The Vital Force

The concept of ase is a life force held by the Yorubas of south-west Nigeria. This concept has developed in written sources and literature through the last 40 years. An extensive historico-critical investigation has resulted in the advantage of demystifying ase and vital forces in general as vivid pictures of a language game. The French scholar Pierre Verger and the Nigerian scholar Wande Abimbola are found to be the principal forerunners of the literary process leading to an ase orthodoxy.

This study also postulates different traditions of the development context; A popular tradition, a philosophic esoteric tradition, and an academic tradition.