African philosophical thought offers a view of consciousness as a relational, dynamic force rather than a property confined within an individual. Drawing on the Bantu concept of vital force (élan vital), this paper argues that consciousness exists on a continuum and that personal identity emerges through communal relationships, not isolated introspection. Integrating panpsychist insights, the work presents a holistic understanding of selfhood that challenges Western dualistic and individualistic models. The self is positioned as fundamentally interconnected with both human and non-human aspects of reality, providing a culturally grounded alternative to mainstream Western frameworks.
A profound and borderline experience of reality, the mystical phenomenon brings a person to a state of consciousness that transcends ordinary concepts. This experience suggests an underlying order (fundamental reality) distinct from physical phenomena, where fragmentation—especially the mind-matter divide—is insubstantial. The theory of double aspect monism (DAM) provides a framework for this vision: fundamental reality (the ontic state) is inaccessible through ordinary observation, and we only access its partial manifestations as mental and physical phenomena (epistemic states).