Can The Dead Still Live: A Philosophical Discourse Of The Concept Of Reincarnation Among The YorÙbÁ Of South-west,nigeria

ABSTRACT The belief in reincarnation is, of course, a central theme of many Eastern religions. Belief in rebirth has been reported amongst people scattered the length and breadth of the African continent. Their beliefs ranges from ‘partial’ reincarnation of an ancestor in one or several individuals strictly within the same family, to that of an endless cycle of rebirths linked to a notion of cleansing and refinement of the inner nature. There have been divergent views in response to the question of what happens to the soul after death and reincarnation is one of them. Many African cultures hol…