Bantu vital forces form a hierarchy from God down through ancestors to animals

Evidence

This philosophy is ontology of vital forces. In the history of Western philosophy, starting from the Pre-Socratic philosophers, the nature of reality has been described in terms of a static conception of being, by the use of set phrases such as “the reality that is,” “anything that exists,” or “what is.” This may be largely so in Western philosophy, but it is not universally so. Tempels does not accept this static conception of being. Instead, he attributes to the Bantu a dynamic conception of being, an ontology in which being is conceived as “vital force” The universe can be described as an interrelation of forces within the whole of existence. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 526 (#expands, via linked claim)

This ontology is related to both a spiritual as well as a material world, and these could be discerned, but they are not separate. The Bantu philosophy is a holistic way of thinking, starting from the idea that all life experiences are being determined by the totality of vital force. The holistic paradigm goes beyond typical Western dichotomies, such as spirit and matter, transcendent and immanent, visible and invisible. Characteristic of Bantu philosophical concepts is an ontology vitally connected to a Supreme Being, ancestor spirits, living beings, animals, plants and matter. They all exist in a universe of vital force, whose origin is religious. As Tempels stated: “Force is the nature of being, force is being, being is force” (Tempels, 1969, p. 51). — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 812 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bantu ontology is grounded in vital force rather than Being — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 526; Bantu ontology is holistic and unified through vital force, transcending Western dualisms — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 812; Bantu philosophy is the religious and ethical thought of the Bantu peoples. (+2 more)

Related

• Bantu ontology is holistic and unified through vital force, transcending Western dualisms (similarity 0.93)
• Bantu ontology is grounded in vital force rather than Being (similarity 0.93)
• Bantu philosophy is the religious and ethical thought of the Bantu peoples. (similarity 0.92)
• Claiming force equals being makes the Bantu ontology a mere tautology (similarity 0.89)
• Western ontology and African vitalogy can engage in reciprocal dialogue (similarity 0.88)
• Tempels equated African Vital Force with Western philosophical Being (similarity 0.88)
• Western and Bantu philosophies differ in static versus dynamic conceptions of being. (similarity 0.87)
• Vital forces form a descending hierarchy from God through ancestors to inanimate world (similarity 0.86)
• Tempels grounded African activity in a life-based ontology, not a Being-based one. (similarity 0.85)
• The doctrine of Vital Force unites Western Being and African Life (similarity 0.84)
• Bantu philosophy is religious and holistic with no religion-nonreligion dualism (similarity 0.84)
• Tempels equated African force with Western being and misconstrued its meaning (similarity 0.84)
• For the Bantu, force is not an attribute of beings but their very nature. (similarity 0.84)
• For Bantu, being is inseparable from force, a transcendental unity Westerners can split (similarity 0.83)
• Tempels paired Western being with African force, a pairing critics call mystified. (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Bantu ontology is grounded in vital force rather than Being #expands (0.80) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 526
• Bantu ontology is holistic and unified through vital force, transcending Western dualisms #expands (0.70) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 812
• Vital force makes African civilisation a culture of relations with nature and the divine #expands (0.60)
• Bantu philosophy is the religious and ethical thought of the Bantu peoples. #expands (0.50)
• African religion answers ancestors’ concrete existential questions. #exemplifies (0.40) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 161