

























Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     179 

 

 

 

REINCARNATION NATURALIZED:  
A CRITIQUE OF ECHEKWUBE’S  
THEORY OF REGENERATION 

 

 

 

 

Abstract 
Reincarnation elicits the notion that the existence of man is 

beyond the physical life. It emphasizes the possibility of the 

soul’s birth into another body after death. The goal of this 

work is to critique Echekwube’s naturalization of 

reincarnation as regeneration. The study employs the 

philosophical method of exposition and critical analysis. 

The theoretical framework is founded on the theory of 

Naturalized Metaphysics. This theory is the work of two 

contemporary philosophers: James Ladyman and Don Ross. 

They postulated that reality which is the subject matter of 

Metaphysics can be explained through the employment of 

scientific methods. The study locates Echekwube’s 

description of reincarnation as biological regeneration 

within such a theoretical framework. It however shows that 

the theory does not stay true to the original objective of 

Metaphysics, which negotiates between two worlds, in the 

platonic terms, with the first being a reflection of the other. 

The study presents Echekwube not putting an end to the 

debate and concludes that Echekwube’s usage of 

reincarnation as regeneration is as a tool for the attainment 

of global harmony and peaceful co-existence. 

 

Keywords: Reincarnation, Regeneration and Naturalism 

 

 

 



180      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

Introduction 
Reincarnation is about the possibility of the human soul existing in 

another body after its death. According to Stephen Lampe, 

“Reincarnation is the idea that a human spirit is given the 

opportunity to come to the earth more than once; on each occasion, 

it takes on a different human body”1. Traditional belief in 

reincarnation holds that an ancestor could be born into another 

physical body after the death of the former body. Unlike 

transmigration, which portrays rebirth of a soul into another body as 

a consequence of the sins committed in the former life, reincarnation 

is believed to be an opportunity for an ancestor to commune with 

families left behind, perhaps, either for good or bad. In 

transmigration, the rebirth is seen as an opportunity to atone for 

one’s offences. The enormity of such offences determines the state 

into which such souls are reborn. It could be reborn in a cat, a plant 

or in the human person. It depends on the offence. Transmigration 

is un-African while Reincarnation is African. Reincarnation is 

different: the soul can only be born into another body; no one child 

is a monopoly of the ancestral soul of a deceased parent/grandfather; 

the spirit of a dead father is believed to exist in the ancestral world 

and at the same time reincarnate in several children on earth. This 

same spirit is venerated at will. For Ehiakhamen, this ancestral 

concurrent existence is a philosophical dilemma that remains 

unsolved in the African philosophical perspective. No matter the 

irreconcilable issues regarding reincarnation, the living and the 

living dead surely have something in common2. Idowu is right then 

in saying that, “there seems to be a general belief that communion 

and communication are possible between those who are alive on 

earth and the deceased, and that the latter has the power to influence, 

help or molest the former”3. This is the reason the living dead are 

remembered and venerated. For Mbiti, “...the living dead act as 

intermediaries between men and God, or between men and 

important, but more distant, forefathers”4. While they are 

manifested in the real world, they are at the same time venerated in 

the ancestral world.   

In the works of Sophie Oluwole, succinct justification of the 

reincarnation theory as enshrined by its proponents has been unable 



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     181 

 

to stand the test of time. The justification of reincarnation is usually 

based on physical manifestation such as: family resemblance, the 

abiku/ogbanje syndrome and memory transfer. If human family 

resemblance is a basic for the belief in reincarnation, then we have 

to rethink since “family resemblance is a phenomenon not restricted 

to man alone…. The fact that a grandchild resembles a dead ancestor 

does not therefore constitute conclusive evidence in support of 

reincarnation”5. What about the abiku/ogbanje syndrome, which is 

the cult of born-to-die children. How much of the cult of born to die 

children do we hear of today? Very rare! For Oluwole: 
 

The point is not that children are no more born with 

missing fingers or toes. The fact is that the great 

reduction in infant mortality rates makes the talk of 

abiku almost a piece of nonsense. Improved medical 

facilities, better health enlightenment programmes 

have helped many Africans to realize that no specific 

group of children is born primarily to die young6. 

 

The cases of memory transfer among Africans and elsewhere is one 

that needs special attention. However, the admonition of Oluwole is 

very apt. Scientists and philosophers must endeavor to establish the 

possibility of memory transfer. The modus operandi of memory 

transfer under which reincarnation is held to occur must be properly 

understood7. Otherwise, we must be deluded either by a demon or 

an ancient belief from which we must free ourselves. Generally 

speaking, Oluwole presents a philosophical admonition for African 

scholars in their rumination of such concepts as reincarnation and 

others. 

