Some Reflections on Binary Dualism, Complementarity, and Afro-Communitarianism

This chapter contributes to the discourse on the substance of African communitarianism, and the search for variable(s) that ought to make it distinctively African. The chapter further critiques the Western metaphysic-logic model, which hinges on the principle of binary opposition. Binary opposition, which thrives on the law of excluded middle term, stresses that of two alternatives at one instance, only one is valid. From this framework, scholars like Friedrich Hegel, Charles Taylor, and Alasdair MacIntyre have taken to exalting the whole over the individual in their reflections on the relationship between persons and the state. In recent times however, there has been the renewed interest connected to the place of rights in Afro-communitarianism. A perusal of the works of Motsamai Molefe as an instance not only underscores the place of rights but also displays the yet to be validated principle of binary complementarity which is suggestive of the Afro-ontological perspective. It is the aim of this chapter to explore the meta-ontological principle of complementary dualism which hitherto has been given lesser emphasis.