Original Research

The transcendental sublime significance that Africanism has on freewill and determinism

Johan A. van Rooyen
Inkanyiso | Vol 18, No 1 | a326 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ink.v18i1.326 | © 2026 Johan A. van Rooyen | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 17 October 2025 | Published: 02 July 2026

About the author(s)

Johan A. van Rooyen, Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

According to many scientists and philosophers, the concept of ‘Freewill’ for Homo sapiens is largely considered non-existent due to the deterministic nature of sapiens’ brains, where every decision is influenced by a complex interplay of factors like genetics, environ, past experiences and neurochemistry (or as it is also described in theology: hermeneutics), all operating beyond our conscious control, essentially predetermining our choices. Perhaps the oldest question ever in philosophy has been the rhetoric betwixt freewill and/or determinism. Not just in Western philosophy, but also in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern parts of the World, examining the rational inquiries of the truths and principles of being of knowledge, in three philosophical entities, namely: natural philosophy, moral philosophy and metaphysical philosophy. However, the greatest piece of the pie will go on in dealing with the African metaphysical scrutiny in trying to obtain a tenacity by obtaining a reciprocal vernacular betwixt the three.
Contribution: This phenomenon of African existence evolves into an ambiguity and/or haziness among the unanimity of this antithesis. This amenity and/or pleasantness and awe embody the notion that by being African sapiens must swing towards modernism – meaning that the higher the ability would be to pinpoint subjective determinisms of ownership to the fringe or the verge. Why? Because of the inevitability of the evolution of modernism within the African continent that must give way now to the individual. In the same disposition, there is a real obligation and wish for cognitive adjustment from untidy yet compelling fraternity to a joint ability to accommodate this extreme profound complexity.


Keywords

African thought; freewill; determinism; communalism; individualism; Craffert; Pillay and Chikane

Sustainable Development Goal

Goal 5: Gender equality

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