal restraints. It consists of the following models: i) Tyranny the unlawful rule of one (worst) ii) Oligarchy the unlawful rule of a few (worse) iii) Unconstitutional Democracy the arbitrary and extreme rule by many (bad but less dangerous). Possible Stages Of Degeneration Of The State: a) Pigsty when the state is dominated by appetites (love for food) b) Timocracy or military rule when the spirit dominates reason (love for valour) c) Oligarchy when the state is dominated by acquisition (love for wealth) 19

d) Democracy when the state is dominated by appetite (lust for freedom) e) Tyranny when the state is dominated by force (lust for power) The essence of degeneration here means dominance of only one of the many motivational forces within a state. In Platos conclusions here, he argues that the greater the concentration of authority on a single individual the more likelihood for a good or evil rule in a state whether it be lawful or unlawful. Here, he acknowledges the frailties of mans character and invariably concedes that man actually needs a set of legal codes to restrain his likelihood to degenerate towards brutality and greed. His book on the Law highlights this point more aptly in the foregoing analogy. Platos Theory of The Law The Law represents a dramatic shift in Platos earlier positions on what forces ought to prevail in the ideal state which he acquiesces, is not a practicable state or one that can be attained in the real world. And to which he prefers instead a model state. Here, he asserts that instead of the rule of philosopher-kings in the Republic or the statesman in the Statesman, the Law is what ought to prevail in this model state. Also, in place of the utilities of division and specialization amongst classes as highlighted in the Republic, he favours the use of personal moderation and self control as exerted by the Law in creating the much needed unity and social harmony in the human community. Platos Model State In the Law: - It should be located inland to discourage commerce that could interfere with civic duty/ administration and this arrangement also will discourage naval militarism. - The community should be agrarian based and self-supporting to reduce dependence on the outside. - The cities should be private, isolated and fully devoted to civic concourse - A citizenry should not be so poor as to spend full time eking out a subsistent living and should not be so rich as to adopt money making as a vocation Place of Property In the Law: Equal ownership of property is proposed by Plato and this is premised on universal equality as a desirable end. But in reality, inequalities will always exist in property ownership. And this can only be regulated by the Law which ought to restrict individual ownership only to four times the value of his land ownership, after which he legally forfeits the excess to the state. Political power is distributed on the basis of property 20

ownership among the four classes. Other forms of income are regulated in the same way. While private property is abolished in the Republic, it is regulated in the Law where all citizens in the model state are members of a specific ruling class. They draw their subsistence from the land and though slaves do much of the works for them, they are largely focused on the task of civic governance. Marriage And The Family In The Law: Instead of the communism of the family in the Republic, Plato prefers the unity of opposite in the Law where he insists that the rich must marry the poor, strong should marry the weak and there should be no legal compulsion in these arrangements. In this manner marriage has both a public and private end. Government Of The Model State In The Law: Plato insists that of the most extreme of all governments - whether lawful or unlawful the right combination of oligarchy and democracy is the most suitable system of government in the model state. This is a realization by Plato that achievement of peace and harmony in the state is difficult if the citizens are denied some kind of voice in the governing process. But the government is to be manned by the Nocturnal Council of Elders who are virtuous because they are also knowledgeable. 2.3 LECTURE 3: POLITICAL THOUGHT OF ARISTOTLE (384 322 BC) An ardent student of Plato at the latters Academy, he disagreed openly with both Socrates and Plato on virtually all major areas of their political thought. His emphasis was on how to implement Constitutionalism and the Rule of law as perhaps the most principal ideals desirable in the Athenian society. Even though he was a Metic from Macedonia and of a Donian origin, his works focused largely on trends in Athens. He wrote at a time when Athens was recovering its vitality from the depression set in by defeat in the war with the Spartans during the Peloponnesian war. His method was different from the other two as demonstrated by his thoughts enunciated in his Politics or the State. His Methods: This was largely scientific and rational in nature. The basic conditions for establishing the best practical state or the ideal state - he asserts, should be implemented in a manner so as not to equip man with more virtue and abilities than he actually possess. His focus was on how to reform an existing state instead of reconstructing a new one whether it be perfect or imperfect. The state like Plato insists is important and 21

indispensable to man. Any state perfect or imperfect was better than anarchy or lack of politics in the community. Therefore in reconstructing the state, he insists the student should examine the process as it has evolved historically through tradition and customary practices long favoured by the people. The merits of those ancient arrangements lay in the fact that they had functioned at several instances in such critical moments in the past. Good reasons must have also underlain them at those specific historical moments and those reasons must still be valid to an extent in the present time and hence obviously worthy of our attention in the contemporary time. Immanent Good: Aristotle Quest For The Best Regime Quite unlike Plato, Aristotle's theory of the state is more practical and empirical. Indeed, the focus of his political thought is on the polis and even his greatest political treatise, POLITIKE, ought to be translated "the theory of the common life of the polis rather than by our word "politics". The first object of his analysis is to pin down the function or purpose of the Polis. He proceeded by tracing the historical evolution of the state to its rudimentary family and village associations. Placing these three entities side by side, he concluded that society seemed ordained to make possible for men, the good and complete life, a life in which their highest capacities and happiness could be realised. In other words, each level of society had something to contribute to human happiness. This is the meaning of the famous Aristotelian dictum that "Man is a political animal". The family and village existed for the sake of life, the polis, for the good life. The polis is thus the culmination, the telos of human society. As a matter of fact, Aristotle regards the state as natural as man; only man can be a member of the state. There are no provisions for beasts or god. And in order to make man enjoys self-sufficiency, peace and order, the authority of the state should be superimposed over individual. In other words, the primary function of the state is to provide virtue and good life for its members. Theory of The Polis Or The State: Aristotle asserts that though it is an organization created by man for his own benefit, it is also a natural institution. It represents the culmination of institutional development in the long and tortuous evolution of the human society. It is more powerful than the individual and to all other social organizations that ought to be subjected to it in total obedience. He uses analogy of the seed to buttress his analysis here. He informs that, the seed is less representative of the true nature of the species than is the flower in full blossom: yet it precedes the flower.

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Thus, the state is more natural than the precedent individual, family or village organization. The state represents the pinnacle which man as a social animal has achieved after a long period of development and experiments with lesser levels of organizations. This position advances the organic theory of the state that cannot be seen as a mere instrument used to manage citizens by the elites. Here, the bonds of community held men tighter together than the dictates of the Law. A state can therefore only be judged in terms of its capacity to dispense goodness and justice that serves the general interests best. Forms Of The Polis: Those constitutions which consider the common interests of the citizenry are right constitutions if judged by the standard of absolute justice. But those constitutions which consider only the person and personal interest of the rulers are all wrong or pervasion of the right forms. The exercise of power is distributed on the basis of contributions which each individual makes to the community. And since contributions are equally not equal, the exercise of power and the receipt of rewards ought also to be unequally distributed. This is Aristotles principles of distributive justice which is at variance with Platos equalitarian justice in the Republic. Aristotles Types of State (1) The Right States: a) b) c) (2) Monarchy rule by the virtuous man Aristocracy rule by the virtuous few Polity (moderate democracy) rule by the unvirtous people and where there is a balance between democratic and oligarchy principles. The Perverse Sates: a) b) c) Tyranny rule by the selfish man Oligarchy rule by the selfish few wealthy elites Extreme Democracy rule by the selfish mobs.

Constitutions vary with class composition in each state and since there can be no perfect men, there cannot also be a set of philosopherkings as Plato proposes in the Republic that can be totally unrestrained by the Law. Consequently, Aristotle argues that no single class or person has a totally valid claim to power, but rather we must rely on the Law that is based on general principles evolved over long periods of customary practices by the people. Its rule assures that government will always be based on the peoples consent. But obedience must also be taught to the people within a formal education system that is public and not private. General principles ought to also be complemented by psephisma or special legislature based on equity that is needed to be applied in special circumstances. Arbitration also should be complementary to these 23

mechanisms. Governance in the Polis, as Aristotle informs would then require that the statesman ought to studiously review the ideal constitution with a view to ascertain what organizational rules he ought to apply at any specific circumstance to emergent challanges. Two Forces Dominate In A State: They are the forces of: a) b) Quality numerical strength of the masses or the democratic force. Quality wealth, birth, social position and education or the totality of oligarchic forces of the community. A state dominated by only one of these forces is a bad state that is also unlawful, unstable and selfish. The two forces can therefore not be eliminated in preference of one for the other, but they must be harnessed by balancing each against the other for the purpose of serving the need to maintain such a delicate balance. In practical terms, Aristotle insists, this can be achieved if power is lodged in the middle class which, if it is sufficiently large enough will hold in check the disruptive forces of extreme oligarchy and extreme democracy in the state. In this sense, the polity represents the means of moderation between these two forces. On Property, as opposed to Plato who proposes that it be abolished, Aristotle insists this must be distributed equitably enough so that contentions over its possession will be greatly minimized in the community.

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CHAPTER 3

MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

The focus of this chapter is on an examination of the evolution and growth of philosophy within the context of evolving trends under the Roman Empire era and the two global religions religion Christianity and Islam. Attention will be placed squarely on the contributions of the key Roman idealists/Administrators, the Christian Fathers likle St. Augustine, St, Ambrose, Thomas Aquinas and such key Islamic scholars like Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Tufayl, and Ibn Rusd (Averroes). 3.1 LECTURE 1: ORIGIN OF ROMAN POLITICAL THOUGHT The defeat by the Romans and subsequent decline of the Greek City-States had a profound impact on life in the city-states as well as the conception of the City-State itself. General disappointment and frustration was rife and it was on such a groundswell of general public apathy that demands were made for a new conception of the society. This doctrine of protestation was expressed in two ways by three different set of people in Greece at the time. They were: a) the Epicureans b) the Cynics c) the Stoics THE EPICUREANS (Coined From Epicurus: 342 270 BC) The central point of argument of this school of thought is premised on the notion that the main purpose or goal of man is the attainment of his individual pleasure. And the best way to achieve this, is for man to insulate himself from the task of jostling with others for a living each day. Man in this sense should preclude himself from active participation in public affairs or in communal religion. To the Epicureans, there is no life after death and the gods are not really interested in the affairs of men after all as claimed by other scholars. Also, they argue all men are by nature selfish. The only natural law they are used to is selfishness. But if left unchecked this could degenerate into immense conflicts in the community. So, there is a need for a 25

governmental mechanism to mediate between men and ensure security of all men. It was therefore obligatory for all men to submit to the authority of the state in order to avoid the pains and anxiety that anarchy might generate. To the Epicureans, man is hardly ever a good political animal because of his selfishness. Justice cannot also therefore be a natural attribute of man. Mans willingness to submit to a higher authority is because he fears the consequences of disobedience. He understands that for him to attain his selfish pleasures there is a need to live in a civilized society. In this sense, the type of government in force does not matter rather, what matters most is that agency of authority which can provide him a wide ambit to attain to his greatest pleasure which ought to have the right to exercise rule and authority over him. This school favours authoritarian monarchism because they assume it is the best form of agency of authority that could check mans evil tendencies and provide the greatest pleasures to man in return. A wise man therefore has no business in government and politics since the two activities bring trouble and waste mans valuable time that ought to be devoted to pleasure. It was a negative philosophy of social withdrawal from an active communal life. In this sense, man they argue should withdraw from rather than confront his problems this is the only way to live wisely accordingly in the community. THE CYNICS: They were largely made or composed of the Metics or foreign residents in Greece at the time. They were the bitterest critics of the city-state arrangements. They tended to advance the position of the poor or disadvantaged in the society. Like the Epicureans, they proposed that it was wise for man to withdraw himself from active public life and by so doing he can hope to be self-sufficient. Those who pursue and engage in political activism of any kind are fools that would be invariably beset by the many dangerous troubles of civilizations. All existing ideas about the good life in the city state were great encumbrances on human development. That which is important for man to pursue are those activities that can improve his personal lot. This precludes him from the pursuit of social, economic and political status that readily brings him in troubling conflicts with others in the community. In this sense, they assert that all men, whether slaves or freemen ought to be allowed equal opportunity to live the good life where from all men are equal in this respect. In any case, the good life, though was free for everyone to attain, some lacked the ability to do so save the wise who can aspire to become citizens of the larger community that was better than the city-state form.

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THE STOICS (Led By Zeno In 320 BC): This school is an offshoot of cynicism and represents a refinement of the early crudities advanced by the Cynics. The Stoics envisioned a life larger than what the city-state provided. They proposed that who one is, is unimportant. What was important is what one is in essence. What this implies is that, if one is good, it does not matter whether he is Greek, Barbarian or a Metic, rich or poor. And in this sense, man is not to be judged by his status relative to others but by what he is actually composed of naturally that is, his innate qualities is of the essence here. Man is therefore a master of his own fate. A good nature therefore implies mans ability to live a moral life that conforms strictly to nature itself which sets out its laws to govern all living beings. These laws are absolute, eternal and even inexorable or immutable. To disobey natural laws is therefore a dangerous gamble for man as there is always a certainty of dire consequences. Total obedience is therefore beneficial to him and others at all times as it were. Like the Cynics, the Stoics accept the distinction between the wise man and the fool but not in the sense of one who fails to abstain from unprofitable public activity that brings manifold troubles. Rather, the wise man is one who is actively engaged in his own duties that advance the course of nature. Citizenship for instance - to the Stoics cannot equilibrate men or become a basis for social equality. Rather, what unites men in brotherhood is the universality of mans nature that readily invokes in him a necessity to submit totally to the laws of nature at all times in the social community. His total obligation is to nature, God and himself and not to the State. Even at that, the goal of mans activity is neither to accumulate material benefits nor to attain to immortality. But it is for the purpose of facilitating the larger immutable purposes of nature even if this is at mans general discomfort. Roman Political Thought And Influences Of Greek Stoicism Early political philosophies usually took off from the stand point that, though man is usually a political animal and had a responsibility to the State, the State and Society have to be separated by all means though the two have to also completely absorb the individual. This required a total repudiation of the early notions of the Greek City-State philosophies as advanced by the likes of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. They therefore looked deep into the groundswell of the protestation doctrines for a new philosophy to govern the expanding Roman Empire. And it was to Stoicism that vouches for man to be devoted to duty and to live a moral life in accordance with nature that was more appealing to the conquering Romans. But then, there was an urgent need to 27

refine other aspects of the generic brand of Stoicism so as to meet the urgent administrative needs of the Romans. The shift of emphasis was towards the requirement of devoutness by man towards a duty to the public good where every energetic man ought to be actively engaged in the pursuit of his fellow mens wellbeing through active participation in the institutions of the state. This was principally, Penaetius of Rhodes position on this matter which was adopted by the Romans. Another contribution came from Polybius (204-122 BC) a contemporary and friend of Penaetius who applied Platos principles of the mixed constitution as the Ideal State. In the ideal constitution, all elements of the simple forms of governments are present in equal force. Each element exercise checks and balances on the others. In such an arrangement, tyranny cannot be so great as to provoke revolt, oligarchy so powerful as to stimulate popular resentments, or democracy so uncontrollable as to become anarchy. It is therefore to Polybius that we can credit with the origins of the principles of checks and balances on institutions of government. Legal Theory Of Rome And Evolution Of Modern Jurisprudence What became known widely as the Roman laws actually had early roots in what was called the Code of Justinian enunciated around the 6th century A. D a period spanning over a thousand years. It is a fact that Roman laws had profound impact on the thoughts of the early Christian Fathers, the entire medieval political thought and the European jurisprudence from where it spread across the world. Early Roman laws were derived from customs and traditions and the general feeling was that they were not made but invariably evolved on their own from Natural Law. They were therefore immutable and unalterable. But such a view was only sensible if applied to the primitive society. A growing social community needed more practical laws formed by a government for effective administration. Law could then also emanate as an act of legislation. And because those authorizing it are elected representatives of the people, the laws were implemented on the peoples consent by legal jurists. In any case, because early Roman laws principally emanated from traditions and customs, this required that they be codified into a concise instrument. This was the primary purpose of the Code of Emperor Justinian. Influences of Civic Administrators/Jurists On Roman Jurisprudence a) CICERO (106 43 BC): He was one of the renowned Roman Jurists who greatly advanced the growth of Roman jurisprudence in his book titled, The Republic and Laws. He borrowed from Platos dialogue style and the doctrine of Stoicism by the Greeks. According to Cicero, there is a Law of Nature which is the constitution of the 28

world.

It is the same for everyone everywhere.

