Metaphysical Africa

Metaphysical Africa

Author: Michael Muhammad Knight

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0271088559

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The Ansaru Allah Community, also known as the Nubian Islamic Hebrews (AAC/NIH) and later the Nuwaubians, is a deeply significant and controversial African American Muslim movement. Founded in Brooklyn in the 1960s, it spread through the prolific production and dissemination of literature and lecture tapes and became famous for continuously reinventing its belief system. In this book, Michael Muhammad Knight studies the development of AAC/NIH discourse over a period of thirty years, tracing a surprising consistency behind a facade of serial reinvention. It is popularly believed that the AAC/NIH community abandoned Islam for Black Israelite religion, UFO religion, and Egyptosophy. However, Knight sees coherence in AAC/NIH media, explaining how, in reality, the community taught that the Prophet Muhammad was a Hebrew who adhered to Israelite law; Muhammad’s heavenly ascension took place on a spaceship; and Abraham enlisted the help of a pharaonic regime to genetically engineer pigs as food for white people. Against narratives that treat the AAC/NIH community as a postmodernist deconstruction of religious categories, Knight demonstrates that AAC/NIH discourse is most productively framed within a broader African American metaphysical history in which boundaries between traditions remain quite permeable. Unexpected and engrossing, Metaphysical Africa brings to light points of intersection between communities and traditions often regarded as separate and distinct. In doing so, it helps move the field of religious studies beyond conventional categories of “orthodoxy” and “heterodoxy,” challenging assumptions that inform not only the study of this particular religious community but also the field at large.


Book Synopsis Metaphysical Africa by : Michael Muhammad Knight

Download or read book Metaphysical Africa written by Michael Muhammad Knight and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ansaru Allah Community, also known as the Nubian Islamic Hebrews (AAC/NIH) and later the Nuwaubians, is a deeply significant and controversial African American Muslim movement. Founded in Brooklyn in the 1960s, it spread through the prolific production and dissemination of literature and lecture tapes and became famous for continuously reinventing its belief system. In this book, Michael Muhammad Knight studies the development of AAC/NIH discourse over a period of thirty years, tracing a surprising consistency behind a facade of serial reinvention. It is popularly believed that the AAC/NIH community abandoned Islam for Black Israelite religion, UFO religion, and Egyptosophy. However, Knight sees coherence in AAC/NIH media, explaining how, in reality, the community taught that the Prophet Muhammad was a Hebrew who adhered to Israelite law; Muhammad’s heavenly ascension took place on a spaceship; and Abraham enlisted the help of a pharaonic regime to genetically engineer pigs as food for white people. Against narratives that treat the AAC/NIH community as a postmodernist deconstruction of religious categories, Knight demonstrates that AAC/NIH discourse is most productively framed within a broader African American metaphysical history in which boundaries between traditions remain quite permeable. Unexpected and engrossing, Metaphysical Africa brings to light points of intersection between communities and traditions often regarded as separate and distinct. In doing so, it helps move the field of religious studies beyond conventional categories of “orthodoxy” and “heterodoxy,” challenging assumptions that inform not only the study of this particular religious community but also the field at large.

Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics

Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics

Author: Aribiah David Attoe

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-05

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13: 3030911098

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It is not far-fetched to say that much of what is termed “African metaphysics” remains a traditional affair, without the sort of critical analysis that sheds away the burden of myths and ethnocentric rigidity. African ideas about the nature of being, God, causality, death, etc., have largely remained the same and unchallenged, mainly due to the hesitancy of some African scholars to question these suppositions or build beyond them. In this book, Aribiah David Attoe presents a unified African metaphysics that first interrogates important notions held by many traditional African thinkers, and then builds upon them to propose a largely materialistic account of African metaphysics. The book re-imagines and reconstructs the idea of God, being, causality and death in African metaphysics, tackling some of the problems associated with these concepts in African thought. It also opens up new vistas of thought, while engaging and encouraging African metaphysicians to explore a previously ignored perspective.


Book Synopsis Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics by : Aribiah David Attoe

Download or read book Groundwork for a New Kind of African Metaphysics written by Aribiah David Attoe and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-05 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is not far-fetched to say that much of what is termed “African metaphysics” remains a traditional affair, without the sort of critical analysis that sheds away the burden of myths and ethnocentric rigidity. African ideas about the nature of being, God, causality, death, etc., have largely remained the same and unchallenged, mainly due to the hesitancy of some African scholars to question these suppositions or build beyond them. In this book, Aribiah David Attoe presents a unified African metaphysics that first interrogates important notions held by many traditional African thinkers, and then builds upon them to propose a largely materialistic account of African metaphysics. The book re-imagines and reconstructs the idea of God, being, causality and death in African metaphysics, tackling some of the problems associated with these concepts in African thought. It also opens up new vistas of thought, while engaging and encouraging African metaphysicians to explore a previously ignored perspective.

