In Bantu ontology vital force is a zero-sum communal energy

Evidence

All elements, from spirits to matter, are in relation to each other, participating within the same eternal vital force. The Supreme Being is the creator and source of it all. This Supreme Being is a deus otiosus, meaning a resting, inactive God, who is truly the source of all vital forces, but will not directly intervene in everyday life. … In this religious universe, the vital force is a communal movement. When one element gains in vital energy, another element will be less. An increase or decrease of vital force is determined by (respective) good or bad actions within the relationship with another or with something. … When a person gets sick, she, he or they will lose vital force, which is taken by someone else. In this way, sickness, dying and unhappiness are explained ontologically, which also has consequences for guilt and sins. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 813

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines deus otiosus — the resting, non-intervening creator God.
• QUESTION: How is a ‘communal’ vital force simultaneously zero-sum? That tension deserves chasing through the rest of the book.
• XREF: The zero-sum vital force economy echoes earlier chapters in this same volume likely covering Tempels’ own text closely.