book review-ibuanyidanda and some basic philosophical problems in africa today ft 2-2 2013

8/10/2019 Book Review-ibuanyidanda and Some Basic Philosophical Problems in Africa Today Ft 2-2 2013

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Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religion

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Title: IBUANYINDANDA (COMPLEMENTARYREFLECTION) AND SOME BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL

PROBLEMS IN AFRICA TODAYAuthor: Prof. Innocent I. AsouzuDiscipline: Philosophy/ African Studies

Category: Metaphysics/Philosophy of Social SciencePublisher: Litverlag Dr.W.Hopf, Berlin, 2013ISBN: 978 1 643 90316 7Price: N500 Pages: 124

Reviewer: Peter Bisong Bisong Department of Philosophy

University of Calabar Nigeria

Reality presents itself in different ways to different people. Whilethis in itself is not bad, it remains the main source of error,ethnocentric reduction, divisiveness, intolerance and otherproblematic that stem from our tendency to exalt our own uniqueperception of reality to an absolute instance ignoring anddowngrading the others viewpoint. Asouzu sees this tendency tonegate the other, and raise oneself to a superior stand, as the root ofmost problems in inter-personal relationship and in philosophicaldiscourse. This tendency he believes, is occasioned by the basicpresupposition of Ibuanyidanda philosophy ihe mkpuchi anya (phenomenon of concealment) and our ambivalent ladenexperience of reality.

Innocent Asouzu, a super-heavy weight African philosopher thefounder of the fast spreading school of thought in philosophy, Iprefer to call Ibuanyidandaism, in this book Ibuanyindanda(Complementary Reflection) and some Basic PhilosophicalProblems in Africa Today , attempts to highlight in his usual


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eclectic style, the impact of ihe mkpuchi anya and our ambivalentladen experience of reality on our consciousness. He believes theseconstraining mechanisms or phenomena impact on the way we

judge, act, will and philosophize. He seeks through hisIbuanyidanda philosophy to neutralize the effect of these

constraining mechanisms on our consciousness; so that at everyinstance we may be able to grasp the Ibuanyidandaness of everyreality.

In chapter one, Asouzu argues that every human being (botheducated and uneducated, religious and irreligious) is subject to anambivalent tension which is occasioned by our rationality beingprised apart by our instinct of self-preservation. This means thatthe world present itself to us in double capacity. But because of theoperation of ihe mkuchi anya we are blinded from seeing the worldin this double capacity. We rather see the world in a unilateralmode and thereby we fall prey to irrational judgement of ourexperiences, interest, choices et cetera. This is why according toAsouzu, people tend to pursue only those things that interest them,concealed to the fact that those that do not interest them are alsoimportant and could impact negatively on them if not attended to.The phenomenon of concealment, would blind some politicians toloot public treasury to foster their prized interest, ignoring theambivalent side (negative impact) of this action to themselves.These constraining mechanisms - ihe mkpuchi anya and ourambivalent laden experience of reality, according to Asouzufurther explains why we accept most descriptive statements as trueand valid. He believes that descriptive statements like ibu anyidanda (no task is insurmountable to danda the ant) are not alwaystrue and valid in all cases. If we take the statement ibu anyi dandato be true in all cases, Asouzu maintains, we would most likely becompelled to conclude that whatever is valid for the ant is alsovalid for humans as well. He calls this, error of transposition andpicture-type fallacies (15). This error is evident when we assume


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that because somebody is from Yoruba, he/she must certainly bedirty. Or because somebody is from Efik he/she must certainly besexually promiscuous. This sort of error of reasoning, Asouzubelieves leads us to turn the hypothetical maxim: the nearer thebetter and safer to a categorical maxim. This for Asouzu amounts

to existential fallacies, since the nearer may not always be betterand safer. Seeing reality in terms of the nearer the better and safer,Asouzu argues is the root cause of ethnocentric commitment andother extremist and discriminative tendencies in our world today. Itis important to mention here that in October 2011 Jonathan O.Chimakonam published one of the most incisive criticisms ofIbuanyidanda theory in a paper titled Dissecting the Character ofDanda the Ant and Neutralizing the Philosophy of Missing Links:An Egbe nUgo Conundrum. Journal of Complementary

Reflection: Studies in Asouzu . Vol.1 No.1. pp.41-52. In this paperhe raised some issues which Asouzu in this 2013 book appear totackle ebulliently. One of such issue is the correspondence ofdanda phenomenon to human phenomenon. As shown above,Asouzu admitted that what works for danda the ant may not alwayswork for humans. He calls this error of transposition and picturetype fallacy but it was Chimakonam in his criticism that firstobserved this error when he asked: is there a reasonable proof thata philosophy that works for ants can work for mankind and indeedfor all beings in their world immanent variations? The answer isNo!(46). Chimakonam took time to dissect the character of Dandaand the circumstance of its existence and showed whyIbuanyidanda theory might be fundamentally in error. His rhetoricquestion afterwards is A man neither has the same character asdanda nor shares the same circumstances, how can a philosophythat works for danda work for man? (47). Generally, the insightfulobservations in that critique are to my view relevant for onwarddevelopment of Ibuanyidanda theory.