African Metaphysics, Epistemology and a New Logic

African Metaphysics, Epistemology and a New Logic

Author: Jonathan O. Chimakonam

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-05-06

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 303072445X

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This book focuses on African metaphysics and epistemology, and is an exercise in decoloniality. The authors describe their approach to "decoloniality" as an intellectual repudiation of coloniality, using the method of conversational thinking grounded in Ezumezu logic. Focusing specifically on both African metaphysics and African epistemology, the authors put forward theories formulated to stimulate fresh debates and extend the frontiers of learning in the field. They emphasize that this book is not a project in comparative philosophy, nor is it geared towards making Africa/ns the object/subjects of philosophy. Rather, the book highlights and discusses philosophical insights that have been produced from the African perspective, which the authors argue must be further developed in order to achieve decoloniality in the field of philosophy more broadly.


Book Synopsis African Metaphysics, Epistemology and a New Logic by : Jonathan O. Chimakonam

Download or read book African Metaphysics, Epistemology and a New Logic written by Jonathan O. Chimakonam and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-05-06 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on African metaphysics and epistemology, and is an exercise in decoloniality. The authors describe their approach to "decoloniality" as an intellectual repudiation of coloniality, using the method of conversational thinking grounded in Ezumezu logic. Focusing specifically on both African metaphysics and African epistemology, the authors put forward theories formulated to stimulate fresh debates and extend the frontiers of learning in the field. They emphasize that this book is not a project in comparative philosophy, nor is it geared towards making Africa/ns the object/subjects of philosophy. Rather, the book highlights and discusses philosophical insights that have been produced from the African perspective, which the authors argue must be further developed in order to achieve decoloniality in the field of philosophy more broadly.

Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa

Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa

Author: Tobe Melora Correal

Publisher: Crossing Press

Published: 2012-05-16

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0307816095

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In the realm of African spiritual pathways, no tradition is so widely embraced and practiced as the West African religion Orisa. Awakened by her own spiritual journey, Tobe Melora Correal, an initiated priestess in the Yoruba-Lukumi branch of Orisa, guides us along this blessed road. FINDING THE SOUL ON THE PATH OF ORISA provides a fresh look at these ancient teachings and emphasizes introspection and inner work over the outward manifestations of Orisa’s practices. Correal debunks misconceptions surrounding the tradition, drawing us into a lushly textured, Earth-centered spiritual system—a compassionate and useful roadmap for revering God.


Book Synopsis Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa by : Tobe Melora Correal

Download or read book Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa written by Tobe Melora Correal and published by Crossing Press. This book was released on 2012-05-16 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the realm of African spiritual pathways, no tradition is so widely embraced and practiced as the West African religion Orisa. Awakened by her own spiritual journey, Tobe Melora Correal, an initiated priestess in the Yoruba-Lukumi branch of Orisa, guides us along this blessed road. FINDING THE SOUL ON THE PATH OF ORISA provides a fresh look at these ancient teachings and emphasizes introspection and inner work over the outward manifestations of Orisa’s practices. Correal debunks misconceptions surrounding the tradition, drawing us into a lushly textured, Earth-centered spiritual system—a compassionate and useful roadmap for revering God.

The African Philosophy Reader

The African Philosophy Reader

Author: Pieter Hendrik Coetzee

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 9780415189057

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This collection provides a thorough introduction to African philosophy, literature, religion and anthropology through twenty-five readings from key thinkers. They discuss topics such as African culture, epistemology, metaphysics and religion, political philosophy, aesthetics, and explore rationality and explanation in an African context.


Book Synopsis The African Philosophy Reader by : Pieter Hendrik Coetzee

Download or read book The African Philosophy Reader written by Pieter Hendrik Coetzee and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection provides a thorough introduction to African philosophy, literature, religion and anthropology through twenty-five readings from key thinkers. They discuss topics such as African culture, epistemology, metaphysics and religion, political philosophy, aesthetics, and explore rationality and explanation in an African context.

Theory of African Metaphysics

Theory of African Metaphysics

Author: Yongho Nchih Nichodemus

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-10-17

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 9781497534896

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African metaphysics briefly is a study of the African world and world-view. As a study, it takes a deep and wide look into the nature of ultimate reality for Africans. It looks into the nature of forces or beings in the African Universe, the relationship between the seen and the unseen. African metaphysics is the key to the understanding and interpretation of life, existence, being, in fact reality as a whole as observed in the African Universe. The African sees his universe as essentially a religious one; a unified whole of visible and invisible and this organic whole of the visible world 'spiritually' blends with the divine invisible world to give the African the ultimate whole of life. The African further recognises that the forces in the universe are in constant motion and each force tends to affect another by its motion. This text brings to light the essentials of the African belief system and also with a visible and comprehensively review of the phenomenon of the forces in his environment and how he manipulates or interact with his nature. It is a must read for Africans philosophers, students, researchers and also those who seek to understand the nature of the African universe in relation to his cultural and social environment. It is a philosophical scholarly masterpiece of elaborate metaphysical nature meant to bring to the lamplight the fact that African has a metaphysical philosophy of its own


