Chapter 6
Conceptions of the make-up of a human person in Ewe
Humans everywhere construct ethnopsychological models of
a person which involves a physical body and non-physical aspects. There is
variation in how the non-physical parts of a person are construed.
Invariably, it is assumed that this other part is “invisible inside” (Goddard, 2018, p. 168; Levisen, 2017; Peeters, 2019a). The
question of what the components of a human person in African culture(s) are
has been discussed, and debated in the literature (see e.g., Cotzee &
Roux, 2004). In this paper, I examine the conceptual model of a person in
Ewe communities of practice in West Africa through the prism of language and
the meanings of the terms for the ethnopsychological constructs of a
person.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Setting the scene
- 2.1Some anthropological views on personhood in Africa
- 2.2Debates from African philosophy on personhood
- 2.3The cultural semantics of the components of a person
- 3.Ewe views on the make-up of a person
- 3.1Background: How persons come into the world
- 3.2The structural components of a person
- 3.3Ewe ethnopsychological personhood constructs
- 3.3.1“Soul”-like components
- What is Luʋɔ?
- What is gbɔgbɔ?
- 3.3.2“Destiny”-like components
- What is Gbetsi?
- What is Sé?
- What is aklama?
- 4.Concluding remarks
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Acknowledgements
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Notes
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Abbreviations
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References