Birth, death and Ruth: an essay in memory of Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze

Abstract

The birth of a particular individual is contingent even though the docRine of creation out of nothing teaches otherwise. Birth is an ontological invitation alerting the individual to inevitable death. In the intervening period along the path to death the individual is locked in the existential quest for Ruth. During his lifetime Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, was engaged in the complex quest for Ruth. His engagement in the search of the Ruth of and about Africa elevated him to the status of one of the distinguished philosophers Africa has ever produced. This essay is in memory of Eze as an African philosopher, a philosopher engaged in the Ruth of and about post-colonial Africa.