African Witchcraft and Otherness

Elias Kifon Bongmba

Description

This work of African philosophy and theology uses the thought of Emmanuel Levinas to provide an analysis of tfu (witchcraft) among the Wimbum people of Cameroon along with a critique of intersubjective relations. Taking an approach he calls "critical contextualism," author Elias Bongmba employs Levinas's philosophy, particularly the concept of the Other, to engage in cross-cultural philosophy that does not destroy the perspective of the culture under study. Insights from anthropology, African studies, and the author's own experiences are also important throughout the book. Bongmba discusses the cultural background of the Wimbum people and explores the concepts and terms used to discuss the acquisition of several categories of power generally described as tfu. Bongmba argues that when properly explored and understood, these terms refer to complex practices that involve power that can be used for good and power that can be abused. Drawing from Levinas, the author demonstrates that negative use of tfu constitutes a totalizing praxis. He goes on to endorse Levinas's call for a phenomenology of eros as a way of reconfiguring interpersonal relationships.
Acknowledgments

Maps

Preface

Chapter 1. The Wimbum People

Chapter 2. Toward a Hermeneutics of Wimbum Tfu

Chapter 3. Beyond the Rationality Debate to Contextual Ethics

Chapter 4. Levinas on the Ethics of the Other

Chapter 5. Toward a Philosophical and Theological Critique of Tfu

Conclusion

Notes

Appendix: Different Levels of Tfu Knowledge

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Lycée
• Philosophie
• Philosophie
• Éthique et morale
• Religion
• Christianisme
• Ethique et morale
• Christianity
• Theology

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 21 janvier 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791490501
• Langue: English

Extrait

African Witchcraft and Otherness

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African Witchcraft and Otherness A Philosophical and Theological Critique of Intersubjective Relations

Elias Kifon Bongmba

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2001 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, N.Y. 12207

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bongmba, Elias Kifon, 1953– African witchcraft and otherness : a philosophical and theological critique of intersubjective relations / Elias Kifon Bongmba. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-4989-0 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-4990-4 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Witchcraft—Cameroon—Donga and Mantung. 2. Limbum (African people)—Religion. 3. Interpersonal relations—Moral and ethical aspects—Cameroon—Donga and Mantung. 4. Lâvinas, Emmanuel— Ethics. 5. Donga and Mantung (Cameroon)—Religious life and customs. I. Title.

BF1584.C17 Z7 2001 133.4'3'096711—dc21

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Dedication

To my parents Johaness Bongmba and Monica Munkeng and My children Donald Afanyui, Dino Kong, and Douglas Ginyui

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Acknowledgments Maps Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Contents

The Wimbum People

Toward a Hermeneutics of WimbumTfu

Beyond the Rationality Debate to Contextual Ethics

Levinas on the Ethics of the Other

Toward a Philosophical and Theological Critique ofTfu

Conclusion Notes Appendix: Different Levels ofTfu Knowledge Glossary Selected Bibliography Index

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the following for permission to quote from their publications: University of Pennsylvania, to quote fromBeyond Objectivism and Relativism, 1988; Indiana University Press, for quotations fromThe Invention of Africa, 1988; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, for quotations fromGod the Mystery of the World; Oxford University Press, for quotations fromLove, Power and Justice; and Duquesne University Press, for quotations from Totality and InfinityandTime and the Other.

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