Ancestral existence and the mind’s afterlife

Flikschuh, Katrin ORCID: 0000-0002-4585-6844 (2024) Ancestral existence and the mind’s afterlife. Philosophia Africana, 23 (1). 76 - 95. ISSN 1539-8250

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Abstract

This article examines Oyowe’s highly distinctive socio-ontological account of ancestral existence. According to Oyowe, ancestors are intentional objects. Ancestors thus constitute a social kind and are ontologically distinct from natural kinds. The article critiques and rejects Oyowe’s distinction between social and natural kinds. The article then goes on to outline a possible alternative approach that draws on quasi-materialist and pan-psychic metaphysics to argue that ancestors exist as a natural kind—more specifically, ancestral existence consists in the this-worldly survival of the mentalistic aspects of a human person’s biological death. Throughout, the article is concerned with the rationality of belief in ancestral existence rather than with their de facto existence as such.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2024 10:21
Last Modified:	11 Sep 2025 12:10
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/126157

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