On the basis of its dictates proceed the rules of

governments and the actions of rulers will be judged accordingly by it. In this sense, he informs that true law is right reason in agreement with nature which has universal applicability, unchangeable and everlasting in character. It summons to duty by its commands and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibition. It is a sin to attempt its alteration, repeal or abolition of any of any part of it. It is eternal and immutable in nature. Whoever disobeys the Laws of nature denies his human nature and by such a reason is liable to suffer the worst penalties even if he escapes civic punishments. It is a law totally binding on all men because it sees all men as equal before it. b) SENECA (42 B.C A.D 65): Seneca was also a Stoic but a very melancholic one at that. He asserts that a government can be termed good or bad depending on its ability to exercise the most efficient control over its territory and citizens. To him, the duty of man ought to be limited not only to service to the state but to the commonwealth. Unlike the early Greek philosophers who exalted the state to a high level of importance for the individual, Seneca argues that the state is a reflection of mans evil nature. Man lived a perfect life in the state of nature during the golden age of innocence. This was when there were no laws and agencies of legal enforcement for the law. Everyone followed the rule of nature and man had no real need to be coerced into obedience. And this is because natures laws are always just. Man lived a morally perfect life since he had no knowledge of evil at the time. However, it was the entry of private property ownership that compelled man to cultivate a selfish and evil predisposition. Greed became also pronounced in rulers and the ruled. Life became brutish, nasty and short - as another renown philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his famous State of Nature thesis once asserted long ago. Therefore, there was an urgent need for a government to curtail such emergent evil tendencies in mans nature. 3.2 LECTURE 2: THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF THE EARLY CHRISTAIN FATHERS The Political thought of the early Christian fathers cannot be fully understood without a prior understanding of the basic tenements of faith of Christianity and the social political context or milieu within which Jesus and His disciple sought in early times to propagate their gospel. It was a gospel premised on Gods redemption of mankind and the notion of mans predestination. This includes also the need for an austere life as a basic requirement for every Christian pilgrim in that final journey toward a final predestination to heaven or hell. At the onset, the early Christian doctrine avowed a total resignation or a willingness to 29

abdicate temporal affairs in the hands of constituted authorities as captured in the dictum of Jesus Christ which says: Give unto Caesar what is Caesar and onto God what is God. In any case, His Apostles after him tilted a little bit towards the mundane. But this was only as determined by any prevailing circumstance they were faced with. That is, a Christians engagement for instance in politics is to be determined by the prevailing circumstances he faces. The logic here inheres in the fact that Christian doctrine subordinates the temporal to the spiritual. It is an arrangement that readily resulted in the eventuality of an active engagement by cohorts of the faith at some point in some form of political activism within the state. It was also this line of thinking that made early Christians to act as if they were also under a divine government under the sovereign fatherhood of God. In this sense, the general impression was that secular preoccupation was both unnecessary and undesirable. As a result the political loyalties of early Christians were suspect and often opened to sundry questions. And it was a fact that resulted in the severe persecution of the early Christians across Europe, especially, under Roma rule and later under the Othman Empire rule. However, as it were the Christian doctrine also had many similarities with the Stoics especially as pertaining to Natural Law, the equality of man, the role of temporal government and property ownership. Area Of Similarities Between Stoicism and Early Christianity a) On the origin of the Law: like the Stoics, Apostle Paul in one of his numerous Biblical letters, asserts that Natural Law is neither the written law of the state nor the revealed word of God alone, but one which may be understood by everyone Christians and Gentiles alike, through pure reason. b) On the issue of slavery: like the Stoics, Christians attest to the universal equality of all men before God. Whatever form of social stratifications that subordinate some men to others are all mundane institutional arrangements that have no validity in the predestination doctrine of Jesus and in the presence of God. c) On the austere life: like the Stoics, Christians also prefer the austere life and a general abhorrence of personal preoccupation on property acquisition which tends to interfere with the task of living a moral life needed to save ones soul. Christians however do not desire abolition of property but insist that every activity should be tempered with temperance or self restraint and with the higher calling of predestination always in view. Overview of Church-State Relations The history of church-state relationship was really turbulent at the onset, but it later became rosy as from AD 311 when Emperor Galerius issued his edict proclaiming toleration of the Christian doctrine which allowed them to worship in relative peace and tranquil. And when Emperor Constantine who succeeded 30

him many years later was converted to Christianity, the Churchs influence and power grew tremendously across the Roman Empire. And between AD 379 395 when Emperor Theodosius reigned, Christianity was adopted as the official religion across the Roman Empire. Such a rosy relationship did not however last for long and the festering problem of ChurchState relations resurfaced again and formed the background on which the political thought of the early Christian Fathers were premised. The central question was how best to resolve this conflict over which of these agencies should have an overriding power and control over the other in the course of administering the human community or society. The Early Christian Fathers: a) ST. AMBROSE, Bishop of Milam (Italy): His thoughts were perhaps the most concise and pragmatic in the series of attempts made to resolve the controversial subject of Church-State relationship. According to him, the state is divinely ordained and the civil ruler must be obeyed by all, even though he may very possibly rule unjustly by not following the will of God. But then, the civil ruler should by no means also interfere in Ecclesiastical matters, which are entirely under the jurisdiction of the Church. Even as a ruler, the secular Leader is just a member of the Church and to whom he must subject himself according to divine precepts and as determined by the Church Fathers. In this sense the secular ruler must be subjected to spiritual discipline as imposed by the Church Fathers. b) ST. AUGUSTINE of Hippo (AD 354 430): Biographical Profile St. Augustine was an African, one of the renowned African church fathers, catholic bishop, doctor of the church, theologian philosopher and, Augustine unarguably, the greatest Christianity and Western thought. Was born at Tagatse, Numidia (now Souk Ahras, Algeria) on November 13, 354 AD. His father was Patricius, a traditionalist Roman official while his mother, Monica, was a zealous Christian and she was instrumental to Augustines late but total acceptance of the Christian faith. In early years, Augustine was traditionally, known by the Latin name AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS. Augustine started his formal education when he was about 11 years old at Madauros where he gained a deep knowledge of the Latin Literature. In fact, he later received a thoroughly literary education with strong emphasis on the Latin masters: Cicero, Virgi Terence and Parro. 31 African contribution to

Augustinianism Although, St. Augustine devoted the bulk of his time to Episcopal duties, he was also a great literary man. It is said that his written works filled fifteen standard Encyclopaedia volumes, many of which now form a substantial part of the basis of medieval theology. Some of his works were also polemics against the Donatists, Plegians and Arians. Indeed his autobiography, CONFESSIONS, completed in c. 390, is certainly one of the classics of western literature. One of the most independent thinkers in the lustory of western thought, St. Augustine in his CITY OF GOD (413-426) wrote a magnificent philosophical history and the meaning of history and of Christianity. Among other major works by Augustine are: 1. On the Trinity (400-416) 2. On the Happy Life (386) 3. On the Immortality of Soul (387) 4. On Free Will (388-395) 5. On Nature and Grace Soliloquies (387) 6. On True Religion (389 - 391) Although the above list is not exhaustive of St. Augustines work suffices it to say that the body of theological and philosophical doctrines originated or developed by him is called AUGUSTININISM. St. Augustine, the greatest of the doctors of the church, died on August 28,430 AD, while his beloved city was being overrun by the Vandals. In fact, after the conquest of Carthage and Hippo, the Vandals destroyed all of it except Augustines Cathedral and library which were left unscathed. According to existing tradition the remains of St. Augustine rests in Pavis, Italy, while the date of his death is celebrated as his feast.

The Political Theory Of St. Augustines City Of God St. Augustines City of God was primarily motivated by the accusations of traditional Romans against

Christianity, after the sack of Rome, that the empire had been immune from foreign invasions until it embraced Christianity and forsook her ancient gods. In this work, St. Augustine, presented an articulate 32

defence of the role of Christianity in the Roman Empire. He denounced the power of the pagan deities and even affirmed that those deities were incapable of defending themselves against temporal calamities. He tried to show that temporal authority was of little importance. What was more important was spiritual salvation which could be procured only through Jesus Christ. Although much as his work could be classified as theocratic, there are certain doctrines embedded in his arguments which are very important from a political angle. In the City of God, he developed the idea that there is an heavenly city and earthly city. These two cities are two societies and members of each city are bound together by common love. Members of the earthly city live and pursue matters of flesh or appetite and their reward is anguish and eventual damnation but members of the City of God are those united in true love of God and their desire and will is to obey God; their true home is heaven; their reward is everlasting bliss. Although members of the City of God might be on earth, they are only on pilgrimage to heaven. His earthly city is not exactly conterminous with the state because in the state we have people who are not necessarily members of the city, i.e. Christians and people who have the grace of God. These people belong more to Church than the city. But the similarity between the earthly city and the state is a very close one. Similarly, the heavenly city is not exactly like the Church because the City of God has members and people who are not members of the church on earth for example, the departed saints, good angels and those who lived in the pre-Christian era. But again, the similarity between the church on earth and the City of God is a very close one, for the church is a channel through which the grace of God flows to the members of church on earth. Therefore, for practical purposes, one might almost say that the City of God might be the church and that the earthly city was the state. But it should be borne in mind that they are not exactly identical. For St. Augustine the stat would not been necessary but for the original sin of man. As a result the original sin, man had become degraded and wicked and it became necessary to form a state to provide opportunity for man to obtain a partial remedy for his sin. Therefore the state has its origin not in nature as Aristotle has maintained. The stat is not natural to men, it ahs arisen form sin. The state therefore is an unfortunate necessity brought about by the fall of man and it exists to provide a partial remedy for the conflict and the discord caused by the original sin of Adam. The state is not a moral agent and cannot set standards for the citizens. This again marks a radical departure from the concept of state as an ethical institution in the past. Whereas according to Aristotle the state is the source of moral values for the citizens in the state and therefore its main function is to mould the character of the citizens and control the system of education, laws and order.

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But since the state now has its origin in sins it is therefore incapable of giving moral guidance to the citizens. In relation to St. Augustines concept of origin of state is his concept of justice. To him, justice is conformity to order, and he believed that every society could necessarily have a certain amount of order. Yet justice can both be relative and absolute depending on the type of the society. In a family there can be some amount of justice because there is some order necessary for the family, but such justice in the family is only relative to justice found in the society which is larger than the family e.g. the state. Also, justice that can be found in the state is only relative to justice, which can be found in the universal society of men and it is only the justice of the universal society that is absolute. St. Augustine affirmed that any society without justice is no society at all and any state therefore without justice and order cannot be a state. Any justice, which a state can achieve must be in conformity with the absolute justice of the universal society otherwise any laws made by the state against the natural and absolute principle of justice of the universal society would be invalid and irrational because the absolute justice of the universal society is the justice of God. He rejected as sheer nonsense any kind of justice that takes man from the true God and gives him to the condemned friend. Ancillary to the concept of justice is the Augustinian concept of peace. To him, peace lies in a system of harmonious relationship involving order and concord and like justice this peace of earthly city is a relative one involving the satisfaction of physical desires and emotions but this peace is relative and we have absolute peace only in the heavenly city and this involves true and perfect union in the love of God. This peace is absolute. But St. Augustine maintains that the peace of the earthly city is essential for the attainment of peace in the heavenly city but it is the peace of the heavenly city that is more important. This peace represents the final goal of man especially for Christians because Christians can only receive salvation by the attainment of this heavenly peace. Apart from the considerable impact of his ideas on the development of political theory, his description of the earthly and heavenly cities may be strange to anyone with very little religious inclination and to the Christians it cannot be too easy to see the practical working of the heavenly city in this world. But probably most striking is the idea implicit in his development of the relationship between the earthly city and the city of God. St. Augustine maintains that the laws the earthly city and by implications the laws of the state must not conflict with the laws of the heavenly city and by implications the laws of the church. In this way, St. Augustine seems to have set up two separate authorities. On the one, you have the state making secular laws and on the other hand you have the church supreme in religious and superior matters. The church leads man to the highest goal salvation and it also achieves perfect justice and perfect peace. 34

The church therefore has more important duties to perform than the stat and it would be the duty of the state to assist the church in achieving the noble goal of man. In addition, even the authority of the state in secular matters is not unlimited for the laws, regulations and orders issued by the state should be in conformity with the standards of absolute justice and heavenly peace which can only be found in the city of God and in the church. To all intents and purposes, therefore, it is the church which is supreme over the state in this dichotomy of powers. Another implication in the theory of St. Augustine is that of the principle of individual conscience especially for the Christians. For the Christians is a member of two societies the state and the church. As he represents the citizens obviously he had some loyalty and allegiance to the state but this provides a partial remedy for his unlimited sins and also enables him to embark on his pilgrimage to the true home of Christians in heaven. Apparently, the Christian citizens cannot be expected to obey any laws of the state which will hinder him in his true worship of God to attain his goal in the world beyond. He therefore reserves the right to disobey such laws that prevent him from attaining salvation and absolute peace. gained ground till modern times, even till today. So far, St. Augustine cannot be credited with originating these ideas because he was virtually interpreting the concepts of natural law from a Christians points of view. However, his the theory of the supremacy of the church was eventually developed into the concept of papal plenitude of power which is the idea that full and absolute power belongs to the Pope by virtue of being the head of the Church and the direct successor of St. Peters. Also the idea that the state was not natural to man was later developed by philosophers in modern times such as Locke, Hobbes and Rousseau and even Hegel. These philosophers believed that the state has to be created in order to rectify certain weaknesses in man. For the greater part of early medieval period St. Augustines ideas held sway especially his theory about the authority of the Pope. It was generally believed that the Pope was largely responsible for spiritual matters and that the emperor was only supreme in temporal matters. The two spheres were however dependent on each other. The emperors needed the priests and bishops for the sake of eternal life just as much as bishops and priests needed the state in order to ensure law and order. But it was also generally believed that the spiritual sphere was more important and that the state would have to consult the church before taking any action which might involve the Holy See. This in actual practice meant that the church and the Pope had the right to supervise the state even in temporal matters. This ultimately led to the Pope having full authority both over the church and the state. The idea that the Pope had two powers was further supported by other arguments. 35 This is the principle which was later developed into the principle of individual conscience a theory that has

It was said that Christian community was one and it was only reasonable that the Pope should direct the entire affairs of this Christian community. It was also argued that the Pope was the direct successor of St. Peters the vicar of Christ who received the keys of the Church. It as also argued that the emperor Constantine handed over all his political and temporal powers to the Pope at the time of Coronation and as a result of his Donation, the Pope had become the inheritor of all temporal powers in addition to the spiritual powers which he had inherited from St. Peters and Christ. All through the medieval times people generally believed in the supremacy of the Pope, with the corollary of the supremacy of the church over the state. There were however, some thinkers who challenged the papal plenitude of powers, but their influence was inconsiderable and it was not until the close of the medieval times that the voice of dissent became loud and clear. Until then, most people stood for the church against the state and supported the theories of St. Augustine. City Of God: Implications For The Development Of Western Historiography In the City of God, St. Augustine propounded the first and outstanding philosophy of history. First, there was a serious and conscious effort on his part to organize human past in terms of significant periods; though the categories employed were biblical. He, in fact, utilized the account of creation in Genesis as a key to the division of world history. In the context, the first day is the first period, from Adam to the Flood, the second from the flood to Abraham. And subsequently, there are three epochs which take us down to the coming of Christ; one from Abraham to David, a second from David to exile in Babylon, and the third extending to the coming of Christian flesh. The sixth epoch, spanning from Christs birth to the culmination of history of the Second Coming, was the period which occupied medieval historians and chroniclers. Whatever, may be the weakness in St. Augustines periodization of history, it still remains an attempt to meet the historians half-way in their study of society in time perspective. Another contribution of St. Augustine to Christian Western historiography is that he demonstrated that historical knowledge was possible. In his Patristic Doctrine, he launched attack against the substantiality idea in Greek though that the historian could not know the substance. He contended that only God is eternal, unchanging and fixed; all other substances are changing. Since all things are created they could be probed, studied and understand. This was a profound revolution in historical thinking. Again, St. Augustine was an advocate of universalistic conception of history. In the City of God, he offered a new interpretation of the history of mankind. 36

Not satisfied with rebutting the pagan assault on Christianity, he postulated a philosophy of history which exonerated Christians and sought to persuade pagans of the truth and justness of the Christian view. Thus the first chapter of his work opens with a discussion of that most glorious society and most celestial city of Gods faithful while the last chapter concludes triumphantly with the internal felicity of the City of God. Human history took on a new meaning and direction with ST. Augustines City of God. Just like other Christian fathers, St. Augustine believed that all men are created equal in the sight of God, there is no chosen people, privileged race or class. All people and all nationalities are involved in the working out of Gods purpose and therefore the historical process is everywhere and always of the same kind. The ideal overcomes not only the characteristic humanism and the substantialism of the GraecoRoman historiography but also its particularism. However, Augustine interpretation of history has its own shortcomings for the practice of history. In the City of God, the history of the temporal city was relegated to a secondary irrelevant position while that of the celestial city gained primacy. It was better and safer for mankind to sojourn in the eternal rather than the ephemeral city. Thus, history became a specifically Christian drama with the implication of consigning to a state of irrelevance all those subjects ad themes, historians had attached much importance to the Persian War, the rise and growth of the Roman Empire etc. in the unfolding scenario, the events of Augustinian importance included the Fall of Adam, the incarnation, the Resurrection the Promise of the Second Coming etc. in short, St. Augustine subordinated history to the service of theology. Above all, St. Augustine was a bad historian as his attitude to historical facts was always one of preconceived, predetermined theoretical bias; one must first believe (he wrote) before one may understand. Besides, no matter the weight of any historical evidence of force of any argument, the Bible remains to him the most impeccable source of authority. In spite of the methodological shortcomings of St. Augustine, his analysis of the historical process became the accepted and undoubted interpretation of history among the Catholic Christians for more than 1000 year. Besides, his magisterial philosophy of history, the Christian West also adopted his views on the state and society, on human sexuality, on the relationship of the Christians to the Earthly City. Indeed, so great was the impact of St. Augustine throughout the Middle Ages that great thinkers of the period appealed to his authority. His influence was clearly overwhelming in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Albertus Magnus, Peter Lombard, the members of the Franciscan and Victorian Schools while St. Anslem was only formally Augustinian.

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Undoubtedly, St. Augustine remains Africas greatest contribution to Catholicism and even Western thought. He is also one of the greatest and influential figures in the history of thought and his fame rested on his monumental history of the Church and the city of God. Areas Of Differences Between St. Augustine Ideas and the Stoics For St. Augustine, that which unites all of mankind as one in the heavenly community is a common belief in and total obedience to the will of God. But for the Stoics, the bond of unity stems from the common desire to understand the universal essence of Natural Law and to live together in peace and harmony. However, perhaps a better way to understand St. Augustines notion of the two communities is to abstract his connotation of the two cities from any specific contextual locale. The two cities according to him, are not heaven and earth, neither the Church nor State per se. Rather, they are the forces of good and evil that have been contending right from time immemorial for the souls of men. They originate from the kingdoms of God which is in Heaven and that of Satan which is on Earth. For him, the outcome of this struggle will result in the eventual creation of a Christian commonwealth of redeemed souls. Two Principles At Play In The Two Cities. They are: a) For the kingdom of Satan on Earth, self-love and pride which holds God in contempt prevails. Devotees are pre-occupied with material interests, greed and lusts of all kinds. b) For the Kingdom of God in Heaven, love of God is the predominant principle at play and devotees are pre-occupied with the pursuit of spiritual matters that are eternal by nature and which will enable them achieve salvation and eternal life in Gods city. St. Augustine argues that Gods city consist in two parts: the Church and the State premised on divine laws and requiring total obedience to Gods will. They are the two principal institutions needed by man to attain his desired predestination. And of the two, the Church is the greatest because it best represents God on earth and it has a greater mission than the State to regenerate or redeem mans soul back to God. On the other hand, the purpose of the state is to create the enabling social environment as well as the resources for men to effectively do the will of God in total obedience and with the hope of redeeming their soul. A State is therefore just or is able to offer true justice to its citizen, when it can effectively provide such enabling environment for them to live a holy life. It is a true commonwealth that advances Gods purpose on earth. The Church and State must therefore be associates in a Christian cause if they are to dispense true justice to mankind. 38

c) ST. GREGORY The Great (AD 540 604): He predicates his thoughts on the doctrine of passive obedience of Church to the State. And his main reasons for doing so include the fact that: a) There is a need to combat the tendencies to anarchism among early Christians b) The New Testament states that all power come from God. c) The Old Testament accepts the fact that all Kings are anointed of God. d) The Church had an argent need to allay fears and suspicions that it had become a subversive institution. d) POPE GALASIUS 1: He argues that the human society is one great Christian community governed by two authorities. One is spiritual and the other is temporal and they are represented by the two principal institutions - the Church and State respectively. Both institutions have a common purpose to mange affairs of mankind in the most efficient ways and manners as to make it possible for everyone to attain to the salvation of their soul. However, in pursuing this common goal, both have a different responsibility. This includes the fact that: a) The state is to keep the peace and order through the proper conduct of civic government. b) The Church must teach the true doctrine and care for the spiritual interests of the people. The two institutions must also assist each other to achieve their primary responsibilities wherever and whenever necessary. Each institution is required to respect the others jurisdiction but because the Church has a higher responsibility, the State must always take directives on spiritual matters from the Church. This arrangement emphasizes a clear separation of powers between the two institutions of the Christian Commonwealth. 3.3 LECTURE 3: ISLAMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT a) Al-Kindi (801 873A.D) Al-Kindi is generally regarded as he first Muslim philosopher and Arab Muslim to study science and philosophy. He hailed from Al-Kufah in the Arabian Peninsula. His grandfather, Al-Ashath Ibn Qais, was one of the first generation converts to Islam during the prophethood of Prophet Muhammed (610-632). His 39

father was one of the Sahaha (companions) of the prophet. Al-Kindis father, Ishaq Ibn al-/Sababah, was also the Governor of al-Kufah during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphs, al-Mahdi and al-Rashid. In his formative years, Al-Kindi was exposed to Quranic as well as rational studies. He studied Arabic grammar, Greek language, Fiqh and a relatively new discipline called Kalam. His sojourn into philosophy began with the translation of the Polotinus Enneads into Arabic. He published this under the title The Theology of Aristotle. Thus began the transmission of aspects of Greek philosophy into the Arab Muslim world. Al-Qifti, his biographer, noted that al-Kindi translated philosophical books, clarified their difficulties, and summarized their deep theories. It is for this reason that early Arab historians called him the Philosopher of the Arabs. Al-Kindi authored many works numbering about 270 but only a compendium of about 25 treatises have been found in Istanbul. Ibn al-Nadim who was his contemporary and who had access to most of the extant documents, classified Al-Kindis writings into sub-heads comprising Philosophy, Logic, Mathematics, Globular, Music, Astronomy, Geometry Medicine, Astrology, Dialectics, Psychology, Meteorology and Chemistry. These suggest that Al-Kindis knowledge was encyclopedic. Several generation of scholars have studied Al-Kindi and many of his works have been translated to and edited in Latin: viz: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) De Medicinarum Compositarum Gradibus (1531) De Intellectu De sommo et uisione De quinque essentiis Liber introductions in artem logicae demonstratoninis

