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IJE-ỤWA: An Existentialist Discourse on the Uncertainties of Life

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Submitted   Oct 10, 2024
Published   Jan 21, 2025
Issue    Vol 6 No 1 (2025)
DOI   10.25082/IJAH.2025.01.004

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Anayochukwu Kingsley Ugwu corresponding author
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Madonna University, Nigeria

Abstract

Life itself is a mystery; characterized by both positive and negative risks and uncertainties. Life is like a moving train; human beings participate in it simply by living it. This means that no one can be certain of any experience or event in life. The issue, therefore, is that even when man propose solutions through scientific manipulations, divine revelations, acts of reason, or natural occurrences, the outcomes remain uncertain. These are the ideas that the term Ije-ụwa represents. But here are the research questions: (1) Why is the human life full of uncertainties even with human intelligence over and above other creatures? (2) Can anybody avoid the characteristics of risks and uncertainties of life? (3) What is then the responsibility of man to survive the phenomenon of Ije-ụwa? It is in contemplation on these questions that this paper defended that life is characteristic of risks and uncertainties; and that these are existential wake-up calls unto human beings for authentic living. This paper is expected to (1) analyze and expose the concept of Ije-ụwa and how existentially philosophical it is, and (2) stand as a huge academic contribution to existentialist discourses from an Igbo perspective. The paper adopted hermeneutical approach to analyze and expose the philosophic contents of the term Ije-ụwa.

Keywords
existentialist, Igbo, Ije-ụwa, philosophical implication

Article Details

How to Cite
Ugwu, A. K. (2025). IJE-ỤWA: An Existentialist Discourse on the Uncertainties of Life. International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 6(1), 297-307. https://doi.org/10.25082/IJAH.2025.01.004
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