Force is the fundamental category defining existence and growth for the Muntu
Evidence
For Tempels, “force” is what characterizes things as they are. Existence is determined and seen in terms of “force”. For all things that exist there is a certain “force” that is attributed to each and every entity according to its kind. With each kind there is also a difference in the amount of “force” that exists in each and every individual. For example, two men will share in the general attribute of “force” by virtue of being human and men. However, these two men will not have the same “force”. The “force” that each individual will have depends on endowments each individual has as well as positions they hold in society and what they have achieved in their lives. For Tempels, the increase in “force” demonstrates the growth of an entity – that the entity is becoming more and more of what its type is supposed to be. This is particularly so for human beings, who are expected to become more human as they grow. Becoming is what all individuals aim at, and that becoming is through increase of “force”. “Force”, however, can be threatened by the agency of others. They can either diminish it or completely annihilate it through use of harmful entreaties to magic, herbs or other harmful forces. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 454
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Explains Tempels’s central concept of “force” as the defining attribute of all beings that grows with one’s achievements and can be diminished by others.
- XREF: Connects to later African philosophy debates about Tempels, including critiques from Kagame and postcolonial scholars.
Related
- Being-as-force means all entities can grow stronger or weaker, grounding Bantu moral life (similarity 0.86)
- In Tempels’s ontology, beings grow by increasing their vital force, which others can diminish. (similarity 0.86)
- Claiming force equals being makes the Bantu ontology a mere tautology (similarity 0.84)
- Bantu vital forces form a hierarchy from God down through ancestors to animals (similarity 0.83)
- Western and Bantu philosophies differ in static versus dynamic conceptions of being. (similarity 0.82)
- For the Bantu, force is not an attribute of beings but their very nature. (similarity 0.82)
- Bantu ontology is grounded in vital force rather than Being (similarity 0.82)
- Rendering Bantu being as mere possession of force misstates their ontology. (similarity 0.82)
- Bantu philosophy is the religious and ethical thought of the Bantu peoples. (similarity 0.82)
- For Bantu, being is inseparable from force, a transcendental unity Westerners can split (similarity 0.81)
- Tempels’s personhood idea is communitarian rather than a force thesis (similarity 0.81)
- Bantu ontology is holistic and unified through vital force, transcending Western dualisms (similarity 0.80)
- Tempels paired Western being with African force, a pairing critics call mystified. (similarity 0.80)
- Tempels equated African Vital Force with Western philosophical Being (similarity 0.79)
- Tempels equated African force with Western being and misconstrued its meaning (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Claiming force equals being makes the Bantu ontology a mere tautology
#responds-to(0.80) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 200 - Power grows as both the power-holder and the subjected gain freedom
#qualifies(0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 598 - Bantu personhood divides genuine humans (Muntu) from dehumanized ones (Kintu)
#epitomizes(0.70) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 649 - The fundamental form of power is defining reality
#expands(0.60) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 387