Being Human, Existence and Enlightenment in Classical Ethiopian Philosophy

Abstract

What is being human? Is a human being a bare static natural phenomenon determined by his essence and or a dynamic reality of transformation? Zär’a Ya’ǝqob’s prayer “O my Lord and my creator, who endowed me with reason, make me intelligent…” seems a clue that the being human is a journey. “O man, if you want to cast off the man of old, adjust your body to the narrower door that leads to life, and you will become a new man” Fisalgwos advises the rejuvenation of the human self. In the invitation to The Book of The Wise Philosophers, the 15th Century Monk, Aba Michael stresses the values of the wisdom of the philosophers. Nothing in the world so precious and marvelous can afford it; “it is a thing of value”, the development of conscience, for our enlightenment, the friend for our lifetime consolation. Being wise and enlightenment are the natural and nurtured conditions of being human.  How the lines from the Ethiopic version of the Oedipus story (The Life and Maxims of Skǝndǝs) flesh light on the philosophical questions of being human, existence and enlightenment? The human being endowed with the immortal soul and moral responsibility is exalted above irrational animals; but this is true only when he lives an examined life (Wäldä Hɘywät). Another contribution to our query in search of genuine human in Ethiopian philosophy. This article is a philosophical deliberation on the personalist view of the world, human being, the meaning of life and human enlightenment from the pages of Sumner’s ‘Classical Ethiopian Philosophy’.