Book Review: Ifa In Yoruba Thought System by Omotade Adegbindin

    Previous scholars of Ifá have conveyed an impression that Ifá is a characteristic social institution with only religious, ethnographical and sociological significance. In fact, Ifá has been greatly misconceived as a mere religious and mythic discourse, devoid of any meaningful philosophical import. There is also the misconception that Ifá is now largely anachronistic. In Ifá in Yorùbá Thought System, the author shows that an adequate understanding of a text requires a transition from the manifest to the latent meaning and, therefore, analyses the Ifá literary corpus with a view to identifying the aspects of Ifá that are of philosophic relevance. He shows that fundamental philosophical issues, including nature of reality, knowledge, human conduct are embedded in Ifá. With reflective interpretation of an appreciable number of Ifá verses, the author also examines the utilitarian functions of Ifá, offers good insight into important political ideas and values that are relevant to much of the political challenges in contemporary society and how scientific and technological development can be enhanced within the context of the Yorùbá oral tradition. In all, this book shows that the Ifá literary corpus, as a complete philosophy, has the prospect of providing a firm ground for the resolution of some of the pressing problems confronting contemporary societies.

     This book is part of the African World Series, edited by Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities, University of Texas at Austin.

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Ifa In Yoruba Thought System is a great read that extends our perspective on Ifa and how Ifa as a cultural spirituality relates to “philosophy”. In this book, Omotade Adegbindin covers ontology, epistemology, and ethics in the Ifa Corpus. He also explores both literacy and the development crisis in Africa from an Ifa perspective, which he supports with Odu Ifa. I believe this book is a great contribution to the Ifa World Community and hope that there are more works like this to come.

*** If you are interested in Ifa In Yoruba Thought System you may also want to download: The Problems Of Gerontocracy In Africa: The Yoruba Perspective As Illustrated In Ifa Corpus by Omotade Adegbindin

Mark "Born Divine" Anthony (Ifasalewa)
egbe Ogun si wa | ATL