Teilhard de Chardin and Senghor on the civilization of the universal

II.4. THE NEGRO-AFRICAN ROLE AND CONTRIBUTION TO THE CIVILIZATION OF THE UNIVERSAL

The Negro-African race according to Senghor, acts as the spearhead of evolution because the black man's contribution to the Civilization of the Universal should, on the basis of his traditional values, consist in forging the unity of man and the world by linking the flesh to the spirit, man to fellow man, the pebble to God, as he says:

Le service nègre aura été de contribuer avec d'autres peuples à refaire l'unité de l'Homme et du Monde, à lier la chair à l'esprit, l'homme à son semblable, le caillou à Dieu ; en d'autres termes, le réel au surréel - par l'Homme non pas centre, mais charnière, mais nombril du monde.^61(*)

The Negro-African's role in the Civilization of the Universal is to lead all the other races and cultures towards the Omega Point. This appears clearly in Senghor's considerations of what is an ideal society, his insistence on the communal dimension of love in the African setup and in the contrast he makes between the African and the western world views.

II.4.1. Senghor's Ideal Society

Senghor maintains that European society is primarily differentiated from the African one in that the former is at best a collectivist society that is bringing together into a collectivity a number of individuals who remain individual persons in a society. Western man distinguishes himself from the other and claims his autonomy to affirm himself in his basic originality. Senghor contrasts with the African society:

African society on the other hand is a community: the African stresses more the solidarity of the group and the contributions and needs of the individual persons. This is not to say that the African neglects the individual person, but rather that he does not primarily conceive of the person as a member of a kind of «mystical body» in which alone he can achieve his full development, his originality and his total potential. Indeed, this community goes beyond even the human members, since it involves a communion with all beings in the universe: stones, plants, animals, men, dead (ancestors) or alive, and God.^62(*)

Thus, while Karl MARX and other Marxists concern themselves with the economic infrastructures, seen as a mechanical and material processes, Senghor following Teilhard de Chardin, goes further into the roots of man's development and therefore is capable of looking towards the future. For him, the roots of man's development lie in the biological and psychological dimension of man himself, not merely as an individual. This leads to a growth in socialization for a better life by means of common search for the common good.

In order to achieve this better life, there is need for the dynamism of love. In this way, Senghor's ideal society is the African society, a society not characterised by individualism as is the case in western societies. The African family puts humanism at the centre of relationships. Here, relations are on the basis of a natural need to live in a stabilised family:

Non seulement la famille est, chez les Nègres, comme ailleurs, la cellule sociale; mais encore la société est formée de cercles concentriques de plus en plus larges, qui s'étagent les uns sur les autres, imbriqués les uns dans les autres, et formés sur le type même de la famille. Plusieurs familles qui parlent le même dialecte et qui sentent une origine commune forment une tribu ; plusieurs tribus qui parlent la même langue et habitent le même pays peuvent constituer un royaume : enfin plusieurs royaumes entrent, à leur tour, dans une confédération ou un empire [...] C'est à l'étage de la tribu, plutôt du royaume, que l'on peut saisir, plus nettement, la solution que le Nègre a donnée aux problèmes sociaux et politiques. Solution qui a répondu, par avance, à cette « unité pluraliste » qui reste l'idéal des humanistes d'aujourd'hui, de ceux du moins pour qui l'humanisme n'est pas une sorte de vain divertissement « d'honnête homme ».^63(*)

The better life sought also depends on the way with which the problem of work and ownership is handled. This is often the source of many social problems. Every individual person must work in order to produce his own goods, to find happiness from and through the work of his hands. The error of capitalism, according to Senghor, does not lie on the existence of ownership or propriety, necessary condition for man's development; rather, it lies on the fact that in a capitalist society, ownership does not necessarily derive from work. Again, the Negro society proves its worth because here, work is considered as the only source of ownership. In effect, Senghor avers:

Le vice de la société capitaliste n'est pas dans l'existence de la propriété, condition nécessaire du développement de la personne; il est dans le fait que la propriété ne repose pas essentiellement sur le travail. Or, dans la société nègre, « le travail, ou, plus exactement peut-être, l'action productive, est considéré comme la seule source de propriété que sur l'objet qu'il a produit ». Mais - les critiques du capitalisme l'ont souvent souligné - la propriété ne peut qu'être théorique si les richesses naturelles et les moyens de production restent entre les mains de quelques individus. Là encore, le Nègre avait résolu le problème dans un sens humaniste. Le sol, de même que tout ce qu'il porte - fleuves, rivières, forêts, animaux, poissons -, est un bien commun, réparti entre les familles et même parfois entre les membres de la famille, qui en ont une propriété temporaire ou usufruitière. D'autre part, les moyens de production en général, les instruments de travail sont la propriété commune du groupe familial ou de la corporation.^64(*)

We see with Senghor that there is a great sense of community in the negro-African society, which humanizes the relationships among all the members of the community. Even the ownership of agricultural products is collective since work itself is collective; so much that everyone has a vital minimum for his survival. It is a great advantage for all:

[...] chaque homme est assuré, matériellement, du « minimum vital » selon ses besoins. « Quand la récolte est mûre, dit le Wolof, elle appartient à tous. » Et cet autre avantage, non moins important du point de vue de la vie personnelle : l'acquisition du superflu, luxe nécessaire, est rendue possible par le travail, la propriété individuelle étant réglée et restreinte, non éliminée.^65(*)

It is noticeable here that because of colonialism, this sense of the community, the common good, tends to disappear. Senghor's ideal society is therefore the pre-colonial negro-African society; a society full of values that need to be revalorized today and our dissertation aims as we have seen in calling the attention of Africans on the value of their traditions and at fighting the bad effects of colonialism which has helped in the loss of most of these values. Senghor's ideal society is a society having at its foundation, the dynamism of love.

* ⁶¹ Léopold Sédar Senghor, Liberté I: Négritude et Humanisme, Paris, 1964, p.38.

* ⁶² Léopold Sédar Senghor, in Ruch, E., (ed.), African Philosophy, Rome, 1981, p.233.

* ⁶³ Léopold Sédar Senghor, Liberté I : Négritude et Humanisme, Paris, 1954, pp.28-29.

* ⁶⁴ Ibid., pp., 29-30.

* ⁶⁵ Léopold Sédar Senghor, Liberté I : Négritude et Humanisme, Paris, 1954, pp.29-30.