“An in-depth analysis would show that the African is dominated by his social relations, because they reinforce his equilibrium, his personality, and his being.” “It is therefore correct that the individualist or communal superstructures are transitory and that they evolve in relation to the material conditions that brought them into existence? Put another way, all the specific traits of the African societies analyzed in [Cultural Unity of Black Africa] have no permanence; they are very profound traits, but they are not fixed forever. Nature, the material conditions that forged them, can reshape them by changing themselves; thus, I do not plead for a petrified African psychological nature; the sense of solidarity so dear to the African could very well give way to an individualistic, egocentric behavior of the Western type, if conditions were modified.” “It is no less true that today we are witnessing a hypertrophy of the individualistic structures in Europe and the opposite in Africa to the extent that, if Western neuroses come from the former, those of Africa could be linked to the excess of communal life, which erases even the boundary of private life.” “However, it is important to distinguish two components of the Western malaise: “The one, of individualistic and social origin, is mentioned above, and here lies the African contribution, and vice versa.” “And the other, of a metaphysical nature, is a result of scientific progress and of the development of philosophical thought.” “The discovery of spatial-temporal infinity during the Renaissance (Galileo, Copernicus) and the decline of Western religious faith, mainly since Nietzsche, have brought about the metaphysical malaise that characterizes all of modern Western thought, by "suddenly" putting man face to face with himself, with his destiny.” Cheikh Anta Diop “Civilization Or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology” Page 362
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:41:09 +0000
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