To Al-Kindi, philosophy is the knowledge of truth; something over and above experience. It lies immutable and eternal in a supernatural world. The definition of philosophy in Al-Kindis treatise on First Philosophy states: Philosophy is the knowledge of the reality of things within mans possibility. According to him, the end of the philosophers theoretical knowledge is to gain truth. To Kindi, it is practical knowledge to behave in accordance with truth. In concluding the treatise, Al-Kindi qualified God by the term Truth which is the objective of philosophy. The True One (al-Wahid al Haq) is then, the First, the Creator, the Sustainer of all that has been created. Herein lies the substance of the Kindis philosophical argument. Al-Kindi, in fact, classified philosophy into two broad divisions: first, theoretical studies which comprise physics, mathematics and metaphysics; and, second, practical studies which comprised ethics, economics 40

and politics. However, Al-Kindis value as philosopher lies in the fact that his philosophy was the first bold attempt to effect an accord or harmony between religion and philosophy. His weakness was that he confused Aristotles Metaphysics of Being with that of Plotinus as this incapacitated him in formulating a coherent system of his own. b) Al-Farabi (870-950 A.D) Al-Farabi (Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi) was also one of the most outstanding and renowned medieval muslim philosophers. Born in Turkestan around 870, Al-Farabi settled in Baghdad early in life. His teacher in philosophy was a Cyriac speaking Christian, Yuhanna Ibn Hyalam, who taught in Baghdad and the school of Alexandria. Al-Farabi is considered the first muslim philosopher to head a school and to become known as a teacher. He was also acknowledged by subsequent muslim philosophers as the true and authentic founder of philosophy in Islam. He was also an Aristotelian philosopher who distinguished himself by his numerous commentaries on the works of Aristotle. In contradistinction to Aristotle, Al-Farabi was known as the Second Master (after Aristotle) and the first Muslim philosopher who sought to confront, to relate and as far as possible to harmonize classical political philosophy with Islam and to make it intelligible within the orbit of revealed religion. This is succinctly captured in his renowned publication: al-madina al-fadila. His commentaries on the works of Aristotle confirmed the latters authority in logic, metaphysics and physics. In the same vein, he recovered the essence of Plato and introduced him as the supreme authority on political philosophy and the investigation of human and divine laws. He also authored the Enumeration of the Sciences, a book which became an indispensable introduction to the study of sciences and was freely copied by subsequent generations of encyclopedists and historians of the sciences. Ibn Khalikan, his biographer, noted that Al-Farabi began writing his books at the age of fifty and died at the age of 80. All Al-Farabi works were written in Baghdad and Damascus. More than one hundred works have been credited to him but the extant ones include Al-Fusus FiIjikma, Commentarian in Aristotlem Graeca, and Commentaries on Organon, Rhetorics, De Caelo, Meteorology, and Nichomachean and Alexander of Aphrodisias De Anima, among others. One major area of Al-Farabis contribution to philosophy was logic. He devoted a considerable portion of his works to logic, particularly Aristotles Organon. He contended that the art of logic gives, in general, the rules which, if followed, can correct the mind and direct man to the right way - to truth, away from the pitfalls of error. In his considered view, logic stands in the same relation to intelligence as grammar to words, and prosody to verse.

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The subject-matter of logic, according to him, can be put under eight themes: Categories, Interpretation, First Analytics, Second Analytics, Topics, Sophistics, Rhetorics and Poetics; all of which constitute the major kernel of logic. According to Sharif, Al-Farabis contribution to logic is in two major areas. First, he lucidly expounded the logic of Aristotle and made it accessible to Arabic speaking peoples. Second, he laid the basis for the quinary division of reasoning. Another major aspect of Al-Farabis thought was his stance on the superior status of philosophy vis--vis religion. At his time, he was convinced that philosophy had reached a dead end in most places but a new haven in the world of Islam. He believed that human reason is superior to religious faith and, consequently, ascribed secondary status to the different revealed religions which provide in his view, an approach to truth for non-philosophers through symbols. Philosophical truth is universally valid whereas symbols vary from nation to nation. They are the works of philosophers prophets, of which Muhammed was one. It is apt here to note that by this position al-Farabi went beyond al-Kindi who naturalized philosophy as a kind of appropriate hand maiden of revealed truth. He did not condemn the prophets as impostors but allotting, like his master Plato, an important and indispensable function to organized religion. Al-Farabi also devoted a great deal of his work to the Unity of philosophy. He was acutely aware of the dangers of partisanship in philosophy and thus insisted that philosophy is essentially one unit. The object of any philosophical inquiry, according to him, is the pursuit of truth and contended that there must be accord among all philosophers and all schools of philosophy. In fact, he insisted that there must be a single school as parties and cliques are nuisance in philosophy as well as in politics (???????). He also posits that religious truth and philosophical truth are objectively one, although formally different. In this manner, he attempted to reach an accord between philosophy and the tenets of Islam, an edifice which was later built upon by subsequent Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina (Avicenna). In advancing his arguments for the existence of God, Al-Farabi drew upon Aristotelian philosophy. According to him, the First Cause is at the same time the Plotinian one. The Eternal, Creator of an eternal world, and the Aristotelian Divine Mind is a conception which is probably of middle Platonic origin. AlFarabi holds that The One i.e. God is necessary by Himself. Hence, He is not in need of another for His existence or His subsistence. He is an intelligible. He is quite unique by His essence. Nothing is like Him. He has no opposite or equivalent. Should the aforementioned premises be admitted, the logical question is what would be Gods influence on the relationship between Him and many? Only through a kind of emanation has Al-Farabi laboured to pose these problems. He considers that the Necessary One flows on others by virtue of self-knowledge and goodness. This is the First Intelligence. 42

Also very central to Al-Farabis thought is the theory of imagination and prophecy. Al-Farabi argued that prophecy is auxiliary to mans rational faculty. According to him, prophecy, though being a vital ingredient in mans perfection, is confined to the inferior faculty of representation. It is neither presented as a state of possession by supernatural powers nor comprehended as a mystic state. Divine inspiration may be granted to the perfect man who has attained the zenith of philosophical pyramid together with the highest from of prophecy. Very remarkable too is the theory of Intellect adopted by Al-Farabi. He hypothesized that From the One, the First Cause, the Intelligent emanated and from the Intelligent, the World Soul emanated. He noted that there are two intellects in man; the active and the passive. The Active Intellect is synonymous with the Cosmic Intellect i.e. the Intellect of the World Soul and it is this which illuminates mans passive intellect, enabling man to grasp eternal and universal truths. Everything emanated from God and will, in the end return to God. Mans greatest task, is to - through contemplation and speculation, commune with the celestial world and attain the utmost happiness. Al-Farabi, unarguably, was a Sufi, a mystic. Al-Farabis attitude to political science, which was also influenced by Platos Republic and Laws, deserves some attention in this study. In fact, he formulated a science of government, conceptualized in the quotation, below, taken from Ihsa al-Ulum: Political Science investigates the various kinds of voluntary actions and ways of life, the positive dispositions, morals, inclinations, and states of character that lead to these actions and ways of life; the ends for the sake of which they are performed, how they must exist in man; how to order them in man in the manner in which they must exist in him; and the way to preserve them for him. It distinguishes among the ends for the sake of which actions are performed and the ways of life are practiced. It explains that some of them are true happiness, while others are presumed to be happiness although they are not. That which is true happiness cannot possibly be of this life, but of another life after this, which is the life to come; while that which is presumed to be happiness consists of such things as wealth, honour, and the pleasures, when these are made the only ends in this life. Distinguishing the actions and ways of life, it explains that the ones through which true happiness is attained are the good, noble things, and the virtues, while the rest are the evil, base things, and the imperfections; and that they (must) exist in man in such a way that the virtuous actions and ways of life are distributed in the cities and nations according to a certain order and are practiced in common. It 43

explains that this comes about only through a rulership (riasah) by which (the ruler) establishes these actions, ways of life, states of character, positive dispositions and morals in the cities and nations, and endeveaours to preserve them so that they do not perish, and that this rulership comes about only by virtue of a craft and a positive disposition that leads to the actions that establish (these virtues), and to the actions that preserve what has been established among them (that is, the cities and nations). This is the royal craft or kingship, or whatever one chooses to call it, politics (siyasah) is the operation of this craft (??????????). Arising from the above conceptualization, Al-Farabi developed a classification of political regimes: i. Virtuous City: The city where the purposes of government and institutions of society are

geared towards the attainment of true happiness as ordained by God. ii. iii. Ignorant City: Immoral City: The city where government is ignorant of the essence of true happiness. A situation where government is aware of the nature of the true happiness

but fails to adhere to it. iv. Erring City: A situation where all organs of government have been prevented and

corrupted and thus turning the attainment of happiness into a mirage. In fact, Al-Farabi further sub-divided the citizens of the Virtuous City into three classes: (i) the wise and the philosophers who knew the nature of things only by ocular proofs and good insights (ii) the followers of the first class who have implicit faith in them, accepted their judgments and insight; and (iii) the rest segments of the society who have specialized functions: farming, trading, security duties for the good of the society. The good city, according to him, is analogous to a sound body in which all members cooperate and felicitate and of which the ruling member is the heart. The Rais or head of the Virtuous City, is equated with the Imam, the most outstanding and perfect of its members a philosopher and a prophet. The Rais awwal communicates with the Active Intellect through his rational faculty as the ruler philosopher and via his imagination as philosopher prophet. Al-Farabis Virtuous City can be summed-up thus: a regime in which men come together and cooperate with the aim of becoming virtuous, performing noble activities, and attaining happiness. It is distinguished by the presence of knowledge of mans ultimate perfection, the distinction between the noble and the base ad between the virtues and the vices, and the concerted effort of the rulers and the citizens to teach and learn these things, and to develop the virtuous forms or states of character from which emerged the noble activities useful for achieving happiness. 44

In short, Al-Farabis ideal government in the ideal society is that of a non-hereditary monarchy or aristocracy akin to Platos Philosopher King. Al-Farabis importance for subsequent Islamic philosophers is overwhelming particularly on such writers as the Ikhwan, al-Safa, Al-Masudi, Miskuwah and Abul Hasan Muhammed al- Amiri. Ibn Sina seems to have read his known works intimately while Ibn Rusd follows him in the essentials of his thought. Fakhr al Din al Razi and Nasral Din al Tusi also continued his tradition of the reconciliation between philosophy and theology and of the adaptation of the concept of the Philosopher King to the Islamic Ideal. Maimonides also appreciated him highly. AlFarabis political ideas recorded a lasting success from the 13th century onwards. c) Ibn Sina (980 -1037 AD) Ibn Sina, known to Western Europe as Avicenna, was born in Persia in 980A.D. He spent his formative years in Bokhara, Khiva, Khoransa, Ispahan and eventually settled at Teheran. Early in life, he studied a number of disciplines which include Arabic literature, logic, theology, mathematics, Arabic literature, geometry, jurisprudence, medicine and philosophy. In fact, he followed the encyclopedic conception of the sciences which had been common place since the period of the Greek sages uniting philosophy with the study of nature and in seeing the perfection of man as lying in both knowledge and action. He was as distinguished a physician as he was a philosopher. According to Betrand Russell, Ibn Sina was even more famous in medicine that in philosophy as he was, between the 12th and 17th century, used in Europe as a guide to medicine. Ibn Sina rose to prominence at the age of 16 but wrote his first philosophical book at twenty one. Initially, he experienced difficulty with Aristotles Metaphysics, which he said he read forty times without comprehending until he was helped by the commentary of Al-Farabi. Ibn Sina authored several philosophical works, but many have come down in mutilated conditions. The most important surviving works include: Kitab al Shifa, Kitab al-Nadjat, Adanishnamalalal, Mantiqal-Mashirkiyyin and Kitab alIsharat waltanbihat. There is the need to underscore the point that Ibn Sina was not that type of philosopher who lived in his books but one who was occupied by affairs of state and one who was always compelled to move for political reasons. We are informed that he would write on horseback or in prison; his only reference being his memory. Yet, we need to acknowledge that he was nearer to Aristotle and less Neoplatonic than many of his Muslim predecessors. His thought was, in fact, moulded by three teachers: Aristotle, Al-Farabi and Plotinus. Perhaps the most distinguished aspect of Ibn Sinas thought was his preoccupation with the problem of universals. According to Bertrand Russell, Ibn Sina invented a formula which was later echoed by Ibn Rusd 45

and Albert Magnus: Thought beings about the generality in forms (?????????). The importance of this dictum is that general, i.e. universals are at once before things, in things and after things. They are before things in Gods understanding. As a Metaphysican, Ibn Sina acquired the title of Philosopher of being but as a realist he wished to understand essences in their actualized state, so that he is as much the philosopher of essence. The gamut of his metaphysics is anchored on the twin problem of the origin of being and its transmission to essence, but to individually actualise essence. It is, in fact, at this point that a free interpretation of Aristotle and Plotinus ineluctably led him to develop his theory of creation by emanation. The eminent position occupied by emanation in his thought led him to the third startling view: the gift of being is linked with the light of intelligence. Moreover, Ibn Sina was a Muslim and thus believed in God as the creator but he endeavoured to reconcile this dogma of Islam with his philosophical postulation. The first certitude apprehended by the human mind, according to Ibn Sina, is that of being which is apprehended by means of sense perceptions. Each and everyman acquires the notion of being through consciousness and affirmation of his own existence. In fact, the Cartesian pre-configuration: Cogito ergo sum is so central to Ibn Sinas thought. The second certitude is that the being apprehended in man, and every existing thing is not present there of necessity. The essence of man, cattle, goat or granite does not necessarily imply the existence of a particular goat, man or granite. Existence is given to actualized, concrete beings by a Being that is unique and different from all of them. God alone is Necessary Being, Pure Act, First Cause and First Mover. He is the only one in whose essence is identical with existence. Certainly, Ibn Sinas philosophy is a synthesis of Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism. A number of posers have, however been raised by some Western scholars concerning his philosophy; did he really believe in the analogy of being? What is the proper place of uncreated being genus substance or genus being? If he proceeds from knowledge of created beings to that of uncreated being, is this not a proof that he considers the nature to be allied? Whatever answers that are preferred to these posers, it is quite evident that Ibn Sina considerably influenced Thomas Aquinas. It also true that Ibn Sina did not formulate the distinction between the uncreated Being and created Being with clarity and precision as Thomas Aquinas did. To Ibn Sina, the only being is in God, God is no genus and being is not a genus. It is also important to note at this point that Ibn Sina believed strongly in the immortality of soul. Corruption cannot touch it, for it is material. The proof of this materiality lies in the capability of apprehending the intelligible, which are in no way material. At the time Ibn Sina propounded his philosophy, it thundered a major historical development and many of his works were quickly translated into Spanish and Latin. He also succeeded in transmitting Greek 46

philosophy to the Arab world. In the West, many physicians and scholars learned Arabic because of Ibn Sina. Although, his philosophy was later criticized heavily in the West, it unarguably influenced the development of scholastic philosophy. For instance, the use made of him by St. Thomas Aquinas embodied certain proofs in Catholic theology. Some scholars of the Franciscan order also saw Ibn Sina as more of a philosopher augmenting St. Augustine: the Active Intellect was like the sun of minds and the internal master. They averred that he opened up a whole mystic world. It has also been posited that he influenced Roger Bacon and Diuns Scotus. It is beyond debate that Saint Thomas De Ente et Essentia was imbued by Aviecennism. d) Ibn Tufayl Ibn Tufayl was born in the first decade of the 12th Century in Grandix near Granada, Spain. By 1150, he had become a man of substance as he was then the Secretary to the Governor of Granada. In 1154, he was appointed by the founder of the Almohad dynasty, Abd al Mumin, as Secretary to his son Abu Said, governor of Ceuta and Algiers. In later years, he became the Chief physician and vizier to the second Almohad prince, Abu Yaqub (1163-1164) who was most friendly and affectionate to him. When Yaqub died in 1184 and was succeeded by his son Abu Yusuf, Ibn Tufayl remained as the honoured courtier and vizier. Ibn Tufayl was a worthy successor to Ibn Sina in the development of Islamic philosophy. Although trained in medicine and made significant contributions to that field, it was as a philosopher that he was much renowned. His major philosophical treatise was titled: Hay The Son of Yaqzan. Hayy, the Son of Yaqzan is an epistle addressed to a disciple and confidence seeking knowledge about the nuances of Oriental or Illuminative philosophy mentioned by Ibn Sina. Like other medieval thinkers, Ibn Tufayl maintained that the highest end of man consists in contemplation rather that action, without in any degree belittling the great importance of action and the necessity for men in general and for the philosopher in particular, of leading a virtuous life. In Hayy the son of Yaqzan, Ibn Tufayl here who is convinced of the necessity of reforming the multitude and is willing to do his duty to his fellowmen spent his remaining days on his desert Island contemplating God. Hayy the son of Yaqzan, was very popular in 17th century England while the Jewish philosopher Moses Narboni wrote a commentary on it in 1349. The Arabic original was first translated by Edward Pococke in 1671 while the second edition came out in 1700. The third translation by Simon Ockley appeared in 1708 and gave more clues about the philosophical significance of Ibn Tufayl work. Simon Ockleys subtitle the translation The Improvement of the Human Reason, Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebu Yaqzan. The importance of the book is best captured in Ockleys subtitle: In which is demonstrated, by what Methods 47

one may, by the mere Light of Nature, attain the knowledge of God and the Affairs of Another Life. Ockley also found it useful to add an Appendix which reads thus: In which the Authors Notion concerning the possibility of Mans attaining the True Knowledge of God and Things necessary to salvation without the use of external means(???????????). e) Ibn Rushd (Averoes 1126 1198 AD) Ibn Rushd, born in 1126AD, was known to Medieval West as Averroes. He belonged to an important Spanish family with bias for the law profession. His father and grandfather were distinguished Qadi while he also rose to become a jurist. Ibn Rushd studied many disciplines including Arabic language and literature, medicine, mathematics, dialectical theology, astronomy, the science of Fiqh (jurisprudence), logic and philosophy. One of his teachers in Cordova was al-Hafiz Abu Muhammed Ibn Risk. At Cordova, then the famous centre of philosophical studies, Ibn Rushd, became very competent in the science of Khilaf (controversies and contradictions in the legal science). He learnt by heart the Malikite book Al-Muwatta and even later revised it. In recognition of his excellent juridical education, Ibn Rushd was appointed judge in Seville in 1169 and later the Chief Justice of Cordova. Ibn Rushds philosophical career began to receive recognition in 1153 when he visited Marrakesh (Morocco) and was received by the founder of the Almohad Dynasty, Abd-Mumin (1133-1163). He was in Marrakesh apparently in connection with the plans of the Almohads rulers to establish colleges at the time. In 1168/69, he went to Marakesh again where he was introduced to Al-Mumins son and successor, AbuYaqub (1163-1184) by his aged vizier and physician, Ibn Tufayl. It is important to remark that Ibn Tufayl played an important part in his career as a philosopher. On presenting him to Abu-Yaqub, the ruler questioned Ibn Rushd on the sky: Is it a substance which has existed from all eternity or did it have a beginning? The sovereign also complained to him about the lack of coherence in Aristotles style and of their translations and also about obscurity of Aristotles aims and that he hoped someone would paraphrase them and make the aims more explicit. Ibn Tufayl, considering himself too old and preoccupied with all important matters of state, asked Ibn Rushd to undertake the work. In 1182, at Marakesh, Ibn Rushd succeeded Tufayl as chief physician to the Almohad ruler, Abu Yaqub. He also continued to enjoy this favoured position under Al-Yaqubs son and succession, Abu Yusuf from 1184 to 1194. The above provided the context for the philosophical exploration of Ibn Rushd who soon produced a number of commentaries on the books of Aristotle. For this undertaking, he was later conferred with the title the Commentator of Aristotle and was renowned in Medieval Europe under the name Averroes. 48

