A REVIEW OF BELONGINGNESS: A DEFINITIVE METAPHYSICAL PRINCIPLE IN AFRICAN COMMUNALISM BY DR JUDE IFEANYI ONEBUNNE

Abstract

The question, 'what is being?' is one of the fundamental enquiries within the parameters of
metaphysics. This becomes very important since metaphysics as a branch of philosophy is
concerned with the totality of being in its nature and structure. Since the emergence of
African philosophy as a discipline, African thinkers have questioned the nature of being.
Iroegbu tried to understand being within the context of belongingness. He defines
belongingness as 'the synthesis of the reality and experience of belongingness'. In this case,
the recipient-subject of belonging is involved: something belongs and it belongs to
something. Belongingness is a special noun from the verb 'to belong'. It means to be part of,
or to be a member of a group. There is also a possessive nuance of the verb 'to belong'. I can
say that the soap belongs to me. In the first nuance, to belong creates a situation of
participation and in the second, it creates a situation of possession. There is an ontological
nuance of belongingness, which specifies that a thing is because it belongs. The present
work published in 2019 is one of five chapters, with 76 pages, is a contribution of the
author to the ongoing discourse on the philosophy of belongingness.