The Notion of ⟪Flesh⟫ in Vitalogical Thought. Elements for a Phenomenology in African Thought

This article aims to elucidate the concept of flesh from the perspective of vitalogical thought. The goal is to explain how vitalogical thought conceive of flesh as a revelation of concrete life. This effectiveness is made possible by the vital force, the life-principle of everything created. This vital force makes possible the symbiosis, the participation and the solidarity of all being. By means of this force, we understand not only the indissoluble relationship, even the undifferentiation between subject and object, but also the sense of community. By this dimension the subject discovers his sexual being and filiation. Thus, the attempt to understand the notion of << flesh >> implies grasping the ontological structure of subjectivity in African thought: relational ontological structure of being with the world, others and God. The flesh reveals us as being incarnate in the world. It is the self-revelation of oneself which reveals himself through the mediation of the other.