Being and Force; towards a Unified View

Abstract

Bantu Philosophy’ is classified among works in the ethno-philosophical tradition; it is the philosophical interpretation of cultural symbols and practices. Its metaphysical content is of value in African cosmology and also contributes to an understanding of ‘being’ in general. Aristotle and the medieval philosophers have given different opinions about what metaphysics is all about. They have opined that it is “the attempt to identify the first causes, in particular, God or the Unmoved Mover. Also, they conceive of it as the very general science of being qua being.” Many people find themselves frustrated by the inability of science to provide answers to some of the deepest questions of life. Sense experience for instance is obviously inadequate in responding to some of the questions that confront man on daily basis. So, metaphysics seeks to answer questions for which sense experience is incapable of providing answers for instance, questions about vital forces and the implication of the interaction of these forces in African world view. Metaphysics is an analysis which reveals the essential elements of reality and what reality must be like for us to be able to know it.