However, Echekwube, rather than embarking on the 

perennial debate, decided to employ the term as a panacea to global 

unrest. In doing this, he substituted the concept of regeneration for 

reicarnation. Many have read Echekwube as attempting to put an 

end to the great debate on reincarnation. To others, that he denied 

the reality of the belief in reincarnation. However, this paper 

presents Echekwube as naturalizing reincarnation for a greater end 

rather than its current unending perennial problematique. 

 



182      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

Reincarnation as Regeneration 

In his inaugural lecture at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, 

Anthony Echekwube delivered a soul piecing lecture on “A 

Metaphysical Analysis of the Concept of Reincarnation: towards 

Global Harmony and Peace” with a novel perspective. He 

substituted the term “reincarnation” for “regeneration”. For him, 

regeneration, derived from generation, a biological term better 

describes the reality often regarded as reincarnation: “Regeneration 

is derived from generation which is a biological term for 

prolongation and multiplication of family group and membership”8. 

It is a term which would wake us from the slumber of the fact of our 

common ancestry. In another perspective, regeneration “… also 

connotes a change in spirit, turning from evil to good, a quality 

which humanity needs today in abundance.”9There are majorly two 

types of regeneration. They are: physical regeneration and moral or 

spiritual regeneration. For Echekwube, physical regeneration 

prolongs the numerical strength of human families and is sustained 

by the clan. Echekwube quoted Kaluto who corroborated his 

position when he said that: 
 

Science has shown that properties of parents are 

transmitted to their young ones through genes and 

this is called reproduction and not reincarnation. For 

this, I subscribe to Echekwube who sees 

reincarnation as a regeneration of mankind. This 

shows that families reproduce their type which 

continues to surface in subsequent generations10. 

 

The second sense of regeneration is a moral or spiritual kind. In this 

angle, Echekwube argued that humans may choose to be reborn in 

order to change from their evil ways and behave in a more positive 

manner.  St. Paul is cited as a better example of a moral or spiritual 

regenerated individual: from being the persecutor to being the 

persecuted, having been converted or metamorphosed. The 

application of this theory in the philosophical postulations of 

Echekwube would better be understood with this extensive excerpt 

from his 2002 inaugural lecture at Ambrose Alli University, 

Ekpoma, Nigeria. He writes: 



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     183 

 

The ancestors whose characteristics are extended to 

their surviving family members facilitate the 

extension and sustenance of the family tree. This is 

physical but has a moral and spiritual dimension in 

the demand that the living be well behaved in order 

to enjoy the support of their departed but living 

ancestors. Their role is manifested in the demands of 

the elders who are representatives that the customs of 

the society be strongly upheld. The scenario created 

is that in which our primogenitors who have 

physically departed this world are spiritually present 

by the extension of their psychic and spiritual 

qualities and at the same time in the spiritual abode 

catering for our well-being.... thus our ancestors 

sustain both the physical and spiritual regeneration 

of their successors, making their earthly homes 

stable and progressive. 11 

 

This means by physical regeneration, an ancestor could be replicated 

in a grandchild and by spiritual regeneration, an ancestor could also 

be spiritually present in their grandchildren by the presence of their 

psychic and spiritual qualities in them. Little wonder then that 

grandchildren are often seen with the likeness of their primogenitors 

in physique or in psyche. In which ever case, our primogenitors are 

biologically able to (perhaps without their knowing) influence our 

routine life by extending the aforementioned qualities on their 

grandchildren.  

 

The Theory of Naturalization 

The perspective of Echekwube, who views reincarnation as 

regeneration is perceived as naturalization of that which is 

considered spiritual. What then is the theory of naturalization? 

Naturalization is from naturalism, which holds that the method of 

the natural sciences could be used to study all there is on the grounds 

that all there is belong to the world of nature12. Naturalism is the 

belief that nature is all that exist; all things supernatural therefore do 

not exist.  



184      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

There are variants of naturalism, these include ethical natur

alism; which holds Ethics as a Sui generis discipline and thereby re

jects nonnatural properties, interfering with the domain.  

The second is dual; these are metaphysical naturalism and e

pistemological naturalism. While metaphysical naturalism holds the 

belief that the universe should be treated as a single sphere without 

incursions from outside by souls and spirits while epistemological 

naturalism deals with the methods used to study the objects of 

Philosophy13.  
 

For Arthur C. Danto,  

Naturalism in recent usage is a species of philosophi

cal monism according to which, whatever exist or h

appens is natural in the sense of being susceptible to 

explanation through methods which although paradi

gmatically exemplify in the natural sciences are 

continuous from domain to domain of objects and 

invents. Hence, naturalism is polemically defined as 

repudiating the view that there exist or could exist 

any entities or invents which lie in principles beyond 

scope of scientific explanation14.  

