Deducing Individualism in African Society Through the Study of Language

Abstract

The chapter examines traits of individualism in ordinary language use in the African thought. Although it is commonly argued that individualism is Western, the chapter shows that, individualism was practiced by some Africans even before the coming of the Western colonialists. Through the study of language in the African context, it deduces traits of individualism relative to ownership of private property, self-realisation, self-awareness, etc. The chapter confirms the philosophical hypothesis that African thought has both communitarian and individualist orientations.