Dante in his Divine Comedy also mentioned him as the great commentator. In fact, Ibn Rushd has bequeathed to history: Commentary on the Metaphysics, Talkhis, a compendium called Majmuah, the Fasl and in a short treatise called al-Ittisal. In jurisprudence, he produced Bidayat Al-Mujjahis while, he authored Colliget (Kukkiyat) on medicine. Certainly, Ibn Rushd works were more than these but his philosophical career was profoundly affected by the crisis occasioned by the ideological dispute between the philosophers and dialectical theologians of his age. At the onset of Ibn Rushd career, there was constant alliance between philosophy and the Almohad rulers. They encouraged private study of the philosophical sciences. But there was a significant number of jurists and dialectical theologians who took the view that philosophic teachings were antithetical to revealed religion and that philosophers were infidels. The intrigues of the dialectical theologicans succeeded to the point that Ibn Rushd was exiled, his doctrine declared anathema to the good governance of the Muslim society and his writings publicly burnt. This was in 1195 when Caliph Abu Yusuf was engaged in a war with Spain. And, although Rushd was later recalled to Marakkesh, a great harm had been done. He died three years later, on 9th December, 1198. There is thus great substance in the view that Muslim philosophy in Spain ended with Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Ibn Rushd, like most of the Muslim philosophers, though a believer, was not given to rigid orthodoxy. Earlier, a foremost and orthodox Muslim theologian and jurist, Al-Ghazali (1085-1111) had objected to all philosophy as inimical to the Islamic faith and had written a book against professional philosophers entitled Thafut-Al-Falasifa (Destruction/Incoherence of the Philosophers). In the book, Al-Ghazali demonstrated how philosophers always contradicted themselves and contended that since all necessary truth is embodied in the Quran, there is no longer any basis for speculation, independent of revelation. As a philosopher, Ibn Rushd considered it his duty to defend the philosophers against such fierce attacks and thus authored a treatise entitled Tahafut-Tahafut (Destruction of the Destruction of Philosophers). In his defense of philosophers, Ibn Rushd argued that philosophy is recommended by the Quran and that the purpose of philosophy is nothing more than the speculation on the beings and considering them in so far as they lead to the knowledge of the Creator. Like Al-Kindi, he posited that True Knowledge is the knowledge of God. The acts and aims of philosophy are the same as those of religion. In short, he considered philosophy as the twin sister of religion. In some functional respects, Ibn Rushds philosophy was akin to that of Ibn Sina (Avicenna). His worldview was also an admixture of Aristotelianism and NeoPlatonism. However, he differed greatly with Ibn Sina on the theory of creation cum emanation. As far as he was concerned, his view of creation was that of an eternal exercise. 49

There could not have existed an empty time which preceded the appearance of the world at a certain moment in it. He averred that the creative will in God should not be considered in relation to our own. It is founded in the excellence of God; separate from the world; the world does not emanate from Him, in continuity with Him; God is not an agent in a way that it is said, at least an image, that a person makes a shadow, his own shadow. The term will indicates that method of this action of a transcendental being. This was what informed Ibn Rushds refusal to see any inconsistency in the fact that such a creator produces a multiplicity of beings as the effect of his act. Consequently, he rejected the principle which was the kernel of the emanatist doctrines that the one can give birth only to one. Beyond the view that the existence of God can be proved by reason, independent of revelation, Ibn Rushd maintains that the Soul is not immortal but that the intellect (nous) is (an Aristotelian view). This does not, however, confer personal immortality, since intellect is one and the same when manifested in different persons. This position was, however, harshly criticized and rejected by Western philosophers, particularly the Catholics. Ibn Rushd is also acknowledged as a philosopher exponent of double truth theory. A great admirer of Aristotle as the greatest genius in history, he supremely believed in the power of human reason to attain truths; yet a practicing Muslim who subscribed to Quranic doctrines. The question here is: what should be the correct position when there is a conflict between philosophical truths and Quranic truths? Ibn Rushds answer is that both are true, each in its own way. He conceived religion as containing philosophical truths in allegorical form. Religious truths are for the unlettered and simple minds while philosophy is for the scientific and sophisticated minds. It is thus the duty of the philosopher to define the context and framework through which theological doctrines are to be understood. In effect, Ibn Rushd subordinated religion and theology to philosophy, a position which drew the ire of dialectical theologians. It is against the above background that we can understand why Ibn Rushd has few disciples in Islam. Thus he derived his great fame from the western schoolmen. He deliberately whittled down the religious and juridical works. In a fundamental sense, he committed an error of appreciation which was to remain a blind spot with the historians of Arab thought, who have seen the Falasifa (muslim philosophers) as the heir of the Greek thinkers. Thus, Bertrand Russell was quite right when contended that Averroes (Ibn Rushd) is more important in Christian than in Muhammedan (Islamic) philosophy. In the latter, he was a dead end; in the former, a 50

beginning. Nonetheless, after a thorough appraisal of the whole gamut of Ibn Rushds work and the unity of his wide thought, it becomes glaringly clear that the commentator was a true philosopher.

REFERENCES

1.

Ahmed found El-Ehwany (1966). Al-Kindi. In Sharif M. M. (ed.) A History of Muslim Philosophy, OHO: Harrassowite, pp. 421-433.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Brown, Peter, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, University of California Press: 1967. Haddock, B. A. (1980). An Introduction to Historical Thought, London: Edward Amold. Ismael, T.Y, Ismael, J.S. (1985). Politics and Government in Islam, New York: St. Martins Press. Meagher, Robert. (1978). An Introduction to St. Augustine (New York: New York University Press. Montgomery, Walt. (1977). St. Augustine: Aspects of His Life and thought. Gordon Rosenthal, E.I.J. (1973). Islamic Political Thought, in: Joseph Schach and C. E. Bosworth (ed) The Legacy of Islam, Manchester, pp. 420-423.

8. 9.

Shed, F. J. (1976). Our Hearts and Restless: The Prayer of St. Augustine, New York: Harper. St. Augustine. (1972). Concerning the City of God against the Pagans, translated by Henry Bettenson with an introduction by David Knowles, London: Harmondswordth.

10. 11.

The Encyclopedia of Islam (New Edition) B. Lewis, ed. Vol. 3, Netherlands: E.J. Brill. Russell, B. (?????). A History of Western Philosophy. Other Relevant Texts

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Asad, M. (1961). The Principles of State & Government in Islam, Berkeley. Brockleman. (1960). History of the Islamic Peoples, New York: Princeton. Enayat, H. (1982). Medieval Islamic Political thought, London: Macmillan. Gibb, H. (1953). Modern Trends in Islam, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Lemer R. & Mahdi M. (1963). Medieval Political Philosophy,New York: The Free Press. 51

6. 7.

Patai, R. (1976). The Arab Mind, New York. Rosenthal E. I. (1958). Political Though in Medieval Islam, London: Cambridge.

52

CHAPTER FOUR JOHN LOCKE (1632 1704) John Locke was a popular English philosopher who lived in the middle of the 17th century and was sometimes described as a philosopher of English Revolution. He was noted for his practical common sense and spirit of moderation. His concern was for the rights and privileges of individuals in a state. But he balanced his concept in his concern, with the idea that there should be some authority in the society to guarantee the rights of the individuals and to ensure the corporate existence of state and happiness of its members. He is an individualist as well as a utilitarian. Locke believed that man is a social animal bound to live in a society under certain laws called the laws of nature. The law of nature is the law of reason. Locke believed that all men are born with element of reason, which can be developed in later years. This law of nature is also a law of equality based on the understanding that men are born equal. Man therefore tries to fend for himself, develop the faculty of his reason to achieve full development of his personality. To attain these goals or ends, man enjoys certain rights and privileges. He has right to liberty; for man must be free to do whatever he likes to develop himself. Curiously enough, Locke advances some argument to justify the institution of slavery. To him, slavery is permissible as a result of conquest although such conquered people have the right to adopt any means to regain their liberty. Another right, which any person has in the society, under the law of nature, is the right of property. Nature has bestowed man with all favours by which he can appropriate to himself whatever he can lay his hands on as far as he exerts himself to obtain it. Although nature is free, labour, works of artists etc. are properly one's own. In other words it is the labour of man that is the chief criterion of his property owning. He later recommended that one could only acquire as much as one would need for oneself, leaving the remaining to other. Locke also introduced the concept of money into his ideas of property owning; but all the same his ideas cannot be carried to the extreme. He defended property owning, but supported the idea that such property must be limited. In the state of nature, man has right to liberty and property, given by the natural law, but unfortunately in the society there is no executive power to ensure that all cases of property and liberty are covered and protected. There is even no judge or institution to ensure the enforcement of law of nature, consequently each man would try to use force and the stronger person violates the law with impunity. Because of these weaknesses in the state of nature and to ensure the attainment of man's rights, it becomes necessary to create a state in that society and this is done by means of a social contract. By this contract, every individual agrees to obey the community or the authority that is set up. The government has the contractual obligation to guarantee to every individual, the rights enjoyed in the state of nature. In other words, government exists to provide security and defence and protect the rights of individuals. In turn, the individuals obey the state so long as the state protects his rights and fulfils the contract. It is clear that the state of nature of Locke is quite different from that of Hobbes. For Locke, the state of nature is not a state of war and his social contract is not a means of creating a powerful authority, which robs the individual of his entitlement. In this state, law could be made preferably by a group of people or by majority and this will be the legislative section of the state and the 53

state's law must not infringe the rights of the individual. There could also be an executive arm of the government to carry out the laws and a judiciary to adjudicate on cases where laws are violated. Thus Locke has created in the state three arms of government, each with its distinctive functions and separate from the other. This separation of powers of the three arms of government has remained one of the distinctive contributions of Locke. He was the first to propound the rationale of his concept, which raises an interesting question relating to where the sovereignty lies in his state. Some have argued that sovereignty possibly lies with the people or the law of nature or the legislature or to justify Locke's sense of moderation, sovereignty is distributed within the three arms of the state. By his theory, Locke opposed tyranny, but supported the idea that the powers of the state should be limited by the parliament and that the parliament should respect the wishes and rights of individuals and individuals in turn should obey the arms of government. As a political philosopher, Locke provided the rationale for the glorious settlement of 1688 in England. He defended the inalienable rights of citizens, life, liberty and property. He championed the cause of taxation by representation and stood firmly by the principle of religious tolerance. He said that under the law of nature man is entitled to liberty and freedom of his conscience, hence everyone is entitled to worship God in the way he pleases. Religion is therefore not under the sphere of the state's authority. Locke was therefore a champion of moderation in politics and religious matters and his ideas have had a great impact in England, France and other parts of Europe even until modern times.

INTRODUCTION TO EXISTENTIALIST PHILOSOPHY Existentialism is the contemporary school of thought, which declares that the object of philosophy is not the exposition of a rational system of thought, but the clarification of the nature of mans existence. According to this school, the thematic preoccupation of philosophy is to examine how man can live in an absurd and irrational world. It is an individual expression of life, which will guide one to find personal answers to such universal questions as: What is man and what is the significance of his life? Is there a purpose of human existence and who or what is the determiner of that purpose? Although Existentialism as a movement is traced back to Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), its modern current can be substantially attributed to the writings of Friedrick Nietzsche who declared that God is dead. In contradistinction to the theoreticians of the more formal schools of philosophy like idealism and realism, the Existentialist does not concern himself with the problems relating to the nature, origin and destiny of the physical universe. His major emphasis is on man as a living, choosing, valuing and subsequently a dying being. Man, in Existentialist view, is an absolutely free being who makes his own choices and takes full responsibilities for such choices and consequences. He is absolutely responsible for his own essence and this absolute freedom generates anguish, abandonment and despair. An examination of basic existentialist writings reveals that they tried to find a basis for human values within the human condition itself. Their emphasis was on emotion, feeling and sensory experience. Thus, Meehan defines existentialism as a reaction against scientific rationalism, depersonalization, totalitarianism, system and dogma, all assumed to be connected. According to 54

Burns, existentialists are seriously concerned about the increasing depersonalization of man and his degrading into an object among objects, a mere speck of just in a cosmic machine. To Emmanuel Mounier, Existentialism is a reaction of the philosophy of the man against the excesses of the philosophy of ideas and the philosophy of things. In short, the emphasis of existentialist philosophy is on man as against the environment. Jean-Paul Satre puts it figuratively thus: Man is not a fungus or cauliflower rigidly determined by the conditions of his environments. Man, contended the existentialists, is a Passionate not a thinking animal, his so-called rational conclusions being the end products of his exclusive feelings, prejudices, emotions and experiences. The life of man thus has no inherent significance except the significance that man himself attaches to it. There is independent existence of values outside the individuals or group experiences. In a nutshell, values are created by men and they decide whether to live by them or not. Against the background of our discussion so far, Existentialism can be summarized into the following credos: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. In human life, existence precedes essence Man determines the essence by his own free choice Man is responsible for every choice he makes Anguish is a consciousness of human experience in an irrational world. It is the contingent nature of mans experience in an irrational world that creates this sense of anguish. What is significant is individualism. A value for one needs not be a value for another. Because man is completely free, he makes ways to discover the guides that are universally true

SOME EXISTENTIALIST THINKERS Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), was a Danish Theologian and Philosopher, generally regarded as the father of modern existentialist philosophy. Kierkegaard wrote within the framework of Christianity and was essentially against making it excessively intellectual. He averred that Christianity could not be understood by reason. Truth, whether Christian or of any sort, is subjective and grows out of the deepest longings of the human heart. The advertised death of Christ on the cross for the redemption of sins is believed by many people not because of the rationality of the position, but much out of despair. In sum, Kierkegaards main thesis was on the theory of the subjectivity of truth, which has become the cornerstone of the entire existentialist approach. Kierkegaard was also against the kind of Hegelian philosophy that was taught when he was a student at the University of Copenhagen because such philosophy did not put into consideration the self realization of a free individual through personal effort and free choice. That is, he 55

emphasized the general free will and free individual choice. According to him the individual should not be satisfied with thinking, feelings and acting with a crowd. He believes that going with the crowd will make a man become semi-conscious member of that crowd because he will not be in a position to feel his own personal sense of responsibility and by so doing it would weaken his own sense of responsibility. Thus far, one can say that Kierkegaard advocated individualism, that is, if an individual must achieve something it must be done resolutely on his own principles of conduct. The most useful work for our understanding of Kierkegaards approach to Existentialism is his Magnus copus: CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT translated by David F. Swenson (Princeton, University 1941). His other major works include: i. ii. iii. Fear and Trembling, (Princeton: Princeton University, 1941). The sickness Unto Death, (Princeton: Princeton University, 1941). W. H. Auden (ed)., The Living Thoughts of Kierkegaard, (New York: Mckay, 1952).

