%0 Journal Article
%T Personalism in African Cultures and Ethics: The Examples of the Bantus in Central, Southern Africa and of the Mossi in West Africa
%A Joseph Sawadogo
%A Jacques Simpore
%J Advances in Anthropology
%P 103-111
%@ 2163-9361
%D 2022
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/aa.2022.123008
%X Currently, more than ever, the issue of the human
being has been at the centre of debates. Each culture, each philosophical trend
has been trying to break the mystery of Man and to give meaning and value to
human activities. Throughout the world, ¡°personalism¡± has taken many forms in
the history of peoples¡¯ philosophy. Therefore, in sub-Saharan Africa, some
communities of the Bantu and of the Mossi developed their own ¡°personalism¡±
based on their cosmogonic and anthropological notion which shaped their ethical
vision of Man and his behavior in society. As for the Bantus, there is no
dichotomy between the being and the Vital Force which vivifies anything that
exists and lasts. Any attempt to reduce or to destroy the Vital Force of a person
is gross guilt to be punished. With respect to the Mossi in Burkina Faso who
are eager to show both the richness and the ambiguity in the human being, they
designed anthropology based on four things: The ¡°<i>sigr¨¦</i>¡±, meaning the
primary Vital Force inherited from their forefathers; The ¡°<i>kinkirga</i>¡± who
represents the private and immortal unearthly vital energy; The ¡°<i>siiga</i>¡±,
the earthly vital energy; and, lastly, the ¡°<i>yinga</i>¡±, the Human Body, the
carnal structure in which these three types of vital energies join to form the
human being who expresses himself in society in an ambivalent manner. The
objective of this research was to study the phenomenology of the human being
among the Bantu and Mossi, in order to better understand their ethical and
social personalism. A synthesis study, based on a specialized scientific
bibliography related to their culture and anthropology, will allow presenting
their ethical and social personalism. Under the auspices of African
anthropology and through the advent of philosophical trends, such as ¡°ontological
vitalism¡± by Tempels and ¡°vitalogy¡± by N¡¯kafu, who rank life as the primary
principle and emphasize and praise man¡¯s action in society, Africa has been
developing a ¡°personalism¡± of the social brand.
%K Personalism
%K Anthropology
%K Vital Force
%K Vitalism
%K Society
%K Mossi
%K Bantus
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=118801