Yorùbá Ethical Values in Àdììtú Olódùmarè: A Philosophical Appraisal

Author(s)

Aladesanmi Omobola Agnes ,

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Volume 6 - June 2017 (06)

Abstract

“Moral” as in relationship with “Ethics” deals with what relates to what is right and wrong in human behavior. It is what considered being right and good by most people; agreeing with a standard of right behavior. Moral can also mean a lesson from a story or an experience. Moral and ethics can be used interchangeably; and ethics as a branch of philosophy is a reflection on human conduct. Ethics aims to analyze, evaluate and develop normative moral criteria for dealing with moral principles. Ethics studies the reason why certain kinds of actions are morally right and commendable. The word “ethics” is used in three different but interwoven ways to mean a general pattern or way of life, to mean a set of rules of conduct or moral codes and thirdly to mean inquiry about ways of life and rules or conduct. Ethics deals with how we evaluate and justify actions which arise out of relationship as human beings.
Fágúnwà  expressed Yorùbá ethical or  moral values in his novel Àdììtú Olódùmarè through the use of  Yorùbá folklores. He made use of these folklores to drive home the point that Yorùbá have a way of instilling good morals into their people by means of telling stories and through past experiences. These stories will be delved into in this paper to bring out the Yorùbá ethical values as expressed in Fágúnwá’s  Àdììtú Olódùmarè.

Keywords

Moral, Ethics, Novel, Folklores, Rules of conduct

References

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