Innocent Asouzu Livres

This book gives an insightful account of how some fundamental phenomena and mechanisms control human consciousness, impacting the way we think, will, and act. The book identifies these phenomena and mechanisms as ihe mkpuchi anya, the super-maxim, and the inherently tension-laden ambivalent character of our experience of reality. It re-examines fundamental problems of philosophy from the perspective of ibuanyidanda (complementary reflection) and how the problems reappear in the way philosophy is conducted in Africa today. (Series: Studies in African Philosophy - Vol. 8)

The book is a new attempt at articulating ontology in a way that makes metaphysics more adaptable to concrete problems of life. The author uses the Igbo term Ibuanyidanda (complementarity) as the new ontological horizon around which he expounds the notion of being. Within this horizon, he designates being as that on account of which anything that exists serves a missing link of reality. Hence, a thing can be said to be if it has the capacity to be grasped within the framework of mutual complementary relationship of all existent realities i. e. ka so mu adina. With this, the author shows how an abstract bifurcating notions of being can be avoided such that ontology is made very relevant to issues dealing with mutual understanding and regulation of conflicts.

Questions relating to types of philosophical trends within African philosophy can be very decisive for any idea of African philosophy. In this strikingly novel approach to African Philosophy, the author explores a complementary philosophical trend that goes back to those he calls anonymous traditional African philosophers. Based on their thoughts, he articulates a distinctive variant of the principles, method and imperative of complementarity (Ibu anyi danda) around which he builds his system. He anchors his reflection on such ambient concepts as the joy of being (jide k' iji), fragmentation, wholeness, and future reference.