Book Synopsis Theory of African Metaphysics by : Yongho Nchih Nichodemus

Download or read book Theory of African Metaphysics written by Yongho Nchih Nichodemus and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-10-17 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African metaphysics briefly is a study of the African world and world-view. As a study, it takes a deep and wide look into the nature of ultimate reality for Africans. It looks into the nature of forces or beings in the African Universe, the relationship between the seen and the unseen. African metaphysics is the key to the understanding and interpretation of life, existence, being, in fact reality as a whole as observed in the African Universe. The African sees his universe as essentially a religious one; a unified whole of visible and invisible and this organic whole of the visible world 'spiritually' blends with the divine invisible world to give the African the ultimate whole of life. The African further recognises that the forces in the universe are in constant motion and each force tends to affect another by its motion. This text brings to light the essentials of the African belief system and also with a visible and comprehensively review of the phenomenon of the forces in his environment and how he manipulates or interact with his nature. It is a must read for Africans philosophers, students, researchers and also those who seek to understand the nature of the African universe in relation to his cultural and social environment. It is a philosophical scholarly masterpiece of elaborate metaphysical nature meant to bring to the lamplight the fact that African has a metaphysical philosophy of its own

African Belief and Knowledge Systems

African Belief and Knowledge Systems

Author: Munyaradzi Mawere

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9956726850

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The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.


Book Synopsis African Belief and Knowledge Systems by : Munyaradzi Mawere

Download or read book African Belief and Knowledge Systems written by Munyaradzi Mawere and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2011 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.

African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction

African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction

Author: Elizabeth J. West

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012-12

Total Pages: 189

ISBN-13: 0739179373

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African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction: Threaded Visions of Memory, Community, Nature and Being is the nexus to scholarship on manifestations of Africanisms in black art and culture, particularly the scant critical works focusing on African metaphysical retentions. This study examines New World African spirituality as a syncretic dynamic of spiritual retentions and transformations that have played prominently in the literary imagination of black women writers. Beginning with the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction traces applications and transformations of African spirituality in black women's writings that culminate in the conscious and deliberate celebration of Africanity in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The journey from Wheatley's veiled remembrances to Hurston's explicit gaze of continental Africa represents the literary journey of black women writers to represent Africa as not only a very real creative resource but also a liberating one. Hurston's icon of black female autonomy and self realization is woven from the thread work of African spiritual principles that date back to early black women's writings.


Book Synopsis African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction by : Elizabeth J. West

Download or read book African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction written by Elizabeth J. West and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2012-12 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction: Threaded Visions of Memory, Community, Nature and Being is the nexus to scholarship on manifestations of Africanisms in black art and culture, particularly the scant critical works focusing on African metaphysical retentions. This study examines New World African spirituality as a syncretic dynamic of spiritual retentions and transformations that have played prominently in the literary imagination of black women writers. Beginning with the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, African Spirituality in Black Women's Fiction traces applications and transformations of African spirituality in black women's writings that culminate in the conscious and deliberate celebration of Africanity in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The journey from Wheatley's veiled remembrances to Hurston's explicit gaze of continental Africa represents the literary journey of black women writers to represent Africa as not only a very real creative resource but also a liberating one. Hurston's icon of black female autonomy and self realization is woven from the thread work of African spiritual principles that date back to early black women's writings.

Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision

Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision

Author: Nadra Nittle

Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers

Published: 2021-10-05

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 150647151X

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Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision unpacks an oft-ignored but essential element of her work--her religion--and in so doing gives readers a deeper, richer understanding of her life and her writing. Nadra Nittle's wide-ranging, deep exploration of Morrison's oeuvre reveals the role of religion and spirituality in her life and literature.


Book Synopsis Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision by : Nadra Nittle

Download or read book Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision written by Nadra Nittle and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision unpacks an oft-ignored but essential element of her work--her religion--and in so doing gives readers a deeper, richer understanding of her life and her writing. Nadra Nittle's wide-ranging, deep exploration of Morrison's oeuvre reveals the role of religion and spirituality in her life and literature.

African Belief and Knowledge Systems

African Belief and Knowledge Systems

Author: Munyaradzi Mawere

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 995672629X

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The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.


Book Synopsis African Belief and Knowledge Systems by : Munyaradzi Mawere

Download or read book African Belief and Knowledge Systems written by Munyaradzi Mawere and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2011-09-20 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate on the existence of African philosophy has taken central stage in academic circles, and academics and researchers have tussled with various aspects of this subject. This book notes that the debate on the existence of African philosophy is no longer necessary. Instead, it urges scholars to demonstrate the different philosophical genres embedded in African philosophy. As such, the book explores African metaphysical epistemology with the hope to redirect the debate on African philosophy. It articulates and systematizes metaphysical and epistemological issues in general and in particular on Africa. The book aptly shows how these issues intersect with the philosophy of life, traditional beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of ordinary Africans and the challenges they raise for scholarship in and on philosophy with relevance to Africa.