Towards an African Philosophy of Environment

Year 2019, Volume: 2 Issue: 3 - Advancing African Environmental Ethics, 105 - 108, 01.07.2019

Timothy Okpe Friday Oti

Abstract

Unlike mainstream Western ethics, African environmental ethics recognizes the interconnectedness and interdependence of all beings than individuality of being. This implies that Africans have often lived in peace and harmony with nature, realizing that the environment is keyed to life and that everything possesses intrinsic value. It is on the strength of the prevailing observations that this paper is geared toward unraveling African philosophy of environment and in the process argued that Africans indeed do have a philosophy of environment due to their respect and oneness to both the living and nonliving components within the ecosystem. This paper employs the method of exposition, critical analysis as well as argumentation to prove that indeed, Africans have good intentions of taking care of the environment and not abuse it. This is evident in some of their cultural heritage where during some planting seasons, some lands are left fallow for some years to avoid excessive use that leads to erosion, also, many forests and groves are tagged ‘taboo’ to scare away people in order to preserve them as well as the other non-humans beings in the forest.

Keywords

African, Environmental Ethics, African Ontology

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