Zera Yacob

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This article is about Zera Yacob, the 17th century philosopher. For the Prince, see Zera Yacob Amha Selassie, Crown Prince of Ethiopia. For the emperor, see Zara Yaqob.

Zera Yacob (1599–1692) was an Ethiopian philosopher who believed in following one's natural reasoning instead of believing what one is told by others. During his lifetime, Zera encountered many wars fought over religion due to the temporal nature of Ethiopia's leadership during this time.

Yacob is most noted for his ethical philosophy surrounding the principle of harmony. He purported that an action's morality is decided by whether it advances or degrades overall harmony in the world. His philosophy is theistic in nature. While he did believe in a deity, whom he referred to as God, he rejected any set of religious beliefs. Rather than deriving beliefs from any organized religion, Yacob sought the truth in observing the natural world.

Zera Yacob wrote "The treatise of Zera Yacob" for his student Walda Heywat. This book is both an authobiography (written at age 68) and a treatise of his philosophical thinking. His year of death was recorded by Walda Heywat in an annotation to the Treatise.

[edit] References

Sumner, Claude:, The Source of African Philosophy: the Ethiopian Philosophy of Man, Aethiopistische Forschungen (Ed. Siegbert Uhlig), Vol. 20, 1986, Universität Hamburg, Abteilung Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik (contains the Englisch translation of "The Treatise of Zear Yacob" as well as the English translations of those sections of "The Treatise of Walda Heywat" that provide additional ideas not found in Zera Yacob's book.)