CHI: IN SEARCH FOR AN EXPLANATORY PRINCIPLE FOR THE INTERRELATEDNESS OF IGWEBUIKE PHILOSOPHY

Abstract  

This  work  is  a  search  for  the  basis  of  intersubjectivity  in  the  African  worldview conceptualized in Igwebuike philosophy. This piece found the basis of intersubjectivity of the African reality in Chi, which carries a variety of meanings among the Igbo-African people. However, the nuance of Chi that is employed here is that which understands it as 

the  divinity  in  every  human  person  or  the  spark  of  the  divine  in  created  things.  It understands Chi as the thumb print or mark of Chukwu in each and every one of us that places the other in a special place in relation to the self. This piece revealed that although Chi is a religious reality, it is conservative of the social institutions of the Igbo-African people.  If  I  and  the  other  have  the  thumb  print  of  the  same  Chukwu,  the  spark  of  the Supreme Being, it then means that we relate in a special way that goes deeper than our 

individualities. This work, therefore, argued that our rootedness in Chukwu through Chi is what makes the other a part of me. To treat the other in a way that is undeserving of the divine mark in him or her not only affects the person(s), but the ontological structure to which I also belong and, thus, myself. The importance of Chi in this study is that the 

belief in Chi is as universal to the Igbo-speaking people as the belief in Chukwu, and it is a  fundamental  and  outstanding  characteristic  of  Igbo  social  structure  and  collective temperament. For the purpose of  this study,  the Igwebuike holistic approach of inquiry was adopted.  Chi provides a central and  satisfying framework for the understanding of the interrelatedness and individuality of the Igbo-African reality. 

Keywords:  Chi,  Igwebuike,  Philosophy,  Intersubjectivity,  Igbo-African, Explanatory Principle