ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I Am Grateful to a Number of Persons Whose
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This is the version of the book accepted for publication as: Imafidon, Elvis and Bewaji, John, eds. (2014) Ontologzed Ethics: New Essays in African Meta-ethics. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. Accepted version downloaded from SOAS Research Online: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/33258 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to a number of persons whose personal and professional support led to the successful completion of this project. I am truly indebted to Professor Thaddeus Metz of the University of Johannesburg. It was with him I first discussed the idea behind this project. His positive remarks, encouraging words, professional advice and personal support all the way served as a fundamental force in my forging ahead to complete this volume. I also express my sincere gratitude to the amiable scholars who took out time out of their busy schedule to contribute the chapters for this work. They were particularly friendly, supportive and patient. My heartfelt thanks also goes to a father and a friend, Professor John Isola Ayotunde Bewaji of the University of West Indies, who still found time out of his very busy schedule to co-edit the volume with me. He thoroughly and critically read through the manuscript and provided very useful insights and suggestions that improved the work. The manuscript was ready for production because of his editing. I thank my colleagues and students at the Department of Philosophy, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria, for their support and understanding during the period I worked on this project. I am particularly indebted to my doctoral research supervisor, Dr. Isaac E. Ukpokolo of the University of Ibadan, not only for his understanding and patience, but for also making out time to contribute a chapter to the volume. I am also grateful to the editing team of Philosophy, Classics, Sociology, and Criminology at Lexington Books, particularly Jana Hodges-Kluck and Jay Song for their suggestions and advise. Finally, I am most grateful to a loving wife and daughter, Sandra and Evelyn, for the care, love, understanding and patience. I also appreciate the family of Professor Bewaji for providing the enabling environment for him to scrutinise the manuscript. Above all, I am grateful to the Nonpareil Being for guiding me and leading me through right paths of life. I. E. Nigeria, 2012 CONTENTS Acknowledgements Contents Notes on Contributors Introduction: 1. Moral Tradition and Moral Revolution: A Conceptual Analysis Segun Gbadegesin 2. Universality of Morality – myth or reality Sandra A. McCalla 3. On the Ontological Foundation of a Social Ethic in African Traditions Elvis Imafidon 4. Towards an African Relational Environmentalism Kevin Behrens 5. The Ethical Import in African Metaphysics: A Critical Discourse in Shona Environmental Ethics Munamato Chemburu 6. A Re-Interpretation of Gender Power Play in the Metaphysics of Adultery and Moral Exclusionism of Married Males in an African Culture Isaac E. Ukpokolo 7. Beyond Culpability: Approaching Male Impotency through Legitimated Adultery in Esan Metaphysics Justina O. Ehiakhamen 8. Finding Common Grounds for a Dialogue between African and Chinese Ethics Jim. I. Unah 9. Critical Reflection on Gyekye’s Humanism: Defending Supernaturalism Motsamai Molefe 10. Life’s Origin in Bioethics: Implications of Three ontological Perspectives: Judeo- Christianity, Western Secularism and the African Worldview Elvis Imafidon 11. Implicit Anachronism of the Concept of Eldership in African (Yoruba) Thought Elizabeth Oluwafunmilayo Kehinde 12. The Nature of Moral Values in African Philosophy: A Foundation for African Development Chris Tasie Osegenwune 13. Neo-Ontological Challenge to Negative Atheism: Feuerbach’s God of Secularism Jim I. Unah 14. Questioning African Attempts to Ground Ethics on Metaphysics Thaddeus Metz Conclusion Selected Bibliography Index NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Kevin Gary BEHRENS (Ph. D.) lectures in Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics at Faculty of Health Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is specialised in the area of African environmental ethics and has published a number of papers on this area in learned journals such as Environmental Value. John Ayotunde (Tunde) Isola BEWAJI (MA Distance Education and PhD Philosophy) is Professor of Philosophy, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. Recipient of Rhodes Visiting Lectureship in Philosophy and Simon Guggenheim Research Fellowship, he was People to People Citizen Ambassador in Philosophy to Russia and Hungary. He was the founding President of International Society for African Philosophy and Studies (ISAPS) and Editor of Caribbean Journal of Philosophy. He received his philosophical education at the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria). His publications include Beauty and Culture (2003), An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (2007), Narratives of Struggle (2012), Black Aesthetics (2013) and numerous academic essays in internationally recognized philosophy journals. He has lectured at University of Ife, Ogun State University, University of the West Indies, University of Botswana and Brooklyn College, where he was recently Jay Newman Endowed Professor of Philosophy of Culture. Munamato CHEMHURU teaches Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the Great Zimbabwe University in Masvingo: Zimbabwe. Currently, he is doing his Doctoral Studies in the area of African Environmental Philosophy with the University of Johannesburg: South Africa. His research interests are in the area of African Philosophy, Democracy, Human Rights, Civil Society, Good Governance and Justice. He has written several papers in Social and Political Philosophy and African Philosophy as well as in Environmental Philosophy. Segun GBADEGESIN (Ph. D.) is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at Howard University, Washington D. C. who has published widely on topics in African philosophy Thaddeus METZ (Ph. D.) is Humanities Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg, and is widely known for articulating and defending an African moral theory, a basic and general principle purporting to capture what all wrong actions have in common that is grounded on values salient among traditional black peoples below the Sahara. Metz has published more than two dozen papers on this topic in international forums, with recent essays arguing that an African moral theory is preferable to Western moral theories such as Kantianism, utilitarianism and contractualism. He has numerous publications in many learned journals and is the author of the book titled The Meaning of Life: An Analytic Study published by Oxford University Press. Motsamai MOLEFE is currently working for the Department of Philosophy at University of Johannesburg as a marker for undergraduate modules. He is also working for the Wits University Writing Centre as a writing consultant. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy with the University of Johannesburg. For his PhD, he is researching how differing meta-ethical stances affect ethical orientations. His research interests are in African Ethics and Political Philosophy. Isaac E. UKPOKOLO (Ph. D.) is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His current area of research is a critical examination of African cultural values and philosophy and has widely published in this area in learned journals. One of such recent publications is “Memories in Photography and Rebirth: Toward a Psychosocial Therapy of the Metaphysics of Reincarnation among Traditional Esan People of Southern Nigeria” in the Journal of Black Studies. Jim I. UNAH (Ph. D.) is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. He is specialized in ontology and has published widely in this area. Justina O. Ehiakhamen (Ph. D.) is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria. She is specialized in Ethics, Gender Philosophy, African Philosophy and Metaphysics. Elizabeth Oluwafunmilayo Kehinde (Ph. D.) lectures at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Nigeria. She is specialized in African philosophy and Social Philosophy Chris Tasie Osegewune lectures at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Nigeria. He has strong interest in the Philosophy of Development and African Philosophy. Sandra A. McCALLA is a teaches Philosophy in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. She has published articles in learned journals. She has strong interest in Ethics and Social Philosophy Elvis IMAFIDON teaches Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma Nigeria. He is currently doing his doctoral research at the University of Ibadan in the area of African ethics. He has a number of publications in learned journals touching on issues in Metaphysics, African Philosophy, Social Philosophy, and Philosophy of Science. He is also the founding editor, Critical Essays: A Graduate Journal of Philosophy INTRODUCTION Moral practice may show all degrees of ethical insight, and ethical theory all degrees of metaphysical illumination. What is here maintained is that, ultimately, no ethical theory can be adequate without the explicit statement of its metaphysical beliefs (Dorothy Walsh).1 There is a perennial