“CITY BEFORE SELF”: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PLUTARCH’S ETHICAL - POLITICAL THOUGHT AND IGWEBUIKE COMMUNAL PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

This paper studies some aspects of Plutarch’s ethical- political thought in comparison with the Igwebuike philosophy. So, it exposes, on the one hand, how Plutarch insists on the need for citizens, especially those involved in politics to seek first the good of the community and give priority to the progress of society above personal achievements. On the other hand, the paper presents the communitarian/communal view that springs from the Igwebuike understanding of life in the community. We present the positions of various African thinkers who reason along the line of this worldview to establish that community does have pride of place in the African conception of life together. The last step in this study is a synthesis of Plutarch’s ideas and the Igwebuike philosophy. We discover that mutatis mutandis, what Plutarch advocates for his Greek compatriots, constitutes the underlining principle of the Igwebuike worldview. Moreover, this confirms the universality of this emerging trend in African philosophy.