KARL JASPERS According to Whitaker Deninger, Karl Jaspers was a giant among numerous thoughtful men to make contemporary pathways with danger signs and one of the earliest theoreticians of the 20th century Existentialism. Aspects of his emerging existentialist though were first expressed in his Psychology of World View, which appeared in 1919. The work clearly showed the remarkable influence of Kierkegaard and Emmanuel Kart and his attempt to reconcile the two influences. Jaspers exploration of existentialist thought starts with the phenomenon of individual crisis, which later extended into cultural crisis, a product of mans intellectual limitations. However, he could not provide a satisfactory and satisfying explanation or the truth behind the phenomenon of his existence. In terms of social philosophy, he is an exponent of the concept of a multi-faceted freedom and of inevitable human social failure; a complex of which compelled him to reject positivism and to launch a counter-attack against the rise of Mass man and technology. Jaspers philosophical quest was for the re-establishment of life order by relating the state, mind and humanity itself, the three origins of human activity into a conscious and fundamental grasp. Jaspers has, in fact, bequeathed to us a body of works on existentialist world-view. They include his Man in the Modern Age, (New York: Anchor Books, 1957), Existentialism and Humanism (New York: Russel Moore, 1952), Reason and Humanism (New York: Noonday Press, 1955) and The Future of Mankind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955). Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Friedrick Nietzsche (1844 1900) was another existentialist philosopher of note and certainly the first outstanding philosopher to depict the loneliness of the individual in the universe and his inability to derive values from outside himself. Born in Rocken Saxony, in 1844, Nietzsches family background was Lutheran. He attended the Universities of Bonn and Leipzig and eventually specialized in philosophy and classics. From 1873 1876, he published from Untimely Meditation otherwise known as Thoughts out of session in which he thoroughly castigated the 56

collectivist mentality of the German Reich and Church. According to him, the state and Church intimidate men into conformity to government, public opinion or majority of members, but the free individual must; on the contrary, realize his true self. Salvation does not come with ten new years. It is the individual now that is of crucial importance: Be Yourself Now! Be individual! Be original now! In other words, Nietzsche is a strong, passionate and rugged individualist. The misery of a whole nation, he says, is of less importance than the suffering of a great individual. Nietzsche was clearly against organized religions, particularly Christianity and Budhism. His objection to Christianity is premised on the conviction that it caused acceptance to what he refers to as slave mentality. Budhism and Christianity, he says, are both nihilistic religions. In place of the Christian saint, Nietzsche would want to see what he calls the noble man. And given the decline of Christian morality, Nietzsche denied Christian ethics and accordingly declared that God is dead. Consequent on this death, all the gateways for mans creative energies would open, develop and flourish fully. In the circumstances the atheistic masterly man, emerged and would be the creator of all his won values. Common Man is something to be surpassed, the superman is the goal. In fact, the philosophical significance of Nietzsches major works lies in his theory of the will to power. The universe is the manifestation of universal power, energy and force striving for excellence is the striving to overwhelm ones neighbour. In this context, the slave seeks power, and he hates to serve, and would take revenge on his master whenever a conducive situation for such action exists. All that each wanted is for the sake of power. Thus, Nietzsches heroes included such characters as Nero, Charlemagne and Napoleon. They are, in his estimation, heroes of past history and men of outstanding intelligence who rose to prominence on the resentments and dishonesties of their times. Nietzsches writings are therefore summed up to be the expressions of personal terse, spiritual crises of modern post Christian man. He rejected traditional morality, Christian morality and glorified biological values. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) Martin Heidegger was born in Baden and began to study philosophy as a Jesuit novice. In 1916, under the supervisions of Husserl, he wrote a thesis on categories and signification in the philosophy of John Duns Scotus. In 1927, when he was Professor at Marburg, he published his greatest and most influential work Sein and Zeit (Being and Time Part I), Sein and Zeit part one brings out the phenomenological description of man, showing that mans everyday existence is not real or rather authentic. He then presents an accurate ways of how man can come to that authentic state of life or existence. According to Heidegger, man can only get to this authentic existence only if man creatively recognizes the present as the only time one can take decisive action that will enable one to face the future courageously. Human existence displays three fundamental features and they are as follows: facticity, existentiality and forfeiture or fallenness. Facticity means that man finds himself in this physical world without his consent. Heidegger makes it clear that this world that man is thrown into is his (mans) world. Existentiality means man is a project and a possibility, that which has been, but also that which can become and finally Falleness, this refers to the tendency of man to become a mere presence in the world, failing to make the most of his possibilities because of gossip, curiosity and ambiguity. The basic task of 57

Heideggers phenomenological ontology is that of a delineation of the constitutive features of Dasein (being in the world), which we all know to have been defined as concern. He says that the three foundation features of Dasein have just temporal significance. The facticity of Dasein characterizes mans thereness his abandonment. Heidegger says that as man discloses himself in various concerns of Dasein, man finds out that he was brought into this world without being consulted and he was left alone with the chance factors, which he already has in his person. In Heideggers resume of facticity we can anticipate the importance of temporality as the final ontological meaning of concern. It expresses the directionality of pastiness. That is, Dasein shows himself as already being in the world. He has already begun and has a past through which he has been defined and shaped. His factuality is his destiny. While the second constitutive structure of Dasein is existentiality. This brings us to the knowing of man as a project and possibility, that is, man is that which he can become. Man finds himself in the world, but experiences freedom and responsibility to change or transform his world and reshape himself in his concerns with it. The final structural element in the ontological constitution of Dasein is falleness. It points to the fact that man may loose himself in the present preoccupations and concerns, thereby disengaging from his unique and personal future possibilities. In conclusion therefore, the authentic time of human existence is a unique, qualitative time in which past and future are always co-present. That is, the past is held in memory, and the future is courageously faced. Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) Jean Paul Satre was a French philosopher, who studied at Sorbonne and at Freiburg under Husserl. He started by being an atheist. He was not only a philosopher, but also a novelist and a poet. He believes that Marxism and Existentialism go hand in hand in their appraisal and critique of social institutions in the quest to promote freedom in a context of political liberty. He wrote several works, which include The Transcendence of the Ego (1936). He agreed with the term Existentialist Philosophy as a correct description of his thought. For Sartre, the basic datum of phenomenological analysis is pre-reflective consciousness of an object. He avers that such objects could be things like tables, chairs, walls, windows, people and so forth. That is to say a pre-reflective awareness of the presence of the things listed above. One can now say that it is a consciousness of a transcendent something towards, which it reaches out intentionally. Sartres contention seems to be that these objects are posited out there as if they exist in a place in exterior space because it is not at all given as content or something immanent in consciousness. According to Sartre, the chair or brick wall that one perceives is not a mental representation of a wall or a chair, but the solid, existent, transcendent thing in itself, which is the real object of ones intentional act. But the transcendent thing is not as it is in the Kantian noumenon concealed in the appearances. That is the appearance of the wall or chair is an embodiment of the full reality of the wall or chairs itself. For him, man must not blame everything that had taken place or happened on his father or mother, and that it is not right to put blame on his past. Because mans existence comes before his essence, that is, he first exists before becoming what he freely decides to be. In sum, Sartres main thesis is that man makes or shapes his own character or essence. His own destiny is in his hands.

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Albert Camus (1913-1960) He was born in Algeria and he studied philosophy at the University of Algiers. His interest was on philosophers like Socrates, Pascal, Spinoza, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Most of his novels, plays, essays and notebooks reflected his philosophical concerns. In most of his early works, Camus pointed out that it is difficult to find importance in the world because the world lacks reason. But he says that within the depth of man, he tried frantically and desperately to desire and appeal for clarity about the meaningfulness of this world and human beings history. He goes further to tell us that mans perception that existence is meaningless gives rise to what makes him feel that the world is absurd. That is, all reason for existing disappears and at the end of the day one finds out that it is unbearable absurd to live on without meaning in a world that lack absolute objective values. He posited that meaningless existence is unbearable, but suicide is not the solution to the unbearable situation. If one commits suicide, says Camus, it would be an act of resignation or capitulation to the absurdity of the world and human existence. The significance of human life can only be meaningful says Camus, if man revolts against this absurdity of existence. Because according to him it is only if man can fight and protest against this destiny that he can only win or get his freedom and the consequence of his freedom leads to or adds to his greatness in life. Camus goes further to say that all these are permitted, aside from a life of crime, which is puerile (childish act). Man, according to him, is evaluative, purposive and could achieve a lot, if he continues to carry on despite the absurdity of all that is in existence. Gabriel Marcel (1889 1973) He studied at Sorbonne where he showed special interest in the works of writers like F. H. Bradley and J. Royce. Most of Marcels work could be referred to as personal exploration and communication of human situations, which gives rise to wonder and mystery. One may not be wrong to say that several, if not all of his explorations focus on the act of interpersonal relationship. Marcel believes that the world is a broken, fragmented or factionalized world and that the human being is seen as an agglomeration of functions, that is, every citizen like, the bus driver, the husband, the consumer, the clerk is playing a collectivized role and at the end of every thing the world is turned into a machine world. He says that this will only bring about nothing, but widespread and pitiful blindness to the presence of mysteries. It is in this context that Marcel distinguishes between first reflection and second reflection between problem and mystery. For Marcel, primary reflection could be seen in scientific and technical thought; it is characterized as abstract, analytical, universal, objective and verifiable. The point is, for Marcel, the problem being investigated just like in mathematics can be dealt with in an impersonal way, by using a programming machine and the product, can be addressed in an abstract, detached way. According to Marcel the secondary reflection as exemplified in a persons contemplation of mystery and wonder of his being, is the exploration of how the person feels and concerns himself with the personal realm of mystery and not the impersonal realm of the problematic as per the first reflection. The point Marcel tries to put forward is that, secondary reflection opens itself to experiences of personal relation, which one cannot get or obtain on the level of technological 59

primary reflection. This kind of experience can only be possible because it involves the whole being of the questioning subject in a way that the questioner cannot but be involved in the whole process. CONCLUSION So far, we have discussed the contributions of Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrick Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Karl Jaspers, Albert Camus and Gabriel Marcel to existentialist philosophy. They focus solely on man with a view to understanding him and also helping him in finding ways and means of facing the world and making his life worthwhile. They have sympathetic understanding appraisal of individuals plight. Thus, some scholars have described Existentialism as a salvationist philosophy, a ritualist philosophy, a relationist and skeptical philosophy all rolled into one.

REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY Beninger W. T., Problems in Social and Political Thought: A Philosophical Introduction, New York: Macmillan, 1965 Mounier, E., Existentialist Philosophies, London: Rodliff, 1948 Blackham, Six Existentialist Thinkers New York: Macmillan, 1952 Burns E. M., Ideas in Conflict: The Political Theories of the Contemporary World, London, Methuem, 1960 Jean-Paul Satre, Marxism and Existentialism in James Gould (ed.), Contemporary Political Thought, London, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969

CHAPTER FIVE 60

AFRICAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS INTRODUCTION The religious beliefs of Africans vividly reflect the all encompassing nature of the African religion. This religion and its practice influence the totality of the African way of life. Thus, the popular saying Africans are in all things religious. Africans are notoriously religious. African religious beliefs can be categorized into two compartments. In the first are the major religious beliefs which constitute the fundamentals on which the religious tenets, philosophy, aspirations and doctrines are based. The second comprises beliefs that are derived and dependent on the major beliefs. These religious beliefs go a long way to concretize and mirror the nature of the African religion. Thus, any meaningful discussion on them must take into cognizance, and in fact begin from the nature of the African religion. THE NATURE OF AFRICAN RELIGION It is indeed part of history that the true nature of the African religion has been wrongly conceptualized and expressed by many, particularly foreign writers and scholars. These unfortunate misconceptions have been variously demonstrated in derogative nomenclature for the religion, denial of African knowledge of God and most importantly the attempt to portray the religion as lacking revelation and therefore incapable of saving its adherents. The true nature of African religions is hinged on the embodiment of the religion in a reality and functionalism that are actualized in the everyday life of the indigenous African. The religion, for quite a long time, has been called African Traditional Religion. The name should not be seen as a derogatory one, rather it is meant to reflect its location in geographical space. It is also traditional not because it is local, primitive or unprogressive, but rather to underscore its evolution from the African personal experience, which is a continuum linking the present descendants who are practitioners of the religion with their forbearers. As regards the origin, it grew and developed on the African soil and environment. To this end, it was not preached to the Africans. They were born into it rather than converted to it. In addition, it is the belief of Africans that their religion was not founded. Consequently, the religion has no founder. In fact, it is seen as part of the African contact with the divine and the mysterious right from the beginning. In this connection, the religion was used to give explanation for various life experiences and to seek the favours from the divine powers. Though the religion lacks revealed scriptures, it has an array of sources which provide cogent and relevant information about its traditions, tenets, beliefs and practices. These are what Awolalu calls Oral Traditions. These oral traditions have not only taken the place of scriptures in African Religion (Afrel), they are indeed the mirrors through which the religion is viewed. The oral traditions are many but principal ones among them are those condensed and memorized such as proverbs, names and pious sayings. Others are legends, myths, folktales, and daily speeches. THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

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As stated earlier, the religious beliefs of African religion are in two inclusive categories: the major ones and others which are derived and associated with these. The major religious beliefs are in five components. The first is the belief in the Supreme Being; second, is the belief in the divinities; belief in the spirits is the third; followed by the belief in the ancestors; and the fifth has to do with the African notions of medicine and magic. This belief system has been figuratively presented in a pyramidal form as shown below:

_____ _____ ___ __

Supreme Being Divinities Spirits

____ Ancestors

__Magic and Medicine

We shall discuss each of the beliefs, however only the very necessary details can be highlighted. This is because we cannot possibly do justice to the vast materials available on them in just one chapter.

BELIEFS IN THE SUPREME BEING Contrary to the thinking of foreign writers, belief in the Supreme Being is native to Africa. Not only is it firmly entrenched in the African religious belief, it is also fundamental to its religious systems. The belief of Africans in the Supreme Being is clearly attested to in their strong conception of Him as the Creator, the author of heaven and earth, the one who sends rain, the maker of growing crops and the source of human soul. He is to Africans, not an abstract power, but a person. He has personal names and many attributes. He is alive and conscious and as G. Parrinder points out: He is not human and was not an ancestor. He is judge, ruler of morals and the tribunal before whom, man must appear after death. Many myths speak for his activities in the past and proverbs tell of His power and presence, He knows all things and nothing can be hidden from Him. African belief in the Supreme Being is in some places accompanied with actual worship, while it is not so in others. In fact, Africans may be categorized into three as far as belief and worship of the 62

Supreme Being are concerned. These are parts of Africa where there is belief and full worship. The Ashanti of Ghana and the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya are of this class. Of the Ashanti, B. S. Raltray says: It is hardly exaggeration to say that every compound in Ashanti contains an altar to the slay God (Supreme Being), in the shape of formed branch cut from a certain tree which the Ashanti call Name Tree. It is Gods tree. In the second category, we have the belief in the Supreme Being with partial worship. This is the position in Togo, where while the Ewe recognizes the presence of the Supreme Being, but not all who call his name worship Him. However, among the Abomey tribe of the same country, there is organized cult of the Supreme Being with temples and priests. The third variation of belief in the Supreme Being is that found, for example, in Yoruba and Ibo tribes of Nigeria. Here, though there is undoubtedly strong belief in the Supreme Being, there is no visible organized cult of worship. Thus, there are no temples, shrines, altars or priests for Him. The belief in Him is extensively demonstrated in the everyday activities of the people. The lack of organized cult does not in anyway diminish His presence and significance. His name is constantly on their lips. He is regarded as the Yorubas would say Ki Olodumare II Ibukun si i. May God send blessing upon it, or Ki Olodumare gba a, May God Accept it. Also, in their greetings, the Yoruba acknowledge the presence of God. The Yoruba regular greeting is Se o ji daadaa, Have you risen well? The reply to this is A dupe lowo Olowun, (I thank God). On the whole, we can say that there is no controversy or doubt as to the belief of the Africans in the Supreme Being. This belief in all parts of Africa is vividly demonstrated in the names and attributes Africans associate with the Supreme Being, particularly the meaning and significance of these names and attributes. NAMES OF THE SUPREME BEING IN AFRICA Names mean much to Africans. This perhaps explains why they always strive to make sense out of any name given. African names consequently reflect ideas, situations and activities which the people want to stress or immortalize. This conception is carried over into African names for the Supreme Being. Societies in Africa have names for the Supreme Being which though are expressed in different language, are unique and ultimately mean the same thing and serve the same purpose. They reflect the uniqueness of the Supreme Being as well as His pre-eminence in all things. A careful study and analysis of some of the names would bring this out very vividly. However, it must be noted that a particular African tribe may have more than one name for the Supreme Being. Some African names for the Supreme Being and their meanings are presented here. They are presented on country-by-country basis where possible and tribe where this is not so. 1. NIGERIA (i) The Yoruba: Olodumare Almighty, Supreme 63

Olorun Eleda Elemi (ii) The Edo: Osanobua (iii) The Igbo: Chukwu Chineke (iv) The Nupe: Soko (v) The Ijaw: Tamearau (vi) The Tiv: Aondo 2. GHANA (i) Akan: Onyame Onyankopoa (ii) The Ewe: Mawu (iii) The Ga:

Owner or Lord of Heaven The creator, the maker Owner of life

Creator of the World, sky, earth and of life.

The Great Source Being or Spirit The Source Being who created all things

Supreme Deity that resides in heaven

He who creates

The great unknown above

The Supreme Being, God, the creator of all things, the deity He who is the great God

God

Ataa Naa Nyenme 3. SIERRA LEONE (i) Mende: Ngewo -

Grandfather, Grandmother

The eternal one who rules from above 64

(ii) The Kono: MekataYataa Remain to meet You he met

4. GUINEA (i) The Tends: Hoununga 5. SUDAN (i) The Nuer: Kweth 6. TRIBES (i) The Lughara: (Congo) Adronga God in the sky Spirit of the sky. The Unknown

(ii) The Ankola: (Uganda) Bagyedanwa The source of all things

(iii)The Arush: (Tanzania) Engai The Supreme One

(iv)The Ovambo: (South Africa) Katunga The Being by Himself

We have presented above just a few of the name given to the Supreme Being by Africans. As shown in the meanings of the names, the Africans have a clear idea of the Supreme Being. He is to them, as the different names depict, the Lord of the heavens and earth, the creator of the world and man and the giver of life, light and sufficiency. He is timeless, eternal and everywhere. He sees and hears all, while He is invisible and cannot be fully known. He alone is great, omnipotent and impregnable. Attributes of God

65

It is not only through names that Africans express their belief in God. They also do so through certain attributes. These are words or phrases which ascribe traits, properties, qualities or characteristics to the Supreme Being. The attributes show very clearly that to Africans the Supreme Being is very real and has to meet comprehensible concrete terms so as to justify the yearnings of the worshippers. In anthropomorphic terms, the concept of the Supreme Being is as one who hears sees, listens and acts. In this sense, the Supreme Being to Africans is the God who lives, acts, commands, rules and judges. He controls the universe. He is venerable and majestic. All these are the values the Africans consider to be the attributed of the Supreme Being. We shall briefly discuss some of these attributes to drive home the African belief in His presence and activities. Uniqueness Africans see the Supreme Being as not been like others, he stands out. There is none like Him. To Him alone belong the characteristics of nobility and abstractness that are incomprehensible to man. This is why the Africans frown at any images or paintings at representing Him, as He cannot be compared with anything known to man. Transcendent This attributes portrays His holiness, with power and might which transcend anyone known. Thus, the Nupe sing God is far away the Akon praise Him as He who is here now as from ancient times. The Yorubas say He is Oba Orun the King Above. Aterere-Kaye He whose Being spreads over the whole earth. Omnipotent This suggests He has all powers to which there is no limitation. Nothing is impossible for Him. All things happen at His command. Man, and the whole of universe obey him, The Nupes say God is in the front, He is in the Back. The Edos say He is the carrier of the universe. To the Akans, He is Ananse Kodroko the great spider; The Otumfo the mighty. The judge He is seen as the final judge. His judgement is fair, just and final, though He does this in silence. This is why the Yoruba call Him Oba adake dajo the king who judges in silence. The Kono say E Yataa tina, It is in Gods hands. This particular attribute of the Supreme Being by the Africans also includes the aspects of punishment and retribution. He rewards the just and punishes the guilty accordingly without favours. Thus, the Mende say Ngawo lo kiti lewe moi le God is judge. Immortal Africans universally believe that the Supreme Being lives for ever. This must be so, so that He can satisfy the human soul. His being is everlasting. The Kono calls Him Mekata, implying the everlasting one. The Yoruba address Him as Oyigiyigi Oba aiku The mighty, immovable, Lord, ancient, durable rock that never dies. He has neither a beginning nor end. 66

