The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: Discourse about Values in Yoruba Culture

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Discourse about Values in Yoruba Culture

Barry Hallen

Reveals everyday language as the key to understanding morals and ethics in Yoruba culture.

"This contrasts with any suggestion that in Yoruba or, more generally, African society, moral thinking manifests nothing much more than a supine acquiescence in long established communal values.... Hallen renders a great service to African philosophy." --Kwasi Wiredu

In Yoruba culture, morality and moral values are intimately linked to aesthetics. The purest expression of beauty, at least for human beings, is to possess good moral character. But how is moral character judged? How do actions, and especially words, reveal good moral character in a culture that is still significantly based on oral tradition? In this original and intimate look at Yoruba culture, Barry Hallen asks the Yoruba onisegun--the wisest and most accomplished herbalists or traditional healers, individuals justly reputed to be well versed in Yoruba thought and expression--what it means to be good and beautiful. Posed as an outsider wanting to gain understanding of how to speak Yoruba correctly, Hallen engages the onisegun and has them explain the subtleties and intricacies of Yoruba language use and the philosophy behind particular word choices. Their instructions reveal a striking and profound depiction of Yoruba aesthetic and ethical thought. The detailed interpretations of everyday language that Hallen supplies challenge prevailing Western views that African thought is nothing more than acquiescence to long-established religious or communal values. The philosophy of ordinary language reveals that moral reflection is indeed individual and that evaluations of action and character take place on the basis of clearly and logically delineated criteria. With the onisegun as his guides, Hallen identifies the priorities of Yoruba philosophy and culture through everyday expression and shows that there are rational pathways to both truth and beauty.

Barry Hallen has taught philosophy at the Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife) in Nigeria. He is a Fellow at the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Morehouse College. He is coauthor (with J. Olubi Sodipo) of Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft: Analytic Experiments in African Philosophy.

Contents

Ordinary Language and African Philosophy

Moral Epistemology

Me, My Self, and My Destiny

The Good and the Bad

The Beautiful

Rationality, Individuality, Secularity, and the Proverbial

Appendix of Yoruba-Language Quotations

Glossary of Yoruba Terms

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

Discourse about Values inYoruba Culture

Barry Hallen

Reveals everyday language asthe key to understanding morals and ethics in Yorubaculture.

This contrasts with any suggestion that in Yoruba or, more generally, African society, moral thinking manifests nothing much more than asupine acquiescence in long established communal values.... Hallen renders a greatservice to African philosophy. -- Kwasi Wiredu

In Yoruba culture, morality and moral values are intimately linked to aesthetics. The purest expressionof beauty, at least for human beings, is to possess good moral character. But how ismoral character judged? How do actions, and especially words, reveal good moralcharacter in a culture that is still significantly based on oral tradition? In thisoriginal and intimate look at Yoruba culture, Barry Hallen asks the Yoruba onisegun-- the wisest and most accomplished herbalists or traditional healers, individualsjustly reputed to be well versed in Yoruba thought and expression -- what it meansto be good and beautiful. Posed as an outsider wanting to gain understanding of howto speak Yoruba correctly, Hallen engages the onisegun and has them explain thesubtleties and intricacies of Yoruba language use and the philosophy behindparticular word choices. Their instructions reveal a striking and profound depictionof Yoruba aesthetic and ethical thought. The detailed interpretations of everydaylanguage that Hallen supplies challenge prevailing Western views that Africanthought is nothing more than acquiescence to long-established religious or communalvalues. The philosophy of ordinary language reveals that moral reflection is indeedindividual and that evaluations of action and character take place on the basis ofclearly and logically delineated criteria. With the onisegun as his guides, Hallenidentifies the priorities of Yoruba philosophy and culture through everydayexpression and shows that there are rational pathways to both truth andbeauty.

Barry Hallen has taught philosophy at the Obafemi AwolowoUniversity (formerly University of Ife) in Nigeria. He is a Fellow at the W. E. B.DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University and VisitingProfessor of Philosophy at Morehouse College. He is coauthor (with J. Olubi Sodipo)of Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft: Analytic Experiments in AfricanPhilosophy.

Contents

Ordinary Language and AfricanPhilosophy

Moral Epistemology

Me, My Self, and MyDestiny

The Good and the Bad

The Beautiful

Rationality, Individuality, Secularity, and the Proverbial

Appendix of Yoruba-LanguageQuotations

Glossary of Yoruba Terms

Barry Hallen has taught philosophy at the University of Ile-Ife in Nigeria. He is a Fellow at the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Morehouse College. He is co-author (with J. Olubi Sodipo) of Knowledge, Belief, and Witchcraft: Analytic Experiments in African Philosophy.

Preliminary Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments

A Note on Translation

1. Ordinary Language and African Philosophy

2. Moral Epistemology

3. Me, My Self, and My Destiny

4. The Good and the Bad

5. The Beautiful

6. Rationality, Individuality, Secularity, and the Proverbial

Appendix of Yoruba-Language Quotations

Glossary of Yoruba Terms

Bibliography

Index