On the Interconnectedness of African Cosmology: A Study of Some Metaphysical Elements in Igbo-African Worldview

Resumen

An Africa worldview is the African definition of reality. The African believes that there is a metaphysical explanation for everything. Hence the African ontology is ultimately concerned with both the physical and the spiritual worlds as the two are intrinsically related and connected. In fact, indigenous peoples across Africa have traditionally lived in a world that honours life as a deeply interconnected whole. The aim of this paper is to explicate some African concepts of interconnectedness, which is misinterpreted by scholars in order to provide a relevant, local, conceptual grounding for this initiative. This study focuses onIgboAfrica with special reference to Nsukka cultural groupings. It finds that the fact of interconnectedness informs the definition of life and values in Africa. Life is cyclical as death is never regarded as a necessary end without qualifications. For this reason, there is a soteriological side to life; the ultimate soteriological goal being the aspiration to become an ancestor in the afterlife. Because of its interconnectedness with the tenets of morality, therefore, moral praxis affects the realization of this goal. The identification of ethical values, meanwhile, is influenced by firm belief and practices safeguarding the sanctity of life which, among other things, is promoted by good neighbourliness, truthfulness, and respect. Analytic methodof research was adopted.