Creator This is a very important attribute of the Supreme Being. All over Africa, there is the unanimous belief that He is the Creator of man and the whole universe. In this regard He is also regarded as the King of kings. The Yoruba call Him Eleda The Creator Oba Orun, The King of Heaven. To the Igbos, He is Ezechitooke, The King who creates. His supremeness, as the King of kings, is vividly brought out in the Yoruba notion of Him as Oba Asekanmaku The King who does His work to perfection. We must at this stage point out that though the names and attributes the Africans give to the Supreme Being constitute perhaps the major forms of demonstrating their belief in Him, there are other forms through which this is unmistakably shown. Some of such ways are proverbs, sayings, recitals, songs, worships and liturgies. Belief in Divinities This is the second major belief in African religion. Divinities are also referred to as gods with small letter g in Africa. In nature, the divinities are concepts derived from the Supreme Being who is their Creator and whom they serve at all times. The gods have different names in different African societies. The Yorubas call them Orisa, while the Akan address them as Obese or Abosom. For the Ga, they are Won or Wodzi. The Igbo people call them Alusindiminuo. Among the Fon, they are called Vodu or Vud. Toro or Trowo is what they are known among the Ewes. It is important to point out that to Africans, though the divinities are incorporal, they have real existence. In fact, sometimes the names of the divinities depict their nature or the nature or the natural phenomenon through which they are manifested. For example, the original thunder divinity among the Yoruba was Jakuta which means one who hurls or fights with stone. The same god among the Nupe is called Sokogba- Sokos axe. Among the Igbos Ala or Ani means earth and this same word is used for the arch-divinity who is the earth goddess. For the Yoruba, Olokun is the goddess of the sea which translated to Yoruba is Okun. There are many divinities in Africa. However, their number varies from tribe to tribe or locality. While they are not so many among the Mende, Akan, Lugbara, Kono, Igbo and Nupe, their number ranges between 201 and 1,700 in various Yoruba localities. The relationship of the divinities to the Supreme Being is borne out of African sociological patterns. Among most of African societies, the king or chief is at the apex of the social hierarchy. Under him we have other chiefs who head clans, villages and wards. We then have the common people. When this is transferred to the religious context, the Supreme Being is at the apex of the theocratic world. He then appoints the divinities as administrators of the earthly theocratic society. Thus, the divinities have only delegated authority. In fact, the divinities are half way houses, as they are a means to an end. Consequently, they can never be ends in themselves. The real and final power is from Him (the supreme being). This is why the Yorubas when venerating and praying before the divinities chorus such prayers at the end with Ase meaning May it be sanctioned by the Supreme Being. Divinities in African concept may be divided into three categories. First, are the primordial divinities. These are conceived to have been with the Supreme Being from the time of creation and indeed partook in the creative functions of God. They are regarded as the divinities of heaven as 67

their origin is not known. The second are made up of deified ancestors. Those who in their life times lived extra ordinary and mysterious lives are canonized after death. Such an ancestor is no longer a mere ancestor. After assuming the status of a divinity, he has to absorb the characteristics of an earlier divinity. A vivid example is Songo the deified Alaafin of Oyo who took over the attribute of Jakuta, the erstwhile thunder divinity in Yorubaland. Divinities who are personifications of natural forces and phenomena constitute the third category. Such divinities are spirits associated with rivers, rocks, trees, brooks, lakes, hills, mountains and forests. The places they inhabit are considered sacred places and there are usually priests who are the custodians of such places and through whom the spirits may be consulted. In terms of position and duty of the divinities, it must be stressed that divinities are very real to Africans. They are indeed the concrete phenomenon of the African religion. Because they are real and pragmatic, they are in existence to perform specific functions or duties. Thus, the Africans see them as ministers with specific portfolios in the theocratic government of the world. The Supreme Being delegates authority and functions to them. The divinities are also seen as intermediaries between God and man. This is why God is usually worshipped through them, and they receive from time to time sacrifices on His behalf. As convenient and appropriate channels to the Supreme Being, they have temples, shrines, priests, priestesses, and devotees to actualize and enhance their duties and roles. On a final note, positively, the divinities are very powerful and can help in solving various problems of people by giving children, increasing mans prosperity and so on. On the other hand, their weakness may be exploited to inflict sickness, death and other misfortunes on the innocent. They are thus ambidextrous being good and bad simultaneously. This is why festivals are celebrated in honour of the divinities as propitiation, so that man may constantly be in their favour and thus avoid their wrath. Belief in Spirit As pointed out above, Africans belief in spirits often constitute part of the belief in divinities. Usually, these spirits form the third category of divinities. However, there is unmistaken subtle line of demarcation drawn between Africans relation to the divinities and the spirits. Though divinities are conceived to have some common characteristics with the spirits, they are more positively associated with than the spirits. Just as the spirits, divinities are invisible and have immense powers which could be beneficial or otherwise to man. Also, spirits are as potent as the divinities. However, while men venerate, respect and positively communicate with divinities, they associate with spirits out of fear. Consequently, there is always an awe that forces the African to keep his distance from the latter. The fear of the African concerning spirits is borne out of the conception that most spirits have evil or are always indulged in activities that are inimical to man. Also, some dreaded facets of the African societal, religious and economical lives are associated with spirits. For example, among the Yorubas, witches are conceived to have a form of spirits which carry out their nefarious activities. So also the Abikus or Emeres are spirits. This is why in Yorubaland, just as in most parts of Africa, pregnant women are not allowed to walk about at noon time. This is because it is believed that this is the time these spirits roam about and they are capable of ejecting the original foetus of the pregnant women and replacing it with themselves. 68

The spirits though invisible to man inhabit different phenomenal areas. Usually in Africa, the place of abode determines the name they are given. Also mostly the spirits are regarded as nature spirits. Their places of abode include; rivers, hills and bushes. Africans recognize them in anthropomorphic terms, since they are believed to posses some human characteristics such as tastes, emotions and passions. Belief in Ancestors Africans have strong belief in the continued relevance of those who have died. The concept of the people in familihood that is a continuum is vividly reflected in ancestral concept. In fact, this makes the African religion truly indigenous. The typical African life has no value in the absence of ancestral power and care. In this case it is believed that every aspect of the peoples life is influenced by the ancestors. As indicated above, ancestral concept is based on the African belief that death is not the end of man. Those who die only enter into a spiritual world of existence. Once they take on this existence, they are transformed and become capable of doing things which were impossible for them while they were on earth as humans. In this form, they are thought of as being everywhere, capable of seeing and knowing everything. All the above constitute the reasons why the ancestors are not only taken to be real, but belief in them is one of the most important features of the African religion. As shown in the structure of the African belief, the ancestors enjoy a unique pre-eminence, just as the Supreme Being. While divinities, and other spirits may be spoken ill of, the ancestors, just as the Supreme Being, are held in high esteem and no one dare speak ill of them. It must be stressed here that not all the dead are ancestors. This is because there are certain conditions to be met before a dead person could become an ancestor. The first condition to be met is that the dead person must have lived a good and full life. Second, his death must not have resulted from a taboo for example, accident, suicide or any violent and unusual death. Also, he should not have died from unclean diseases such as leprosy, dropsy, epilepsy and lunacy. Third, he must have lived to a ripe age. Therefore, those who die young are never considered as ancestors. The fourth condition is that the person must have children. A childless person cannot be an ancestor particularly among the Yorubas. This is why not having children is an anathema among Africans. The fifth and a very important condition is that a potential ancestor must have lived an exemplary life that is worthy of emulation. The respect and honour which Africans give the ancestors are not borne out of blind considerations. They are products of long and tested cultural disposition, which guarantees venerability for old age and high regard for eldership. In this regard, the ancestors are seen as elders and predecessors who have experienced the life the living are now treading. In addition, they have the advantage of a spiritual state, which the living lacks. Thus, as they are in the spiritual world so also are they in the world of the living. These unique qualities give the ancestors not only better knowledge but a closer relationship with the Supreme Being and the divinities. These privileges enjoyed by the ancestors make them capable of exercising wide powers. For example, they can intervene between man and the Supreme Being and get the petitions of man answered quickly and effectively. Furthermore, the ancestors can bless and assist people in difficulties. In the same vein, they are capable of punishing erring 69

human beings. In fact, they are believed to be agents of mortality, rewarding virtues and punishing all forms of vices. Because of the profound ways in which the ancestors influence the Africans life, they are venerated in a number of ways. These are mainly through specialized methods of communication such as pouring libation on food and prayers. These activities may be carried out by individuals or on communal basis. At times, religious officials perform the rituals on behalf of individuals or communities. The most concrete forms of remembering and venerating the ancestors are by festivals, usually held around the ancestral cult. Most African communities have one form of rites or the other associated with the ancestral cult. Among the Yorubas, the Egungun and Oro festivals represent the hallmark of the ancestral cult. For the Igbos, the minor society embodies the spirit of the ancestors. Both the Fon and Egun peoples of Benin practice ancestral cult. The Eguns refer to this as skull cult. Other tribes in Africa with ancestral cults are the Mende of Sierra Leone, the Akan the Tallensi and the Ahanti of Ghana. Also the Nuer of North Africa, Lugbara of Central Africa, Ankole and Arugbo of East Africa as well as Ovambo of Southern Africa have festivals associated with the ancestral cult to venerate ancestors. On the whole, as Opoku rightly pointed out, the belief in and significance of ancestral belief in Africa is clear demonstration of some basic ideas. Among these are: i. ii. iii. iv. v. The continuation of life after death and the continued relevance of the dead to the living; The unending nature of the Africans sense of obligation, both to and by individuals and the society; The communal nature of the African life with roles to be played by both the living and the dead; The acceptance of re-incarnation as a fact of life; and That the conducts of the ancestors could act as a form of social control to regulate individual and societal moral life.

The important place and the attendant visible devotion to ancestors among Africans have led to some foreign writers calling African religion itself ancestral worship. This is of course a mistake since there is no way a part can constitute the whole. Belief in the ancestors is just a segment of the African religious life and cannot therefore be equated to the totality of the religion. Belief in Magic and Medicine A significant part of the religious traditions of Africa is the recognition of the reality of magic and medicine. Magic in the African concept may be defined as the making use of nature or supernatural forces for the purposes of achieving mans ends. Medicine on the other hand, means the science or art of the prevention, treatment and cure of disease. The belief in magic and medicine is based on the African belief that outside forces that are supernatural can be tapped and 70

controlled by man. There are certain distinctive features of magic and medicine. In magic, man goes all out to demonstrate his capability to use at his own will the controlled supernatural powers for his own good; thus man enforces his will. As for medicine, what is of importance is the utilization of whatever forces are at mans disposal to prevent and cure diseases. Generally, magic is a negative concept and is associated with elements such as charms, mascots, amulets, mana and juju. All these are more or less associated with evil machinations. As Frazer has indicated magic is based on two interwoven principles; one is derived from the law of similarity while the second is from the law of contact. On the other hand, the practice of medicine is seen as a gift from the creator. Divinities are usually considered to be the agents of dispensation. This is why medicine men and herbalists consider the Supreme Being to be the healer. To them, diseases can only be cured if the Supreme Being permits it. Also, medicine is closely associated with religion. Consequently, priests are not only ministers of religion, but also hearers to whom those who are ill go. To Africans, illness has both organic and spiritual aspects. This is why not only the taking of herbs and roots but also ritual cleansing and offering of sacrifices are important in curing. For example, among the Yorubas, where medicine is called Oogun there is the simple Oogun consisting of herbs and roots for the treatment of minor illness. The complex Oogun involves rituals and sacrifices and is for the treatment of complicated and protracted illness. In spite of their distinctive natures, magic and medicine have some common traits. Awolalu and Dopamu writing about the religion of West Africa have enumerated some of these. First, some tribes in Africa have common name for magic and medicine. For example, the Yorubas call both Oogun, Egbogi or Isegun, the Igbos call them the Ogwu, the Nupes call them Cigbe and the Akans call them Suman. Also, both of them are controlled by the same divinity Osonyin among the Yorubas and the Agwu among the Igbos. Furthermore, there is the fact that both magic and medicine arose to address mans urgent need. In addition, ritual is common to both of them. They are also invariably connected with the supernatural. This is why incantations are their common features. On the whole, it is pertinent to point out that both cannot be separated from the African religion. In fact, they derive their supernatural nature, efficacy, taboos and custodians from the religion. Essentially, they constitute part of the mystery of the African religion. Other Beliefs in African Religion Apart from the five basic African religious beliefs, there are some others that form part of the totality of African religion. However, these are derived from the five basic beliefs we have discussed. Belief in Afterlife Africans believe in the after life. It is a concept that is an expression of the religious expectations of the people. The belief in a Supreme Being as the creator and the final destination of man inform the Africans conviction that there is a heavenly abode to which man returns after death. In view of this, the Africans regard the world as just for a while and that heaven is the real home. This is why the Yorubas say Aye Joja, Ogun nile, that is, the world is a market and heaven is the home. In 71

consequence of this belief, Africans believe that man is made of body and soul. While the body perishes at death, the soul survives and returns to its creator. The belief in after life not only informs the African basic belief in ancestors, but equally depicts the reason why man should live a good life so that he could win the favour of the Supreme Being in the next world. This African notion is closely associated with the African concept of the final judgement or the day of judgement which comes after death. Here, the Africans attribute of the Supreme Being as judge is realized. All those who have died are judged according to their earthly living. Those who lived a good and upright life partake in eternal life as reward, while the punishment of those who lived ungodly life on earth is banishment and separation from the Supreme Being. Belief in Morality Af.rel considers morality a non-negotiable element of religion. Also, that it is religiously based. These are vividly highlighted by many writers on African religion. For example, Egungun comment that as long as good attitudes and behaviours towards others are necessary conditions for religion, moral attitudes necessarily share in the nature of religion. For Bolaji Idowu, since mans concept of deity has everything to do with what is taken to be morality, the two cannot be separated. Thus, Adewale sums it all up by asserting that the ethics (morality) of Africans from one to another is religious. The basic concept of African religion on morality is centred on some key notions. The first of these is that God is the final guardian of the moral codes of law and order. Therefore, to Africans, morality flows from God. Man is then compelled to respond appropriately to the moral demands of God. The fact that it is God, who will make the final judgment after death, makes it imperative that Gods interest in morality superseded the earthly life. Second, other supernatural beings such as the ancestors and divinities also have interest in morality. In fact, they also play prominent role in controlling morality. For example, the ancestors as guardians of morality have power to punish and reward moral behaviours of people. In the same way, the divinities are concerned with the moral living of people. They thus have the authority of the Supreme Being to administer punishment. In fact, branches of the moral law which guide the everyday living of Africans contain what are regarded as offences against the divinities. Third, the moral virtues which are important to Africans are found in the proverbs, everyday sayings and songs of the people. Fourth, that though the supernatural beings control the morality of people, human society through its own system of reward and punishment also acts as guardian of morality. Fifth, the moral livings of Africans are based on their attitudes towards the sanctions that are associated with good behaviours or mis-behaviours. This is in the belief that the welfare and solidarity of the community can not be separated from the moral actions of individuals. Both the evil and good behaviours of individuals have dimensions on the community they belong. While good deeds bring harmony, peace and prosperity, misdeeds bring calamities of all sorts. This is why the conscience of the individual is very important in African morality, so that the individual, in recognizing the distinction between right and wrong, may always do the right thing. 72

Belief in Worship Africans believe that worship is the turning of a person to an object of worship. In African religion, we have formal, informal, regular, irregular, individual and communal types of worship. The main objective of worship in African religion (Af.rel) is to communicate with the object of worship in such a way that respect and frequent rededication of oneself creates a state of harmony between the deity and the worshippers. Furthermore, apart from being a spiritual element, worship also provides sociological functions as it creates a bond of unity among the worshippers. As pointed out above, worships in Af.rel (African religion) are directed to the supernatural beings, to secure their favours. By supernatural beings here we mean essentially the Supreme Being and the divinities. The mode of African worship incorporates the use of altars, priests and sacrifices specifically designed for the Supreme Being. Elsewhere, where indirect worship prevails, while we do not find temples, priests and sacrifices directly linked with Him, worship style is reflected in everyday living of the people. Their activities, expressions, songs, prayers, etc. serve as awareness of worshipping. As for the worship of divinities, Africans have both regular and occasional worships. The worships are regular when people have the shrines of their divinities in their houses. This kind of worship usually takes place in the morning, thus becoming a daily ritual to ask the divinity for blessings for the day. Occasional and rather sudden worship in African religion comes up in times of misfortunes and the favour of the divinity is sought to avert or put on hold further or similar difficulties. At other times, it may be for the purpose of seeking special favours from the divinities either as an individual or a community. The main components of worship, both private and public, are prayers, songs, libations, invocations and offerings. In public, prescribed worship form, often referred to as liturgy, a sequence is followed libation invocation offering prayer. Officials at worships particularly the public ones consists of family heads, clan heads, priests, priestesses and traditional rulers. Conclusion We have attempted to describe African religious beliefs. We have highlighted the main ones as consisting of beliefs in the Supreme Being, divinities, spirits, ancestors and magic and medicine. We also considered in brief some supporting beliefs of African Religion (Af.rel) namely; beliefs in after life, morality and worship. Our objective in doing this is to show that not only does African Religion have its own belief systems as other religions, but that the beliefs are products of well grounded and convincing religious traditions. These equally represent the overall philosophy, theology and culture that are indigenous to the Africans. These beliefs are as old as the continent, and constitute the main stream of the peoples religion and the totality of the African life in the pre-foreign religious days. Even in accepting other religions (Christianity, Islam, etc), Africans have not by any means abandoned these beliefs. In fact, they constitute the pragmatic and spiritual foundations on which Africans build their acceptance and practice of the new faiths. The beliefs have become the 73

dynamics of the cultural and religious adaptation for the converting religions to take root and become meaningful to Africans. This is why it is safe to conclude that African religious beliefs are and will continue to be relevant in whatever religious dispensation the Africans find themselves.

REFERENCES Professor Bolaji Idowu was a devoted initiator and propagator of this notion about Africans. See Mbiti J. S. African Religion and Philosophy, (London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 1982, p.1 African Religion has been called primitive, juju, polytheism, ancestor worship, etc. See Parromder E. G. African Traditional Religion, (London: Sheldon Press, 1974). From Len Frobenius The Voioce of Africa (1913), Vol. 1, pp. ff. quoted from Idowu E. B. African Traditional Religion: A Definition, London: S.C.M. press, 1973, p.87 Scholars now call the religion African religion, thereby dropping the traditional. It is usually shortened as Af.rel. It is the conception of African Religion in this form that has led to its being derogatively considered. See Merrian A. P. An African World, London, Indiana University Press, 1974, p.63 Awolalu J. O. and Dopamu P. A: West Africa Traditional Religion, Ibadan, Onibonoje Press, 1979, p.26 A lot of literatures are now available on the religious beliefs of Africans. Some of these are listed at the end of this chapter. In fact, each of the basic religious belief of Africans can constitute a whole chapter or even a book. Opooku K. A., West African Traditional Religion, Accra, F. E. P. INT. Private Ltd., 1978, p.14 Parrinder, E. G.; African Traditional Religion, London, S.P.C.|K, 1968 Opoku K. A., Op. cit., pp. 29 30. Ibid., p. 18. Awolalu & Dopamu, Op. cit., p.45 Ibid., p.51 See Smith E. W., African Ideas of God (Edinburgh House Press, London, 1976|), p. 262 74

Awolalu & Dopamu, Op. cit., p.52 Ibid., p.73 Ibid., p.77 Kayoed J. O., Understanding African Traditional Religion (Ile-Ife, University of Ife Press, 1979). P. 51 Opoku K. A., Op. cit., p. 36 Ibid., p. 38. Op. cit., p.145 Opoku K. A. West African Traditional Religion, p. 148. Awolalu J. A. & Dopamu P. A, West African Traditional Religion, p.240. Egudu, R. H., Can there be Morality without Religion? In Faith and Practice, (Vol. 1, No.2, UNN, Nsukka, 1972), p. 47. Idowu E. B.; Olodumare God in Yoruba Belief (London: S.C.M. Press, 1962) p. 145. Adewale, S. A. The Religion of the Yoruba: A phenomenological Analysis, (Ibadan, 1988), p. 70. Ekpunobi E. & Ezeaku (eds) Socio- philosophical Perspective of African Traditional Religion: (Enugu: New Age Publishers, 1990), p. 31. Some Books for Further Reading Abraham W. E. The Mind of Africa (Weidenfeldam Nicolson, London, 1982). Akoi Patrick: Religion in Africa Social Heritage, (Rome, 1970). Dieterlen, G. (ed); African System of Though (London: Oxford Press, 1965). Fored Daryll (ed), African Worlds (Oxford University Press, 1954). Goody, J. R. Death, Property and the Ancestors, (London: Planford, 1962). Idowu E. B., African Traditional Religion. A Definition (S.C.M. Press, 1973). King M. O. Religions of Africa (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1970). Kwabena Amponsah, Topics on West African Traditional Religion, (Accra, 1977). Lucas, J. O., The Religion of the Yorubas (CMS Bookshop, Lagos, 1948).

