Yacob: Why Critical Thinking Is So Important
Hey friends,
This is the first of two bonus thinkers that are also inspired by support for black lives matter. They won’t be emailed, so they will live on the Substack blog/website feature.
Zera Yacob published The Hatata in 1667 which was a work of philosophy and autobiography that tells the story of his retreat into a cave for around two years. He fled Ethiopian society after refusing to take up Catholicism and took with him only the Psalms of David and some gold.
"I have learnt more while living alone in a cave than when I was living with scholars. What I wrote in this book is very little; but in my cave I have meditated on many other such things." - Zera Yacob
While in his cave Yacob could look at philosophy and religion without the burdens of anyone else to influence or get in his way. He arrived at some remarkable conclusions in a place that was intellectually secluded from the rest of Europe. He criticises his contemporaries for not thinking independently, but rather accepting the claims of astrologers and myths just because their predecessors did so.
As an outsider in his cave, Yacob could reflect on philosophy and religion critically and rationally. Here are three of his progressive ideas:
We need rational scepticism
Living in a cave meant that Yacob could live without the intellectual constraints of living in society. His thinking on religion was liberated from state ideas and his philosophy was able to develop with proper rational insight. Instead of accepting the Christian dogma that monks had to be celibate, Yacob critically examined this issue. He thought that God created humans with the ability to be in a ‘carnal relationship’ and it was therefore good.
Yacob’s philosophy returns continuously to rational scepticism. He challenges his assumptions and ideas about God and looks for justification of his ideas at every step. In this way, his thinking is very similar to the European enlightenment philosophers. But Yacob came up with his ideas completely independently of them. Critical thinking is at the core of The Hatata.
All men are created equal
Yacob argues that all men (humans) are created equal in the presence of God. He observes that all humans come from the same place and therefore should not be treated differently. He argues that “our reason teaches us that this sort of discrimination cannot exist in the sight of God” and that different peoples should not hate each other. He recommends an enquiry based on scientific rationality and reason – as every human is born with intelligence and is of equal worth.
Yacob notes that the Muslims, the Christians and the Jews all think that they are the special and holy peoples and that hatred and persecution arises from this. But if we use our rational judgement and challenged these ideas then we can see that they cannot all be correct. In fact, none of them are correct. There are no peoples that are superior or have been chosen by God. We are all created equal. We should not discriminate or think of ourselves as special and we should love one another and practice mercy towards all.
Yacob exclaimed that all men are created equal decades before John Locke - the philosopher cited as influencing the Declaration of Independence.
Gender equality is important
Yacob’s philosophy and autobiography merge when he tells the story of how he got married to his wife, Hirut. Hirut was a servant to Yacob’s master when Yacob met her. He asked his master if she could be his wife and he replied that happily she would become the servant of Yacob. But Yacob did not accept this. He replied,
“I do not wish her to be my maidservant, but my wife; husband and wife are equal in marriage; for they are one flesh and one life.” - Zera Yacob
It would be an understatement to say that Yacob’s attitude towards his wife was ahead of its time. He was writing in the 1660s, a time where women were the lesser gender and rarely had a say on their own marriage. Merely the fact that he asked Hirut to marry him is a huge deal. Yacob’s reasoning is that women and men are no different from each other under God. So why should they be treated differently?
Reading the work of Zera Yacob you are continually shocked by his philosophy. It was written at the same time as the European enlightenment which was a movement that propelled the use of science, technology and reason. To know that similar ideas came out of Africa changes your perspective on the way history has evolved.
“In the past, the veneration given to Africa was enormous, whether for its natural genius, its appreciation for learning, or its religious organisation. This continent nurtured the growth of a number of men of great value, whose genius and assiduousness have made an inestimable contribution to the knowledge of human affairs.” - Johannes Gottfried
The recent black lives matter protests have been, for me, a process of education. Yacob’s philosophy is important for two reasons. Firstly, his philosophy of critical thinking and analysis of dogmatic ideas is particularly important right now. We need to use our rational minds when we look at society or even when we see news stories. It is our ability to see which ideas are justified and which aren’t that gives us better understanding of the truth of the situation.
Secondly, his philosophy reminds us that it isn’t only old white guys that have great and worthwhile ideas. Yacob’s ideas are similar to other enlightenment philosophers but are unfortunately not taught in any philosophy courses in the UK. It’s important to learn about black thinkers so that we can appreciate them alongside their white counterparts as equal contributors to the world we live in today. They deserve to be appreciated for what they are. The philosophy of Zera Yacob reminds us of the huge contribution that Africa has had to the world - one that cannot be forgotten.
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Take care, stay safe.
Jack.
Well said!We can find right solusions for all wrong problems we found ourselves in as humans if we could apply critical thinking and farsightedness in assessing all causes to all our problems.
Birhanu Demeke