Tempels may have invented the Luba force concept absent any equivalent word

Evidence

To show that such a misconception could have existed, we find that Tempels was unable to find an equivalent word to “force” in Luba. This failure is significant and points to something ominous. Could it be the case that Tempels freely invented “force” for the purposes of ensuring that the Bantu have a philosophy? Or, was he more interested in ensuring that the philosophy that the Bantu eventually ended up with was opaque? I do not think that it is possible to answer these questions with any degree of certainty, since a reliable answer will require a psychological evaluation of Tempels’s unstated aims. This, of course, is not only beyond my current concern but also likely to be an impossible inquiry. — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 457

Categorization

• QUESTION: The unresolved question of whether a foundational concept of African philosophy was an outside imposition stays live; worth chasing Kaphagawani’s language evidence.