Scholarly Works
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/363
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Item Orı́ and neuroscience: a ontextualization of the Yoruba idea of causality in the age of modern science(2018-11) Gbadamosi, O. A.This paper examines the submission of neuroscience on freewill within the religious and cultural contexts of the Yoruba in South-western Nigeria. The findings of neuroscience are juxtaposed with the concept of Orı́, with a view to finding how these scientific and religio-cultural lines of determinism can be compatible with the concept of freedom today. The study adopts the hylomorphic theory of Bolaji Idowu, which posits that woman is ara (body) plus ẹ̀mı́ (spirit).Item Humans or machines? scientific determinism within the context of Yoruba human ontology(2022) Gbadamosi, O. A.Freewill has been a subject of intense study in the history of philosophy, this revolves around the debate that are humans free or are their actions determined? While there has been a lot of questions on the nature of human will, the search for answers remains relevant in contemporary studies as seen in the entrance of neuroscience to this quest. Neuroscience, in the study of the human will arrived at a conclusion based on empirical studies that freewill is an illusion because the human will is determined by cerebral activities. The discovery in the field of neuroscience therefore challenges the traditional belief about freewill and our beliefs that humans are in full control of their will. This submission indicated that human decisions for actions were initiated before humans became aware of them, that is, likening humans to machines, thereby creating a lacuna especially within the Yoruba religious and cultural contexts. This study therefore, interrogated the position of neuroscience on the human will by focusing on how scientific determinism can be viewed from the Yoruba worldview. Scientific determinism evident in the field of neuroscience was examined with a view to situating the findings of neuroscience on human will within the context of Yoruba human ontology.Item A re-visit to the concept of freewill and ideas of causality in Yoruba religion(Ibadan University Press Publishing House, University of Ibadan Ibadan, Nigeria, 2016) Gbadamosi, O. A.The issue of human will has been a subject of much debate in the history of philosophy and within religious circles over the Centuries. This paper examines the subject of freewill and ideas of causality in the indigenous religion of the Yoruba. Ideas of causality feature prominently in the belief Systems of Yoruba religion expressed in the concepts of Ori, Irawo, Ipin, Ogo, Kadara, Akunlegba, Akunleyan and Ayanmo and other similar ideas revolving around determinism. These ideas of causality lead to a hasty conclusion in most cases that freewill does not exist among the Yoruba. Insisting that there is no freewill has serious implications within a practical milieu especially because of individual responsibility for actions. This paper is a departure from the notion that there is no freewill among the Yoruba. This is done by discussing the meaning of freewill with a view to finding a definition suitable in the Yoruba religious contexts which is clearly different from the Western idea of freewill. This paper also discusses how the concept of freewill and issues related to determinism feature in Yoruba beliefs. This paper employs the Compatibilism theory, the current name for William James’ “soft" determinism, which is the logically contradictory notion that free will is compatible with determinism. This is done with a view to drawing the conclusion that freewill exists among the Yoruba in spite of the established ideas of causality.