JATREP - Journal of African Traditional Religion and Philosophy

The question of human subjectivity has occupied the human mind from time immemorial. Different religions, cultures, fields of study, and human endeavour have conceived subjectivity in varying ways, each reflecting the way a particular group understands the human person, the dynamics of interaction among human persons, their place amidst, and relative to, other created realities and sometimes the supernatural beings and forces. Opinions range from those who conceive subjectivity in isolationist, purely rationalistic, and ideational terms to those who see relationality as an ontological ground for subjectivity. From philosophical and religious viewpoints, the Igbo understand the human person in uncompromisingly relational terms. For them, to be is to be in relation. To exist is to coexist relationally. Relationality, therefore, appears to be the ground for authentic existence and realistic co-existence. This paper aims at examining how, for the Igbo, human subjectivity is nothing less than relational subjectivity, both from the philosophical and religious points of view. To achieve this aim, the paper will examine the concept of relationality in the western philosophical tradition, with special reference to the relational turn exemplified in the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas. It will also examine relationality in Christian theology and psychoanalysis. This is intended to bring the reader into some level of conceptual clarity before this concept is examined in the light of Igbo religion and philosophy. In sum, the paper brings to light three major affirmations, viz. a) the definite turn to relationality witnessed in the West was not witnessed in Igbo thought, because the Igbo have never thought about the human person in non-relational or isolationist terms; b) the ontological relationality entailed in Igbo concept of human subjectivity touches human relationship with created realities, with the Supreme Being, and with other supernatural beings and forces in the Igbo universe; c) relationality can be a strong resource in forging a united society built on love, communalism, peace, and togetherness.

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