African philosophy as illustrated in Ifá corpus

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Periodical article

Title:	African philosophy as illustrated in Ifá corpus
Author:	Oluwole, Sophie
Year:	1998
Periodical:	African Philosophy
Volume:	11
Issue:	2
Pages:	151-159
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	philosophy African religions cults Yoruba oral literature
Abstract:	In the debate on the existence of African philosophy it is important to demonstrate that some literary pieces are genuinely African and that such pieces constitute strict philosophy in their original setting. This paper presents two verses (in their original Yoruba version and in English translation) from Ifá corpus, a divination system and the primary source of Yoruba literature. After a review of analytical literature on the origin and nature of Ifá and a content analysis of the literary and logical structure of the verses presented, the author concludes that the literary pieces traditionally native to the Yoruba people of Nigeria are not only legitimately classifiable as African wisdom, but also that the two verses in question fall within a universal concern of philosophy. They present themes which illustrate that the concern of the author(s) is the well-being of society and its individuals. It is reasonable to propose that Ifá was an ancient Yoruba philosopher. In each of the Ifá verses there is a clear indication of a philosophical thesis which is analysed and criticized. The attempt in each case is to identify and rationally justify some individual and/or societal virtues.