 

 Naturalism rejects all supernatural propositions which include non-

natural values. Proper reading of naturalism unveils its position that 

mental properties are casually derived from an ontologically 

dependent system of non mental properties, powers or things. Put d

ifferently, allminds: content, powers and effect of minds are caused

 by natural phenomenon; the supernatural is in fact part of the natur

al world15. Biological naturalism is understood from the purview of 

the above. According to John Searle, biological naturalism is “the 

view that mental phenomena such as consciousness and 

intentionality are natural biological phenomena on a par with 

growth, digestion or photosynthesis”16. 

  Two things are associated with biological naturalism (1) all 

mental phenomena from pains, tickles and inches are caused by 

lower-level neurobiological processes in the brain. (2) Mental 

phenomena are higher-level features of the brain. This means the 

brain is conscious compartment. For Searle consciousness is caused 



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     185 

 

by the behavior of lower-level element such as neurons even though 

no single neuron is conscious. Whatever can cause mental 

phenomena therefore must have such casual powers equivalent to 

brains17. From the foregone, biological naturalism, metaphysical 

naturalism otherwise known as ontological naturalism, 

philosophical naturalism and scientific naturalism is a philosophical 

view that (1) Nature encompasses all that through space and time. 

(2) Non-physical or quasi-physical substances such as information, 

ideas, values, etc can be reduced to physical account and subject to 

the laws of physics and explained through science18. It is in this 

perspective we understand the effort at biologizing Ethics by Philip 

Kitcher, the effort at naturalising Epistemology by W.V.O, Quine; 

the effort at naturalising Metaphysics by Don Ross and James 

Ladyman and; in this purview also, we perceive reincarnation as 

being naturalized as regeneration by Echekwube. 

Kitcher’s “Four Ways of Biologizing Ethics” in Evolution 

und Ethik perceives that non-scientific approaches to moral 

questions are indecisive and uninformed. Hence, he calls for 

biologizing the ethical project. For him, it is at the domain of socio-

biology to address this problematique. In doing this, Kitcher drew a 

map, which he termed “four ways to biologize Ethic”. Since it is the 

task of socio-biologist to address ethical issues. I propose the 

following: (1.) They are to explain how people have come to acquire 

ethical concepts to make judgements about themselves and others, 

(2). They are to teach us facts about human beings vis-a-vis existing 

moral principles and other unknown normative principles. (3). They 

are to explain the meaning of Ethics and answer traditional questions 

on the objectivity of Ethics. (4). They can lead us to revise our 

system of ethical principles. This is not far from the effort of W.V.O 

Quine, who naturalized Epistemology. 

For Quine, “Epistemology Naturalized” in Ontological 

Relativity and other Essays, Epistemology should be part of the 

natural sciences. This way it could be naturalized and its content 

would be decisive19. Quine disagreed with Descartes that we can get 

from reasoning to certain foundations for knowledge of the natural 

world. Quine’s epistemological project focuses on the empirical 

study of how human beings develop a theory of the natural world on 



186      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

the basis of the sensory inputs. Quine’s Epistemology is a deviation 

from Traditional or Classical Epistemology as espoused by 

Descartes and others before him.  

In Every Thing Must Go: Metaphysics Naturalised of Don 

Ross and James Ladyman, a similar project of naturalizing 

Metaphysics is enacted. They present Analytic Metaphysics as a 

failure in its pursuit of the objective truth, and argued that it be 

discontinued. David Hume had earlier called for all unscientific 

literary endeavors be committed to the flames. The Twentieth 

Century Vienna Circle with its Verifiability Principle which states 

that a statement is meaningful only if there is a way to determine its 

truth. Later on, they were accused of being victims of their own reed. 

Ross and Ladyman’s position are better regarded as “Neo-

Positivism”. Its aim is the unification of sciences. That is, making 

coherent sense of the various picture of the world emerging from 

Physics and Spatial Science. They admonished that Metaphysics 

should not be based on Philosophers’ apriori intuitions and common 

sense.  

The question I have asked myself is whether Echekwube 

borrowed a leap from this theory of naturalism. From all indications, 

yes! He has looked at reincarnation through the lens of genetics: 

science. For this singular reason many scholars have disagreed with 

him. Those who partially agreed with him agree that there are laws 

of physics which enable us to explain things scientifically; including 

reincarnation but also to submit contrary to the possible logical 

conclusion of some scientist the existence of the unmoved mover or 

the maker of the laws of physics/laws of nature. 

