Ifeanyi Menkiti
Nigerian philosopher and poet: one is not born fully a person, one becomes one through incorporation into the community.
Life
Nigerian philosopher and poet (1940-2019), for many years a professor at Wellesley College (United States). His 1984 essay contrasts the Western view of the person, based on the individual's capacities, with an African view in which one becomes a person through incorporation into the community and the fulfilment of its duties. He matters for the question of identity.
Main works
Argues that personhood is acquired in stages within the community.
Restates and refines his thesis of the person as a moral status to be achieved.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceA person becomes fully a person by fulfilling the obligations attached to their social roles.
Menkiti, Person and Community in African Traditional Thought (1984)
Life is a progress toward full personhood, reached by taking part in the community and its rites.
Menkiti, Person and Community in African Traditional Thought (1984)
Personhood is gained by taking part in community life, so the community has priority over the individual.
Menkiti, Person and Community in African Traditional Thought (1984)