Peer-Reviewed Article December 31, 2005
A Naturalistic Interpretation of the Yoruba Concepts of Ori
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Published in: Philosophia Africana
Publisher: DePaul University • South Africa • 1539-8250 • 1944-7914
Abstract
Ori is a central concept in Yoruba-language conception of human personality.' The Yoruba are said to believe that the personality of each individual is predetertnined Ori. In this paper, I aim to show that the available accounts of Ori constitute an inadequate explanation of this determinism—what is popularly translated as destiny—in Yoruba thought. In place of the spiritualistic predetermination of personality implied in the idea of destiny, I wish to offer a naturalistic, humanistic account of Ori.