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Lucas, J. O., Religions in West Africa and Ancient Egypt, (Lagos, 1962). Mbiti J. S. Concept of God in Africa, (London, 1970). Merriiam, A. P., An African World, (London: Indiana University Press, 1974). Mugambi J. & Kirimas N., The African Religions, Heritage (Nairobi: Oxford University Press, 1976). Ojike, Mbonu: My African, (New York: John Day, 1946). Ray, B.C. African Religions: Symbol, Ritual and Community (New Jeresey). Prentice Hall, Inc., 1976). Smith, E. W., African Idea of God, (London, 2nd ed., 1961). Sawrgerr H. God, Ancestor or Creator, (London, 1970). Tanner K. E. S. Transition in African Belief (New York, 1967) Tylor, E. B., Primitive Culture, (London, 2nd ed. John Murray, Pub. 1929). Westermann, D: Africa and Christianity, (Oxford University Press, 1937).

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Nigerian Beliefs From Philosophical Viewpoints Introduction In tandem with the age old Socratic dictum man know thyself, this study attempts a philosophical evaluation of Nigerian beliefs with a view of demonstrating that values largely inform the belief system of a people in the past, present and future. The thesis of this study is that in the face of struggle and genuine survival, the values of truth and justice are fundamental and germane. The study seeks also to establish amongst other things that, the prevalent actions and inactions of Nigerians is a function of what Nigerians believe. The urgent and pressing demands of developmental reality and ideals of democratic governance can only be met with the requisite disposition informed by adequate understanding of reality with the African spectrum, especially in this age of fierce competition for global space and relevance by different nations of the world. The study begins by attempting to define in a panoramic manner the terms of method as it is what makes a science; after all, not taking the question of method seriously has a serious consequence in content; belief, belief system and any other relevant term in our study. The study chronicles details of Nigerian beliefs after clarifying what the author thinks constitutes Nigerian beliefs, establish the link or relationship between as Mbiti (1980:4) clearly states what people do is motivated by what they believe, and what they believe spring from what they do and experience. Therefore, belief and action in African traditional society cannot be separated; they belong to a single whole. Any claim of an exhaustive study of Nigerian beliefs and all entailments would rather be a work that is unscholarly and uncritically ambitious. Thus, the simple effort made here is to highlight the fundamentals of Nigerian beliefs from a philosophical prism; this flows from the understanding that various groups that people the Nigerian nation, in terms of beliefs have basically similar underlying currents in substance, but expressed variously in its accidentals, we here take for granted the idea of our thematic. In doing this, we must look at the integrative and interactive dimensions that give meaning and substance to philosophical beliefs. Clarification of terms: Terms related to the subject matter are clarified. On the Method: the question of method is so relevant so as to forestall the charge Iroegbu (1995:321) terms: doing more of a glorified anthropology, a simplified philosophy of religion, chequered linguistics, or simply a scattered sociology of the religio-cultural data of any people in Nigeria; this work uses the tool of analysis; thus, one avoids any attempt to interpret certain names, events or phenomena in a peoples worldview excerpt where such is extremely important in making clear the analysis. The author sets out to analyse and criticize the underpinnings of these worldviews and the work does not pretend to give an exhaustive historical study of the way of living of Nigerian peoples. Rather, it takes a birds eye view in intuiting some general tendencies and principles that colour the Nigerian life and show the implications there of. This would be in accord to the three progressive steps, which Ricoeur (1974:16ff) notes thus: Phenomenological Description: this is the analysis of the items of a given people or language as unbiased as possible; Transcendental Phenomenology: this is the attempt to relate the condition of the appearance of things to the structure of human subjectivity to ones person. This is central to 77

the point of hermeneutics, a hermeneutic recreation of events. It is an interpretation of a thing as one sees it. Here, individual begins to differ in their view. Here is the bosom of conflict of interpretations; Philosophical Reflection: here what is involved is the personal reflective appropriation of the results of hermeneutic recreation. Reflection, passing via interpretation becomes existential. There is a progression to being, to symbol (Ricoeur), to foundation (Heidegger). Belief: according to acceptance of truth of something. It is acceptance by the mind that, something is true or real often underpinned by an emotional or spiritual sense of certainty. Berggren adds that, a belief is a result of applying a criterion for assessing the truth of a claim on the basis of some empirical background material (things one read, things one has heard, things one has seen). This criterion may or may not be chosen, and if it is chosen, it may be rational or irrational. Clearly, beliefs are not directly chosen. In this regard, Dawkins idea becomes relevant. He states in his work Viruses of the Mind, most people believe as a result of having been brought up to believe. Here the idea of introducing some one into something is crucial, especially when one appreciates and understands the African society. It becomes highly informative thereby understanding beliefs as assumptions we make about ourselves, about others in the world and about how we expect things to be. It is a psychological state in which the individual holds a premise/ proposition to be true. Historically, philosophical attempts to analyse the nature of belief have been couched in terms of judgment. Both David Hume and Immanuel Kant are particularly well known for their theories of belief and judgment. Belief presumes a subject (believer) and an object of belief (the proposition). So like other propositional attitudes, belief implies the existence of mental states and intentionality, both of which are hotly debated topics in the Philosophy of Mind and whose foundations and relations to brain states are still controversial. Belief is propositional in that it is an assertion, claim or expectation about reality that is presumed to be either true or false, (even if this cannot be practically determined; such as a belief in the existence of a particular deity). Belief system: simply refers to a set of beliefs, especially religious or political beliefs that form a unified system. It also refers to organized societal beliefs; a collection and organization of beliefs prevalent in a community/society. From the foregoing, it can be safely stated that Nigerian beliefs are rather religious, socio-political, economic, cultural beliefs of the various groups that people the Nigerian geo-polity. In other words, as many as there are a number of ethnic groups in Nigeria, so do these groups have as part of their identity. These beliefs make them uniquely who they are. Thus, in highlighting and describing some people of Nigeria, we shall classify the idea of beliefs differently. Religious Beliefs The concept of religion remains one of the most used terms that do not yield itself to a universally accepted definition. However, we do not intend to go into that here, suffice it to say that the wide definition given by Arinze (1979:131-132) serves our purpose. He states thus: subjectively, religion is the consciousness of ones dependence on a transcendent Being and the tendency to worship Him. Objectively, religion is the body of truths, laws, and rites by which man is subordinated to the transcendent Being. For Mbiti (1980:15) religion for Africans is an ontological phenomenon, it pertains to the question of existence or being within traditional life, the 78

individual is immersed in a religious participation, which starts before birth and continues after his death. For him therefore, and for the larger community of which he is part, to live, is to be caught up in a religious drama. This is fundamental, for it means that man lives in a religious universe. Both that world and practically all his activities in it are seen and experienced through a religious understanding and meaning. Names of people have religious meanings in them the whole of existence is a religious phenomenon; man is a deeply religious being living in a religious universe. Failure to realise and appreciate this starting point, has led missionaries, anthropologists, colonial administrators and other foreign writers on the African religion to misunderstand not only the religions as such, but the peoples of Africa. No wonder then, Njoku (2009:124) on the uniqueness and difference in social interaction noted that: difference attracts rather than divide. It is because of the inability of western thought to create a basis for the ontology of personhood that western powers obliterated the difference in individual African communities. This weakness of western thought was reflected in colonial policies, which created false identities, a method that denies recognition of identity thereby creating animosities rather than unity and peace. The ontology of the person has to be founded on the particular uniqueness of the individual. One argues that it is the metaphysics of the particular individual that found identity, not the universal; otherwise, it will be difficult to provide the basis for the ontology of the person. It is on this premise that a number of analysts and writers have argued that the contraption called Nigeria was conscripted by the colonial powers against a genuine interest for unity and development. The religious outlooks of the various groups in Nigeria reveal their religious sense, which Mbiti (1980:15) characterises as religious ontology. Indeed, Africans have their ontology and this point we shall treat later in detail. Mbiti further opines that to understand the religion of Africans, one must penetrate that ontology. He goes ahead to divide it into five categories, but it is an extremely anthropocentric ontology in the sense that everything is seen in terms of its relation to man. These categories are: 1. God as the ultimate explanation of the genesis and sustenance of both man and all things 2. Spirits being made up of superhuman beings and the spirits of men who died a long time ago 3. Man including human beings who are alive and those about to be born 4. Animals and plants, or the remainder of biological life. 5. Phenomena and objects without biological life. According to Njoku (2009:6), this classification is divided into four; by asserting that there are four major actors in history: God, Spirit, Man, and the environment. It is clear that Njokus classification is significant, especially in the claim to dislodge the charge of African Traditional Religion (ATR) as a polytheistic religion. It is important to note here that underlying the religious belief of different peoples in Nigeria, is the idea that God created the world, and this is not a confession inspired by the Christian faith. It was already there before the missionaries came. In fact, the belief in divinities is a common phenomenon in various Nigerian societies and they are seen as mediators/spirits or spiritualised intercessors. The idea of mediation in the African conceptual schemes, as expressed by Alyward Shorter (1975:102), is more dynamic and vital. The implication of this observation is that divinities are not just mere messengers or disinterested 79

informants, but are essentially intermediaries in the true sense of the word. For example, the intermediary or go between in marriage negotiations in the traditional Igbo custom is not just a mere receptor of messages. He is full of trust and activity taking initiative as understood within the OMENALA laws and customs. Against this backdrop, Shorter makes a trenchant remark that the intermediary is not considered to be a barrier to communication; rather he is an essential channel of communication at solemn and important moments of social life, Njoku (2002:128). This conception of religious beliefs also underscores the idea of dynamism in charms, medicines and latent powers in things that can be tapped; hence the strong belief in alternative medicine, Njoku (2002:129). Similarly, against the charge of ATR being a polytheistic religion, Njoku (2002:131) has this to say: ATR shows respect for divinities, but it does not deny a theoretic government under a unifying Being. All African societies have not only a name for the Supreme Being but see Him/her as the final arbiter and the source and end of life-roads. The divinities do not compete with the Ultimate Being. ATR worshippers look beyond divinities to Odobagagu, Chukwu, Olodumare. Platos metaphysical concept of the One and the many can be used to give an explanation. The One and the many do not make a plurality of independent beings. This is how the Supreme Being stands to the deities. It must be noted that religious phenomenon is quite a complex reality, for it is not quantifiable in physical and chemical terms; though the line between superstition, magic and religious attitudes is slender. One can easily slip from one to the other even without being aware of it. Any devotee of any religion/sect, no matter what his/her status is in that religious group, can have the same attitudes co-exist in him. These dispositional attitudes towards the Holy can be expressed in a variety of ways in so far as they are in the devotees power or psychology to do. However, he calls it a peculiar monotheism. Strictly speaking perhaps, this is what Metuh (1988:71) meant to say when he argues that ATR does not fit into any of these western moulds (monotheism, polytheism, animism), one can retain for it the term African Theism. Social Beliefs Njoku (2009:166) writes profusely that in African context, objects exist in the company of others by mutual accommodation; pebble, tress, the land or earth, humans and animals constitute part of earthly environment that make up the cosmic indwelling. Mutual accommodation then exists between created existences and the divine. At a very specific level, life has a communitarian spirit as God and humans form a relationship of communion in which humans commune with God via enacted divine acts; also, human beings participate in our life, which is a horizon of community of life that forms the basis of the family, social, political, religious institutions and customs. In most communities, life is not just a being, but a living that finds a unity in a network of realities of the dead, the living, compromising the endogenous and exogamous families. Njoku quotes Mulago (1969:13) thus: this is a whole life, individual in as much as it is received by each being, which exists, and communal or collective in as much as each draws from a common source. Anizoba (1990:97) underscores similar idea thus that the African is aware that he is a social being in intimate relationship with other beings both visible and invisible. He believes that in order to maintain and sustain ontological peace and order, which engender peaceful living; he has to perform series of rites from conception to death. 80

Various myths that chronicle the origin of various people in Nigeria portray the importance of the land or earth. In fact, studies by Njoku (2009) and a number of others reveal that the presence of the land with all it holds makes human life feasible on earth. A study of the Tiv, Yako, Edo and Benin peoples shows that political authority is based on land. One will be quick to state here that the ecological approach to life reveals that African traditional rites directed to appease, placate and commune with the earth or persons are meant to affirm and establish order and friendship among the people, the land and their source of life. The machine culture or the Western aggressive technology needs to take time to grasp the African attitude of stewardship to his environment. However, the West seem to have lately bought into this attitude in the call for respect for the earth and reduction of global warming, for mans mishandling of the earth rebounds on man. Life in relation to God, other persons, ancestors, community, and land is a communion. God, man, spirits, ancestors, the family, and the supernatural form a community of life. Indeed there is a widely held view among scholars that African understanding of life is characteristically communitarian, whose full personality is realised and complemented in the company of the others. Echekwube (1990:19) acquiesces to this point thus: the social setting of the Yoruba is given expression in the incorporation of the divinities and ancestors into the society, as they play their various roles in the day to day running of their daily affairs. In order that a persons thoughts and actions are acceptable to the members of his society, all the members of the community accept it as their responsibility to bring the child up in the most impressive manner. Starting from the childs family to the school age, all those with whom he/she comes in contacts, have a role to play in the true character formation. The society harnesses the activities and roles of the individual members of the society, rebuking evil deeds and encouraging good ones. The proverbs and idiomatic expressions are used to remind the members of the society about virtues as to rear good citizens whose reputation brings honour to the individual, family and society. No doubt, todays world and its sophistication coupled with awareness campaigns ranging from the place and women, rights of children, morality of sex and sexuality in the context of marriage, poverty, disease and ignorance in the face of affluence and opulence of a few, capitalistic economic situation and lots of others pose a number of challenges to the roles and relevance of the traditional institutions of socialisation; the family, the schools, the religious institutions, etc. Moral Beliefs It is difficult, if not impossible to find any group of people living together without rules to guide their actions/conducts and relationship with one another. Most societies across Nigeria though with paucity of written records have myriads of moral issues couched in songs, aphorisms, tales, poetic constructs, folklore; stories transmitted down from one generation to another. The society as a complex of interacting institutions cherish and hold in high esteem these moral values ranging from issues of morality and immorality, adultery, theft, disrespect and abuse of elders and constituted authority. Across the length and breadth of Nigeria, there are taboos; that is things or actions people in such societies refrain from and when they do; there are sanctions and punitive measures put in place. Generally, the dos and donts constitute the moral beliefs of a people and here it is important to state again that the peoples ontological perception of reality plays a strong role. Hence, Mbiti (1978:178) opines that morals cover the religious, social, political and economic life of the people as a whole. 81

Ademilukun M.K (1990:77) states that the moral beliefs are embodied in the concept of truth and rectitude, humility, loyalty/obedience to government, honesty, sincerity/justice, goodness, kindness, hospitality, and chastity before marriage, respect for old age and responsibility. These moral demands are guaranteed in various societies via the aid of guardians/custodians ranging form God, the divinities, ancestors, and man. However, modernisation with its attendant sociological and psychological problems has affected some of these values in various societies, none the less many people still uphold the moral values and advocate for the re-embrace of these values for societal regeneration and survival. These norms and values constitute the set of ideas/opinions commonly held against, which members actions and achievements are measured and evaluated. It is these that determine what is socially acceptable. A note of warning may be sounded here that, it is not everything that is socially acceptable that is virtuous. This means that a particular behaviour may be socially acceptable, but can be seen to be injurious to the society; for as Ezeaku (1990:89) writes, the happiness of a society depends on virtue. What is obvious at this point is that various aspects of the beliefs systems of Nigerian people flow from a foundation and an adequate understanding of such sheds light on any issue at hand; whether cultural beliefs, medical beliefs, social, religious and moral beliefs are best understood against that backdrop. This aspect is so crucial and core because we have to go back and forth from beliefs to core philosophical values in order to reconstruct them given the oral and unsystematic nature of such subjects. We shall now turn to examine the foundation of beliefs. On the Foundation of Nigerian Beliefs: African Metaphysics To understand a peoples belief one cannot but examine their metaphysics; hence Onyewenyi (1996:30) writes that the importance of metaphysics as the foundation or basis for understanding all other areas of life has been emphasised by Henry Alpern in his book The March of Philosophy where he showed that even David Hume, the arch protagonist of empiricism, had great regard for metaphysics; metaphysics by the very definition that it is the study of reality, of that which does not appear to our senses, of truth in the absolute sense, is the groundwork of any theory concerning all phases of human behaviour. David Hume whom no one can charge of shutting his eyes to experience said that metaphysics is necessary for art, morality, religion, economics, and sociology; for the abstract sciences, as well as for every branch of human endeavour considered from the practical angle. It is the foundation on which one builds ones career consciously or unconsciously; it is the guide; the author of human interests; upon its truth or falsity depends on what type of man you may develop into. By the adjective African, we mean that there is a difference between African and western metaphysics; i.e., each cultures understanding of what being or reality is, is relative to that culture. On this, Nwoga (1991:5) notes that there is a variety of worldviews, variations created by historical experience and adjustment to ecological factors by various groups, and areas of the human population of the world. Thus with each civilisation there is a worldview; there are differences in metaphysical principles. Hegel (1968:53) states same point when he argues that men do not at certain epochs merely philosophize in general. For there is a definite philosophy, which arises among a people and the definite character that permeates all the other historical sides of the spirit of the people the particular form of a philosophy is thus contemporaneous with a particular constitution of the people amongst whom it makes its appearance, with their institutions and forms 82

