Comparing some Traditional Western and African Conceptions of Personhood

Abstract

This paper discusses the comparisons that have been made between traditional African and Western thoughts on the communitarian vis-à-vis individualistic conceptions of personhood where some dissimilarity between the two conceptions has been highlighted. While there has been a lot of emphasis on the dissimilarity that allegedly exists between the two camps, there has not been much discussion on the similarities or common features that may exist between the two camps regarding the concept of personhood. Focusing on a selected number of scholars, this paper discusses the comparisons that have been made between the traditional African and Western thoughts on the concept of personhood with a view to exploring if any similarities or areas of convergence exist between the two. The paper concludes that in addition to the differences in thought between the two camps on the concept of personhood, there are also some similarities that are worth noting.