Indigenous African Jurisprudential Thoughts on the Concept of Justice

A Reconstruction Through Yoruba Proverbs

Bibliographic Data

ID16767923
AuthorsJacob O Arowosegbe (0000-0002-8233-1262, Osun State University, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume61
Issue2
Pages155-170
Publication date2017-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of African Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0221-8553 • E-ISSN: 1464-3731
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/s0021855317000183
OpenAlexW2729105906
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

The absence of writing in pre-colonial Africa has often befuddled indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts about law and related concepts. This article attempts a reconstruction of indigenous African jurisprudential thoughts on the concept of justice through a prescriptive exploration of Yoruba proverbs. This attempt reveals inter alia the reconciliatory and metaphysical nature and character of justice, as well as the goals of punishment and the character and nature of a desirable judicial system in African thoughts. While noting the artificiality of the categorizations adopted for the reconstruction, the author cautions that, although it may be necessary to compare the indigenous African conceptions of justice with similar postulations in western jurisprudence, the true value of the former lies in their proper understanding and appreciation within the indigenous African setting, as doing otherwise might lead to contradictions and absurdities

Artificiality · Colonialism · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Indigenous · Jurisprudence · Linguistics · Metaphysics · Political science · Punishment (psychology) · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Yoruba · Comparative and International Law Studies · Ecology · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Legal Issues in South Africa · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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