THE HUMAN PERSON IN YORUBA CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

The question: who is a human person? has remained a perennial question in the study of philosophy and religion. In spite of the fact of the establishment of the fact that the human person is an individual substance of a rational nature, different cultures continue to reflect on the question of the human person from the particularity and peculiarity of their cultural category. Thus, this paper investigates the concept of the human person from the perspective of the Yoruba people. The Yoruba believe that a human person consist of a body, which is physical, and a soul which is spiritual. At creation, Yoruba mythology of creation has it that Olodumare worked in collaboration with some gods to bring the human person into existence. These gods are Orisanla (God of creation) who was responsible for molding the body, Ogun (God of iron) was the beautifier; who for example cut the hands into fingers and Olodumare gave the soul. This paper is aimed at giving an explanation to what makes a human person among the Yoruba. For the purpose of this study, the phenomenological method of inquiry would be employed.