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Chapter two of the book x-rayed the impact of these constrainingmechanisms, ihe mkpuchi anya (phenomenon of concealment) andour ambivalent laden experience of reality on the way ontology isbeing done in Africa and the world today. He accused Aristotle ofletting in this tension into ontology through his dichotomous

treatment of the subject of being. Aristotle separated being intosubstance and accident. Substance, he held, subsist independent ofaccident and therefore is essential and indispensable. Accident onthe other hand depends on substance for their existence and arethus inessential and dispensable. Asouzu believes, this divisivenessthat was set in motion by Aristotle has percolated through thelength of the history of Western philosophy and has also caught upwith Africans through education, indoctrination and socializationby the West. Through the working of this mindset, moststakeholders according to Asouzu are constrained to see the worldin opposites the one essential and indispensable (substance) andthe other inessential and dispensable (accident). Following thisdivisiveness, the West perceives themselves as the essential(substance) and the rest as inessential (accidents). Tempelsaccording to Asouzu popularized this mindset by his vital forcetheory. In this theory, Tempels portrayed the Africans (Bantu) asnot capable of separating the transcendental notion of being fromits accident like the West. According to Asouzu, if the Bantu areonly capable of grasping the accidental notion of being (force),then they are inferior to the west who are capable of separating theaccidental from the substantial and thereby able to grasp the two.He regrets that, this debased notion of conception of reality asformulated by Tempels, that reduces African world-view to that ofspirits, witchcraft, magic et cetera., is now taken by Africanscholars as the definitive feature of African philosophy. He quotedMomoh a leading African philosophers assertion that any workthat claims to be an African philosophy, is not an Africanphilosophy , if it is actually not in harmony and congruence withthe spirit of Africa, which reality is primarily spiritual (66).


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Reasoning like this Asouzu argues is at the root of the formation oftheories concerning African science, African philosophy, Africanethics, African logic et cetera. For him, both the West and Africanshave inherent moment of oscillation between transcendence andworld immanence, as a dimension of the ambivalent tension to

which all human experiences of reality are subjected. To claim onefor Africa and the other one for the West is a function of theconstraining mechanisms, ihe mkpuchi anya and our ambivalentladen experience of reality that beclouds are reasoning. ForAsouzu, the categories static and dynamic are not mutuallyexclusivist, there could be made to coexist in mutualcomplementation, if the method of Ibuanyidanda is imbibed.Ibuanyindanda ontology conceptualizes being as that on account ofwhich anything that exist serves a missing link of reality (71). Itseeks at reversing the divisive trend in ontology so that both thesubstance and accident would not be caught in a disharmonizedand dichotomized relationship but as missing links existing in aharmonized framework. In this harmonized framework, substanceis made to affirm the being of accident, and accident is made toaffirm the being of substance. It is only with this mindset thatbeing could be truly grasped. This mindset could however, beattained through a positive pedagogy, Asouzu calls, Noetic

propaedeutic. Noetic propaedeutic as conceptualized by Asouzuis the training of the mind to conceive beings not in fragmentarymodes but as existing as missing links of reality. Here again wecomment that it would probably be realistic if Asouzu realizes thatAristotles discriminating framework stems from the nativeWestern thought system just as the non-discriminative frameworkhe projects stems from the native African thought system. But thiswould speedily slide him down to chronic positions held byscholars like Chimakonam who has stated without equivocationthat the discrepancy of thought system among the races of theworld is an indubitable fact (see Introducing African Science:Systematic and Philosophical Approach. Bloomington Indiana:


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Authorhouse, 2012. pp. 3-4, 13-18). Asouzu thinks such a positionis hunted by the phenomenon of ihe mkpuchi anya . Also, Asouzusinterpretation of Momoh above is slightly incorrect. That reality inAfrican philosophy is primarily spiritual does not suggest that it issolely spiritual. As a matter of fact, it means that there are

secondary realities but that the spiritual ones are superior. Clearly,this Momohs position does not equate with Tempels view asAsouzu presented it in the book.

