The History of African Philosophy - A Conversation With Anton Wilhelm Amo

For Amo, humanity is rooted in something metaphysical, namely an immaterial spirit. This radical dualism is a natural fit for an egalitarian view of human nature. In opposing the psychosomatic theory of vitalism, Amo had a strong basis to deny that black Africans are slavish because of their supposedly inferior bodies. Later on his name would be mentioned by abolitionists like Abbe Henry Gregoire who saw in Amo's works powerful evidence that a so-called more need not be less than any other human being.