of government, their morality, their social life and their capabilities, customs and enjoyments of the same (Onyewenyi, 1991:31). Granted that the issues dealt with in philosophy are universal, yet their treatment of any universal theme is relative to a people, coloured by their conception of life in which everything around them becomes meaningful. African ontology gave rise to ways of ordering the society and interpreting mans existential experiences. It is African ontology, which in the pre-colonial Africa explained the nature of the universe, the place of the individuals in the society, human nature and conduct which Africans encountered as a people. The answers African ontology gave to the meaning and nature of the universe and human conduct influenced the peoples attitude to politics, religion, law, human relationship. It should be noted that we are not exploring the origins of African ontology, but the attempt is on African ontology as a given framework that defines the course of social behaviours and the meaning given to existential experiences. African ontology gave rise to the concept of a social order where there is harmony between existing things in the world both visible and invisible. Adesanya (1961:96-97) makes reference to the Yoruba society of Nigeria to explain the harmony in the Africa traditional thought pattern; this is not simply a coherence of fact and faith, nor reason and contingent facts, but a coherence or compatibility among all the disciplines. A medical theory, e.g., which contradicted a theological conclusion was rejected as absurd and vice versa philosophy, theology, politics, social theory, land law, medicine, psychology, birth and burial, all find themselves logically concatenated in a system so tight that to subtract one item from the whole is to paralyse the structure of the whole. The harmony, which Adesanya explains with regard to the Yoruba community, is also true of almost all other African communities (Okoye, 1990:9). African Ontology and the Challenge of Reality of Change Here, we shall briefly look at the reality and the challenge of change vis--vis various aspects of Nigerian beliefs. Indeed, one constant truth of life is the fact of change and for a society to remain alive and relevant she must address herself within that context. No society is static and the Nigerian society has not been. There have been changes with impact of western culture; of course the society has not crumbled, which is a proof that certain issues; for instance, taboo were instituted out of ignorance, superstition, or fear. In evaluating Achebes Things Fall Apart; Njoku (2009:157) attests inter alia, my point is that things did not fall apart because the white man came and put sword to the cord that held us together; rather the cord that held us together has been weakened by the Igbo persons personal and cultural crises (endogenous factors); external factors only cashed on them. He writes further; I am not denying the external factors, but the Igbo world quickened the stronghold external agents had on it. After all, he who has ant-infested faggots should not be surprised with the visit of lizards. To Obierikas inner musings, Okonkwos crisis in carrying the demands of an oracle whose pronouncement is questionable; earth goddess demand, though in the name of some justice, but conflicted with justice; and Nwoyes groping spirit, estranged from father who offered no comfort, the culture had no clear answer. The actors in the culture Okonkwo, Obierika, Ezendu, and Nwoye were talking pass each other, and limited by their particular encasement in the culture. Culture as a product of idea in these men was facing rational tribunal and demand for justification in the face of disquieting spirits. The culture has fallen apart in their minds; it was in crisis and 83

groping for answer whose internal structure was not yet prepared to confront. It was at this stage of cultural and individual turmoil that the missionaries came, and their message supplied what the culture could not do for its people who were undergoing change. Unless the culture asks the right questions each time, it may not only get the right answers, but may exile or suffocate individuals in her environment. A crisis situation is one that calls for change either for a new direction or for a restoration of a previous equilibrium that was there, and fulfilled the appropriate function expected by the community or the individual as too much emphasis on pragmatic engagement with reality can ignore time-tested values. Too mush unquestioning and acceptance of decrees of oracles and gods in a world of randomly moving thought particles may ignore the presence of the world of change, which the Igbo individual embodies. Critique of the Ontology of Nigerian Beliefs Scholars have characterised African ontology; that is, perception of being as largely dynamic and its Western counterpart perception of being as static. Tempels (1969:50-51) for instance, writes, Christian thought in the west having adopted the terminology of Greek philosophy and, perhaps under its influence has defined this reality common to all beings, or, as one should perhaps say, being as such: the reality that is, what is. Its metaphysics has most generally been based upon a fundamentally static conception of being. Having said this about Western metaphysics, and as a researcher into African philosophy, he continued, here in to be seen that fundamental difference between western though and that of Bantu and other primitive people we hold a static conception of being, they, a dynamic. This understanding has implications for a number of issues because there is a close link between our perception of being and knowing; that is, epistemology and metaphysics. Agbakoba (2007:6) observed that it appears many African scholars will agree that African ontological view rests basically on the notion of vitalism and vital force. Vitality and vital force are common to all things animate and inanimate in the universe; and this is perhaps because all things that can change (in quality, quantity, location, etc.) demonstrate vitality; vitality is more or less the same as the capacity to change. The force that makes change possible is the vital force. In the African view, everything possesses a characteristic vital force or a set of vital forces that makes such a thing what it is. Vital force is a metaphysical force; the evidence of its existence, however, lies in the specific character and activity of a thing. It follows from this that things are identified by the force and power they display; a thing is, essentially, the force and power it displays. Paraphrasing Egbeke (2001:49-60) on this issue, it becomes clear that in African ontology, being is force and force is being and there is interaction of forces with the capacity of diminishing or enhancement of the vital force within the context of hierarchy of being or forces. Agbakoba (op. cit) adds his voice thus; this leads us to the idea of voluntarism in traditional thought. Since things are identified and classified according to the force and power they display, conscious being should therefore be expected to will the full display of the power of their being. Voluntarism, in the case of human beings, will focus on self-preservation in this world and the perfection of the self (ego) in a struggle for domination as the highest good. Vitalism and voluntarism (particularly the latter) accounts for the absence of transcendental values in Africa, that is, values that are held over and above life in this world. Among the Igbo, the name 84

Nduka (life is supreme) expresses this idea: life is supreme, values like truth or justice, loyalty are not more important and in situations where there is conflict between the preservation of life and the pursuit of truth or justice, the latter should give way. African voluntarism is rooted in and derived from African vitalism; and it gives rise to what we may regard as the voluntaristic personality; a personality that is based on the perception of reality and social reality as the creation of a will that is not governed by objectivity or an objective order. Because there are no transcendental values apart from self-preservation and the projection of the ego, the voluntaristic personality tends to personalize all social relations (that is it tends to be averse to the rationalization of social relations based on formal structures and rules that spell out rights and duties, and which are supposed to be operated as objectively and impersonally as possible); it, thus, tends towards the rule of personality and impunity as against the rule of law. Although traditional African thought sponsored a voluntaristic personality, the traditional African society was not chaotic. This is because there were laws and ethical codes mostly established and enforced by the deities that were meant to ensure peaceful and harmonious relations in our communities. Because of the theocratic character of the traditional societies, laws and ethical codes were mostly authorized and ultimately enforced by the deities. Communities were strict in the enforcement of laws and ethical codes because failure to enforce laws and ethical codes involved incurring the wrath of the gods on the part of the political authorities. In locating the link between development in all its ramifications across Africa and a peoples perception of reality, Agbakoba (2004:142-ff) rightly observes science and technology are low in Africa and that Africans are still in the throes of moving from an intuitionistic epistemic outlook to a rationalistic one. For, science cannot simply develop in Africa by merely teaching pupils science subjects in schools without addressing the epistemic outlook within which they are socialized. To develop good science requires a commitment to the rationalistic process not only at the intellectual, but also at the conative (volitional) and affective levels this is important because creativity in science and technology and other cognitive and productive/organisational areas require relentless focussing of the will on the envisaged goal(s). It is upon this so to say that the spontaneity of the creative art travels. The intuitionist bias of the African epistemic outlook affects other areas of life greatly as could be seen in economic, political and cultural activities. Businessmen/women frequently make medicine or juju to enhance their sales, for instance, instead of developing a novel marketing strategy; politicians do same to win election and keep themselves in power, instead of endearing themselves to the people through service, etc. all these have enormous implications for Africa in the global world of today where the African has to compete with other people in other continents on grounds of efficiency and productivity. Africans have to speedily jettison the traditional intuitionist epistemic outlook which cannot provide them with the knowledge and power to control nature nor efficiency in adding value to raw materials, products and services, for a rationalistic one that will help them to these; whether such an outlook is borrowed from outside or developed in Africa. In another paper, Agbakoba (2005:27-ff) examines the traditional African knowledge systems and culture on contemporary educational achievement in Africa and underscores the idea that the failure of phenomenal achievement of education in Africa is partly as a result of the neglect and inability of the new educational system courtesy of the colonial authorities; to accommodate and 85

appropriately incorporate the values/aims and objectives of the traditional educational system. He states in terms of the new educational philosophy there was a paradigm or conceptual shift in the purpose that underpinned the educational effort from accomplishments in the spiritist and intuitive framework of the old (traditional system) to accomplishments in the mechanistic and rationalistic framework of the new (modern system). In addition, Agbakoba (2007:1-14), using the culturedevelopment thesis was able to specify the context, causal processes and agencies alongside the often noted theoretical perspective of scholars established clearly that the public sector is abysmally failing in Africa especially Nigeria because the various reforms do not touch on the key factors affecting the nature and performance of the public sector in Africa, namely cultural factors. Similarly, at one of the World Conference of Philosophy; Innocent Azousu asks a pertinent question thus: Why is a quest sustained by the urge towards breaking new grounds fundamentally the same, but the results in terms of tangible or recognisable results remain at variance? For reflection, he provides two models of metaphysical inquiry - the science oriented model and the mythological model. Metaphysics has variously been defined as the science of the ultimate or super-sensible reality but enjoys a more strict definition as the science of being as being. The history of philosophy from its inception has been the history of attempts at determining what this being as being as the ultimate reality is all about. The early Greek philosopher, not strictly as mythological writers, expanded lots of energy trying to ask questions concerning the most fundamental constitution of things. The type of solutions envisaged by these early philosophers and their attitude were different from the account given to the same question by earlier Greek mythological thinkers. Characteristic of the approach of these early Greek philosophers was the fact that although they dabble into mythological matters, they were all the more very careful in identifying the ontological worth of existent realities. They took nature seriously as an important and dependable source of explanation of things. They were cautiously curious with regard to their inquiry concerning the explanation of the most fundamental nature of things. They recognised the important fact that things could and do have self-explanatory values. They worked systematically on the fact that nature had hidden secrets and mysteries which could be revealed through appeal to nature itself or which nature could be made to reveal. In this way nature could account for its own hidden mysteries. This is the science motivated model. Especially within the African set-up metaphysics remained and still remains relevant yet in a manner that contrasts with the understanding of metaphysics as a tool for science motivated explanation of reality. Here metaphysics takes the form of a set or body of belief and practices in relation to the ultimate reality. This is the mythological model. In this form the dynamic constitution of nature, whose self explanatory force is fundamental for scientific growth, is replaced by belief in a dynamic force in the form of a personal god, spirit or other agencies responsible for explanation of the reality of things. This model of metaphysics concentrates primarily in grasping the nature of the being responsible for the existence of the world, it is comfortable with taking stock of the very attribute of this personal being, his relationship with man, nature etc. From our analysis on various Nigerian beliefs we have tried to show the above characterisation. For K. C. Anyanwu (1981:163-ff) Africans have their own popular metaphysics, namely, 86

mythology the African has the feeling of dependence: on family, community, friends and groups. He realises that his dependence on them is incomplete or embodies some uncertainties because none of these dependent forces can satisfy all the expectations of the individual. Only through faith in God or dependence on Him can he be free of disappointment. Living in a community, the African believes that there are mysterious forces surrounding him. Asouzu (1998: 1ff) quotes Omeregbe to highlight an important dimension of African traditional philosophy as it relates to the explanation of the ultimate nature of things: For him within African context "there are mystical or supernatural forces which defy any scientific analysis or explanation. These forces surpass and sometimes counteract physical forces. They can be manipulated by man and employed for both good and evil purposes, such as protection, prevention of calamities, cure of diseases, procreation and bringing about sickness, death, and other kinds of misfortune to people." African traditional philosophy exhibits the character of lack of conscious separation of religion and myth from scientific research. Such mythological metaphysical approach could be a serious hindrance to scientific progress if it is not consciously checked and systematically reversed in attempts to give account of the ultimate foundation of reality. It contrasts basically with consistent and systematic modest in-depth inquiry concerning the mechanisms inherent in the constitution of things themselves. The many attempts at articulating an African metaphysics have therefore often ended in delimiting such metaphysics to describing the African's relationship to higher beings beyond the world of experience or man's struggle to account for his existence in terms of these forces. That ultimate causality is framed within this context in mythical language and is attributive to personified natural forces erects an artificial barrier, ab initio, between what is empirically demonstrable and what is considered as humanely impenetrable areas. Where myths dominate, approach to such topics as the idea of space and time, person, mind, cause and effect could very easily be wrongly identified, hence possible progress relating to knowledge in these areas becomes questionable. Asouzu (ibid.) acknowledges that such metaphysics is not altogether unhelpful as he notes that the relevance of such conception should not be totally disregarded since mythological African metaphysics has served very important function since it has created a very conducive atmosphere for the realisation of very important psychological and moral needs of the individual and community at large. It is a metaphysics that is instrumental to the African in tackling fundamental issues of ethics and society and as such has been instrumental to questions of cohesion, social control, law and order within African societies. Man's relationship with the spirits and ancillary forces is thus borne not only out of the intellectual curiosity to know their nature, essence and mode of existence but out of man's personal relationship to these forces as sources of regulation of social and individual conflicts. African metaphysics has been the guarantor of the African understanding of community life as a co-operate affair since it created the precondition for understanding of social cohesion based on people's alignment and allegiance to particular metaphysical forces that give meaning collectively to their lives and actions. This conception about the community has been one of the important factors that have guaranteed the continued survival of African people in the face of untold economic and social difficulties and hardship. This type of metaphysics sustains the psyche of the individual who relegate his absolute confidence to forces whose loyalty can be guaranteed through 87

man's religious and cultic obligations to them. On the basis of African metaphysics personal questions concerning the end of life, the things most central for meaningful existence take a peculiar form. Here individuals survive to live and take their consolation on the fragmentary answers provided by the moment because they believe that their lives are based on destiny that continuously unfolds. The need for fundamental, radical and lasting solutions takes this fragmented nature since the constitution of reality as ultimately dependent on forces beyond the control of the individual is accepted as a fact. This indeterminate approach certainly serves very important purpose and missing link of reality. Asouzu (ibid.) bears his mind unequivocally that African metaphysics has in this manner concentrated more in providing answers to the practical question of life is highly laudable but not sufficient enough. Its method has failed in giving satisfactory answers in such areas as prediction and control of diseases, hunger, natural catastrophes, climatic and cosmic changes, etc. As long as the approach to questions posed in these areas is enclosed within a casual framework explicable mostly by recourse to the activities of mythological magical forces, there would hardly be any appreciable progress towards understanding, mastering and giving satisfactory and adequate solutions to them. The same could be said of attempts at understanding and explaining human destiny which is fundamental to socio-economic welfare of the individual and community. Mythological based metaphysics sees these areas largely as something that is beyond the control of man. Group dynamics is hardly understandable and explicable on the basis of rules governing organisations and peoples, or rules derivable from interpersonal relations within a society. On the contrary, elements of mythological and non-rational nature are postulated as the principles governing actions and intentions of people in groups and societies. It is not uncommon therefore to make recourse to charms, magical and occult manipulative means as substitute for explanations based on clear cut scientific insight. In this attempt at extolling the end, magical and occult manipulative means are substituted for real scientific insight. The idea of magical manipulation of people in decision making process, for example, defies the fundamental principles of group dynamics that is won through testable and tested models and principles relating to group activities. On the basis of postulation of the idea of spiritual forces, medium, mystical empowerment through use of charms, occult practices, magical manipulations, medicine men a mythological metaphysics that dwells on resolving only practical questions could end up being utopian and technically inconsequential. African metaphysics has hardly revolved systematically around the potentialities of the individual to give lasting solutions and answers to problems. Such answers refer not only to those areas considered purely metaphysical but also to those areas unassumingly metaphysical in constitution. These are those areas where metaphysical questions are unintentionally posed as physical questions. Here the ability of the individual to pose ultimate questions which do not necessarily evoke purely super-sensible answers readily come to mind. Here we are confronted with questions relating the pure and applied sciences of atoms, of micro electronics, of digital technology, of neuro-physiology etc. Due to their micro characteristic and constitution and their often non empirical out-look these areas of knowledge share much in common with metaphysical ideas of super-sensibility. Within the ambient of African metaphysical thinking these areas would readily fall within the area of the mysterious, magical, occult, and hence empirically and humanly unattainable. In this way possibilities to break new grounds are compromised because metaphysics 88

is wrongly conceived as serving merely an incomplete super-sensible function. In essence, the courage to break new grounds without appearing mythological or magical is one of the hall marks of the philosophical metaphysics. Conclusion Given the above, upon consideration of Nigerian beliefs and the relationship and their foundation; that its metaphysics and the implications of such metaphysics on the individual, society and the nation at large; such a metaphysics has enormous implication for the science and technology and socio-political matters that are of crucial importance to the survival and sustenance of the country in a globalised world today but as our analysis has shown such a metaphysics gravitates largely towards the negative. However, on some other issues, like socio-psychological and moral aspects of the society amongst others; such metaphysics gravitates towards the positive. Hence, this present consideration suggests the installation of a thought pattern that is; dynamics-statics model of metaphysics to inform beliefs and action in all its ramifications. To this end, Iroegbu (1995:363) writes reality as a whole is a gift and a challenge. It is to be developed for the good of man, a development however, which should not turn to eco-cide. Some respect for nature is a necessary vision and development-imperative that will help man avoid unbridled destruction of nature in the name of progress. Yet eco-worship is another extreme to be avoided. As regards man-nature relationship, we opine that Virtus in medio stat (virtue stands in the middle). Abdullahi (2006:114-ff) adds credence to this when he relates that recently there was an outbreak of hostilities between Ete, an Igala speaking areas and Aguleri, an Igbo speaking areas both in Enugu state, over a piece of land; history was revisited as the Igbo were on their knees begging for an end of hostilities. Aguleri people were seeing heads rolling without the person cutting them. All we need is to harness these potentials and bring in scientific approach for commercialisation of invention. Invisibility can be created when the materials used emit some invisible rays thereby shielding the natural waves that illuminate vision. References Abdullahi, J., The First Nigerian People, Anyigba: Winners Studio Nigeria Ltd., 2006. Adesanya, A., Yoruba Metaphysical Thought in Odu 5 (Ibadan, 1958) cited in Janheinz Muntu: A New African Culture, New York: Grove Press, 1961 Jahn,

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Agbakoba, J.C.A., Developing Appropriate Administrative Instruments For The African Cultural Environment given at AEGIS European Conference on African Studies, Netherlands, between 11-14 July, 2007. Aja, E., Metaphysics: An Introduction, Enugu: Donze Press, 2001. Arinze, F., Sacrifice in Igbo Religion, Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1970. Asouzu, I. Innocent, Science and African Metaphysics: A Search for Direction, presented at 20th World Philosophy Conference held between August 10 15, given in Boston, Massachussetts, 1998. Bodunri, P., (ed.), Philosophy in Africa, Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press, 1985. Egonu I.T.K., (ed.), African Perspective on World Culture, Vol., III, produced by General Studies, University of Nigeria, 1989 Ekpunobi E., & Ezeaku, I., (eds.) Socio-Philosophical Perspective of African Traditional Religion, Enugu: New Age Publishers, 1990. Igbafen, M.L., & Aregbode, J.E., Development in the Context of African Values in Stinton Diane (ed.), The Arts, Man and Globalisation: Trends, Issues and Problems,Accra: Deocrft Communications, 2006. Iroegbu, P., Metaphysics: The Kpim of Philosophy, Owerri: International Universities Press, 1995. Jahn, J., Muntu: An Outline of Neo-African History, New York: Groove Press, 1961. Keat, R., and Urry, J., Social Theory As Science, London: Routledge, 1975. Mbiti, J., African Religions and Philosophy, London: Heinemann, 1980 reprint. Njoku, F.O.C., Ana Atutu Igbo Philosophy, Owerri: Goldline & Jacobs Publishers, 2009. Njoku, F.O.C., Essays in African Philosophy, Thought & Theology, Owerri: Claretian Institute of Philosophy, 2002. Omeregbe, J., Knowing Philosophy. A General Introduction, Lagos 1990. Onyewenyi, C. I., African Belief in Reincarnation: A Philosophical Reappraisal, Enugu: Press ltd., 1996. Ricoeur P., The Conflict of Interpretations, Evanston: North Western University Press, Tempels, P., Bantu Philosophy, Paris: Presence Africa, 1969 Snaap 1974. the

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