In chapter three Asouzu showed, that the impact of ihe mkpuchianya (phenomenon of concealment) and our ambivalent ladenexperience of reality is not only limited to interpersonalrelationship and issues of ontology, but also the way we doepistemology in Africa and the world at large. Asouzu believesthat these constraining mechanisms concealed from us the truth,that an individual raw primary cognitive ambience is notsufficient to convey the highest level legitimacy in matters ofknowledge and action (80). The raw cognitive ambience forAsouzu is the ambience that is real to the actor it constitutesthose things and institutions we are likely to accept as true withoutquestioning. Asouzu believes this to be the domain where ourconstraining mechanisms are active it is the domain whereethnocentric reduction and imposition reign supreme. To attaintruth, Asouzu believes we need to transcend this ambience to whathe calls, a complementary cognitive ambience. This is theambience we share with all missing links of reality withoutoperating at this level, Asouzu believes, all stakeholders wouldraise their raw primary ambience to absolute fragments theywould see the impression that comes to them through their rawcognitive ambience as the whole truth. Asouzu sees this kind ofmindset as the driving force behind the Black Athena Debate,Afrocentricism, the Philosophy of Stolen Legacy, Copy CatPhilosophy et cetera. Asouzu believes that, holding the view thatAfrica is the sole originator of philosophy as the philosophy of the


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stolen legacy argues, would tantamount to negating the rawprimary cognitive ambience of other geographical areas this isthe handiwork of ihe mkpuchi anya (phenomenon of concealment)and our ambivalent laden experience of reality, which make usnegate the claim and idea of others as constitutive of the origin of

philosophy. Asouzu holds that the question of the origin of ideas(which has also been the burden of empiricism and rationalism)could not be tied to one discrete cognitive ambience. All mattersdealing with origins of ideas and thoughts are thinkable onlywithin a complementary comprehensive context.

Asouzu dedicates chapter four and five to a discourse of theproblematic inherent in logical reasoning as a result of theconstraining mechanisms ihe mkpuchi anya and our ambivalentladen experience of reality. He believes these mechanisms makeour reasoning to be in disjunctive mode. That is, we are restrictedby this mechanism to, either this or that kind of reasoning.Relating to the world in this arbitrary disjunctive mode accordingto Asouzu makes us intolerable to differences and otherness. Hebelieves this to be the character of our logic today. Because of theinfluence of the constraining mechanisms, logic is beingconceptualized in this or that mode (that is, either African orWestern logic). This kind of logic is what Asouzu callsgeographical logic which sees geographical differences as a validreason for building arguments and drawing conclusions.Geographical logic according to Asouzu inhibits the mind, causingit to relate to the world in categories like: Western science, Africanscience, Chinese medicine, Western logic, Eastern logic, Southernlogic, African logic et cetera. For Asouzu, this logic ofgeographical categorization conditions the mind to act after thesuper maxim of the nearer the better and safer, and is vulnerable tothe fallacy of over generalization, reduction ad absurdum, andargumentum ad infinitum . The logic of Ibuanyidanda, Asouzuargues seeks to grasps at all missing links beyond the limit


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imposed by geographical categorization (95). This logic, Asouzuclaims, seeks to instil the disposition needed to have a harmonizedtype of reasoning needed to embrace missing links in thecomprehensiveness of their interrelatedness. He believes that forany logic to achieve the type of correctness, validity and truth

expected of it, it must conceive all realities as missing links ofrealities (92). Conception of reality this way makes room for thecoexistence of opposites. Here again, Asouzu addresses andclarifies the logical concerns which Chimakonam had raised in hiscriticism of Ibuanyidanda (44 - 46) making clear even some of theissues Chimakonam may have misunderstood. Ironically, thelogical clarification Asouzu presented tallies with the system of theso-called African three-valued logic which Chimakonam so far hasbeen the major architectonic builder. The very logic herecommended for Ibuanyidanda in his words again and mostimportantly, he (Asouzu) should move his theory from theproblematic single-valued logic to a three-valued logic of Africanthought system. In this I think, the theory of complementaryreflection shall find a suitable interpretation (51). Although,Asouzu did not employ the words three-valued and African tocharacterize the logic of his theory, the structure is almost the samewith Chimakonian logic.Asouzu in this beautifully written book has laid bare thefoundation of the problems in Africa and the world at large theproblems that have kept philosophy in a tortuous movement overeons of years. This problem ihe mkpuchi anya (phenomenon ofconcealment) and our ambivalent laden experience of reality as helaboriously showed are resolvable, if all stakeholders suck up themethod, principles and imperative of Ibuanyidanda philosophy. Ofmore importance is that he has in this book taken the theory ofIbuanyidanda further by addressing some of its loopholes. Even hismost rigorous critic as far as I am concerned, J O. Chimakonamhad to agree that Asouzus theory is courageous and exceptional inhis words: I find in Asouzus works, discussions, articulations and


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conceptualizations that one seeks in vain in the works of otherphilosophers from this part of the world (51).

At this point I have no choice than to say a big well done toprofessor Innocent Asouzu for this brilliant articulation. I would

say a bigger well done, if in his next publication, he elaboratesmore vividly on the place of God and Devil in this his missing linkconceptual framework.

book review-ibuanyidanda and some basic philosophical problems in africa today ft 2-2 2013

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