Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Handbook of African Philosophy of Difference pp 1–16Cite as

Intrinsic Versus Earned Worth in African Conception of Personhood

  • 492 Accesses

Part of the Handbooks in Philosophy book series (HP)

Abstract

Every human being ought to have some form of intrinsic value that she has in herself as well as earned or extrinsic value that she earns for herself. Although not free from contention, the possibility of a human being having certain intrinsic values is essential for the very idea of personhood. It is the reason why it would be wrong not to take a baby as a person simply because she is at that moment unable to earn some value for herself. In this chapter, I interrogate how the idea of personhood dominant in African cultures separates one category of persons from another category. In the first category of human beings, persons are intrinsically valued as persons due to their possession of certain ontological and normative qualities. In the second category, a few other persons are not intrinsically valued as persons due to their lack of certain required ontological and normative qualities needed to belong to the first category of human beings. But in this second category, such persons have the opportunity to earn the value of personhood given to those in the first category. Put differently, the other has the potential of becoming the one if he works tirelessly toward it through individual and group efforts. I explore three specific examples of the second category of persons who have worked to earn some form of worth that the African society in which they live presents as extrinsic to them: persons with albinism, black people, and black women. In this case, a consistent individual lifestyle of rising above expectations and group rights advocacy are essential. I conclude that the African conception of personhood is flawed in its failure to recognize the intrinsic worth and value of all human beings regardless of their ontological and normative status and because it also fails in appreciating the importance of difference in the unfolding of reality.

Keywords

  • Personhood
  • Intrinsic worth
  • Earned self-worth
  • Rights advocacy
  • Melanin-privileged Africans
  • White privileged persons
  • Black women

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

References

  • Adams, E.M. 1982. The ground of human rights. American Philosophical Quarterly 19 (2): 191–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adeofe, L. 2004. In African Philosophy: New and Traditional Perspectives, ed. Lee M. Brown. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Appiah, K.A. 2004. Akan and Euro-American concepts of the person. In African philosophy: New and traditional perspectives, ed. Lee M. Brown. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bujo, B. 2003. Foundations of an African ethic: Beyond the universal claims of western morality. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dzobo, N.K. 1992. The image of man in Africa. In Person and community: Ghanaian philosophical studies, ed. K. Wiredu and K. Gyekye. Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gbadegesin, S. 2004. An outline of a theory of destiny. In African philosophy: New and traditional perspectives, ed. Lee M. Brown. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyekye, K. 1984. The Akan concept of a person. In African philosophy: An introduction, ed. R.A. Wright. Lanham: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyekye, K. 1992. Person and community in African thought. In Person and community: Ghanaian philosophical studies, ed. K. Wiredu and K. Gyekye. Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Idowu, B. 1962. Olodumare: God in Yoruba belief. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imafidon, E. 2012. The concept of person in an African culture and its implication for social order. Lumina: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 23–2: 78–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imafidon, E. 2013. Miss independent: Gender and Independence on the African continent. Inkanyiso: The Journal of Humanities and Social Science 5 (1): 21–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imafidon, E. 2018. African philosophy and the otherness of albinism: White skin, black race. London: Routledge.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Mbiti, J. 1969. African religions and philosophy. London: Heinemann Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mclntosh, P. 1995. White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women studies. In Power, privilege and law: A civil rights reader, ed. L. Bender and D. Braveman. Minnesota: West Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menkiti, I.A. 1984. Person and community in African traditional thought. In African philosophy: An introduction, ed. R.A. Wright. Lanham: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ndubuisi, F.N. 2004. A conception of man in an African communalism. In Metaphysics, phenomenology and African philosophy, ed. J.I. Unah. Lagos: FADEC Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oladipo, O. 1992. The Yoruba concept of a person: An analytico-philosophical study. International Studies in Philosophy 24 (3): 15.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Onah, G.I. 2002. The universal and the particular in Wiredu’s philosophy of human nature. In The third way in African philosophy: Essays in Honour of Kwasi Wiredu, ed. O. Oladipo. Ibadan: Hope Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyeshile, O.A. 2006a. The physical and non-physical in Yoruba concept of the person. Philosophia De Sellentt 35 (2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyeshile, O.A. 2006b. The individual-community relationship as an issue in social and political philosophy. In Core issues in African philosophy, ed. O. Oladipo. Ibadan: Hope Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozumba, G.O. 2004. African traditional metaphysics. Quodlibet Journal 6 (3). Retrieved Jun 15, 2005, from http://www.Quodlibet.net.

  • Sogolo, G. 1993. Foundations of African philosophy: A definitive analysis of conceptual issues in African thought. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wildman, S. 2005. The persistence of white privilege. Journal of Law and Policy 18: 245–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiredu, K. 1992. Death and after life in African culture. In Person and community: Ghanaian philosophical studies, ed. K. Wiredu and K. Gyekye. Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria

    Elvis Imafidon

Authors
  1. Elvis Imafidon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elvis Imafidon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts, Department of Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria

    Dr. Elvis Imafidon

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Imafidon, E. (2019). Intrinsic Versus Earned Worth in African Conception of Personhood. In: Imafidon, E. (eds) Handbook of African Philosophy of Difference. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04941-6_11-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04941-6_11-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-04941-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04941-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social Sciences

search

Navigation