IDEAL INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

In this article, we argued that orality serves as the basis for some metaphysical ideas in African philosophy. The reason for this claim is based on the realization that oral tradition such as myths and proverbs have served as means through which Africans have preserved and transmitted original ideas. Incidentally, efforts have been adduced mainly to the mythical and proverbial characters of orality without almost no effort to move beyond these and extrapolate some philosophical doctrines enshrined within them, hence the contention of this article. Through the method of hermeneutical analysis, the present article examines some elements of oral tradition that have inherent metaphysical undertone using Igbo society as paradigm. This will be done in three stages: First, we articulate metaphysics in Africa and discuss in details what oral tradition means for Africans. Second, we make a case for oral traditions/literatures such as proverbs and myths in Africa to offer insightful information over how reality is comprehended among Africans and its relevance to contemporary times. Finally, we assess oral tradition to articulate how proverbs and myths demonstrate their metaphysical ideas and its implications for explaining reality in African philosophy. We contend that these two elements (proverb and myths) shared relational theory in pristine Africa that supply reliable data for developing authentic metaphysical ideas in African philosophy.

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