OSUDENIGRATION IN IGBO LAND AND GABRIEL MARCEL'S ETHIC OF INTERRELATIONS

Abstract

The human person is a product of interrelations. From the very beginning, he is wired to live in close communication with fellowmen in the society; hence, the saying, "No man is an Island." Even though no man is an Island, there is yet a very unsettling, vocal, and strong force natural to all men that pushes man to assert his ego- the "I" and seek his interest 'alone' in whatever he does. This drive left untamed, makes man worse than a demented beast. In this lies the challenge in contracting and maintaining a mutually beneficial human relationship, even in marriage. Gabriel Marcel saw this challenge and proffered a solution to it in his ethic of interrelations. To maintain balanced subject-subject relations Marcel posits that the ego must be tamed and made to see the interests of the 'other' as its interests. This article studies Marcel's philosophy of dialogue. It employs Marcel's viewpoint to resolve the age-long denigrative practice of the Osu Caste System in Igbo land. The article finds that the denigration suffered by the Osu is a consequence of a subconscious lapse in the Igbo mentality that led to the equalization of the Osu's being to that of a mere 'dirty' animal that must be avoided always. Marcel's ethic of interrelations can restore the damages due to this 'subconscious lapse' if imbibed by the Igbo.