John S. Mbiti
Kenyan theologian and philosopher: the individual exists only through the group, "I am because we are".
Life
Kenyan theologian and philosopher (1931-2019), an Anglican priest who taught in Uganda and then in Switzerland. His book on African religions and philosophy brought African thought to a wide readership. In it he describes a conception of time oriented toward the past and the idea that the individual exists through the group: "I am because we are". He matters for the questions on identity and time.
Main works
Presents the view of the world, time and the person in traditional African religions.
Studies the names and ideas of God among many African peoples.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHe holds that God exists, and argues that African peoples have long known a supreme God who made and sustains the world.
Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (1969)
Morality is the way of living of the community, learned and kept through its customs.
Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (1969)
In the African thought he describes, the individual exists only through the group: "I am, because we are".
Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (1969)