LUMINA Volume 21 No. 2


EZIGBO MMADU: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE CONCEPT OF A GOOD PERSON IN IGBO WORLDVIEW


by Dr. Chinyere Ukpokolo

Every human society has certain general framework of principles, values, and norms or precepts with which people are categorized and placed in the moral scheme of things. It is on such templates or ethical system that individual's conduct or behaviour are evaluated, judged as good or bad, right or wrong. On this moral scale, every individual is placed, differentiating A from B, C, D as well as group from groups. This categorization is based on what society perceives as the model of a good person and model for emulation, which in turn shapes the nature and direction of interpersonal relationships. In Igbo worldview, the personalization of the model in the ethical system is embedded in what the Igbo people refer to as ezigbo mmadu.



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