Contemporary African Metaphysical Thought

African metaphysics question a variety of issues, ranging from the nature of fundamental reality to the meaning of human existence. African philosophers have introduced groundbreaking metaphysical theories in response to these metaphysical issues and questions. These theories provide uniquely African perspectives that challenge philosophers to look inwards and produce globally competitive ideas instead of exoticising traditional African worldviews for the intellectual entertainment of a non-African audience. This volume advances the field of African metaphysics by critically engaging with key metaphysical ideas and concepts developed by African metaphysical thinkers. The chapters contributed in this volume by established researchers and promising young scholars challenge and modify existing metaphysical theories while proposing novel theories that shape debates in the field.

Part 1. The Nature of Fundamental Reality.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Fundamental Reality in African Metaphysical Thought.- 3. On the Distortion of Being in African Ontology.- 4. Panentheism and Emmanuel Ofuasia’s Afro-Process Metaphysics.- 5. Ìwà as Ontological Duality: A Prolegomena to an African Version of Event Metaphysics.- 6. The Structure of Relational-Field Metaphysics.- 7. Sophie B?s?dé Olúw?lé on Yoruba Philosophy, Knowing, Not-Knowing and the Pain of Letting Go.- Part II. On God, Evil, and Causality.- 8. The Vitalistic Universe and the Existence of God.- 9. The Axiology of the African Limited-God.- 10. Richard Swinburne and Kwasi Wiredu on God and (Moral) Evil.- 11. The Antinomy of Relation: An Understanding of Causation and the Question of Destiny.- Part III. Applied Metaphysics: African Medicine and Afro-communitarianism.- 12. Metaphysical Issues in African Philosophy of Medicine.- 13. Some Reflections on Binary Dualism, Complementarity and Afro-communitarianism.

Ada Agada is a leading contemporary African metaphysical thinker and the major proponent of consolationism in African philosophy. He is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Federal University Otuoke, Nigeria. He is the author of the 2022 landmark work, Consolationism and Comparative African Philosophy.

Emmanuel Ofuasia is a Nigerian philosopher and a recipient of local and international grants and scholarships from organisations and institutions such as Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion at the University of Birmingham, the John Templeton Foundation, and Institute of African and Diaspora Studies at the University of Lagos.

Bruno Yammeluan Ikuli is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Federal University Otuoke. He specialises in Political Philosophy and African Philosophy. Until February 2024, he was a member of the University Governing Council. Currently, he is the Chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities of the University.