 

Critique of Reincarnation as Regeneration 

Echekwube holds that regeneration is a better terminology, which 

describes the reality of reincarnation to have children, to respect and 

honor elders and to have a sense of communal living.  For him, 

“…regeneration ….is derived from generation which is a biological 

term for prolongation and multiplications of family group and 

membership”20. Regeneration is fulfillment of the ancient and ever 

new command of God to multiply and to make use of the earth 

according to its ability21. Regeneration explains how we come from 



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     187 

 

God who is the source and summit of all there is; in a special way, 

it describes how we come from God as the creator of creatures. 

Regeneration reveals the truth in humanity: we are of the same root 

irrespective of our color or nationality. Humanity is of the same 

ancestry. If this is understood, then, there would be a rethink to tribal 

wars and international unrest as experienced at the moment. 

With a firm purpose, Echekwube became the first to publicly 

employ the term reincarnation as a substitute of regeneration. He 

was profoundly acclaimed by Oluwole in her work: Witchcraft, 

Reincarnation and the God-Head: Issues in African Philosophy. It 

is argued here, that the term was used as a tool to remind humanity 

of a common ancestry and a reason to reason together as a family 

even though diverse. In doing this, Echekwube gave room to the 

myriads of problems bedeviling Africa, which could have been 

curbed if we had seen ourselves as having a common ancestry. This 

is seen in his thesis statement22. Echekwube’s reincarnation as 

regeneration has been supported and opposed by philosophers. 

Those who have supported his thesis include Sophie Oluwole and 

Orji Kalu; while those who have openly opposed him are Justina 

Ehiakhamen.  

For those who approved of his thesis, Sophie Oluwole, for 

example, said: “If one starts by defining reincarnation in the way 

Echekwube does, then very few philosophers would feel worried 

about it.”23 Oluwole reveres the position espoused by Echekwube 

and wished everyone keyed into it. Echekwube himself quoted Orji 

Kalu to have said of him:  “…I subscribe  

To Echekwube who sees reincarnation as a regeneration of mankind. 

This shows that families reproduce their type which continues to 

surface in subsequent generations”24. 

However, for Justina Ehiakhamen, reincarnation as 

regeneration is injustice to the long culture and tradition of a people 

so blessed. In her words, “The concept of regeneration as 

substitution for reincarnation is somewhat misleading in Esan as the 

two concepts do not mean one and the same thing; and cannot 

interchangeably be used. Regeneration does not show the core 

evidence for and clear understanding of reincarnation”25. With 

concrete evidences to justify reincarnation, Ehiakhamen gave a 



188      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

critical x-ray of Echekwube’s concept of reincarnation as 

regeneration. One thing is clear, while Echekwube’s supporters did 

so having seen a greater course and reason for the substitution, 

Ehiakhamen was vehement on the claims of tradition, much of 

which Oluwole had debunked. While this work appreciates the 

critical analysis of Ehiakhamen, it unveils a perspective unexpressed 

in the work of Ehiakhamen. This veiled perspective is the fact that 

the work of Echekwube did not foreclose the great debate on the 

reality of reincarnation. Even though Ehiakhamen recognized this 

fact, her work left it unstressed that Echekwube did not attempt to 

foreclose the great debate but to employ the term: reincarnation as 

regeneration to pursue the possibility for global harmony should 

humanity perceives itself as having a common ancestry.  

Echekwube’s formulation of reincarnation as regeneration 

must be appreciated as an attempt to proffer solution to the myriads 

of problems bedeviling Africa and the world in general. I perceive 

regeneration also as a palpable explication of the tradition 

transmitted down to us in the name of reincarnation. Regeneration 

is a demystification of reincarnation. It presents to us a better 

understanding especially of the tripartite demonstration of the 

justification presented by Oluwole in her work: “Witchcraft, 

Reincarnation and the God-Head: Issues in African Philosophy.” 

These include as mentioned above: (a. family resemblance, (b. 

abiku/ogbanje syndrome, and (c. memory transfer. In the first, that 

is, family resemblance, it was established that it is a biological 

possibility for likes to beget likes; for parents to give birth to their 

kinds. This includes the lower animals. The second is the 

abiku/ogbanje syndrome. This was discussed extensively especially 

by Oluwole as a prevalent medical condition which with 

advancement in medical technology has reduced considerably. The 

belief in the reality of abiku/ogbanje syndrome was so strong that 

sometimes physical deformities and injuries which were purposely 

inflicted on these children after they died supposedly reflected in 

their supposed next coming. For Oluwole, it is very possible for a 

mother to give birth to a child with same deformities inflicted in the 

one considered an abiku. For her, “the answer provided by 

psychologists in Western Europe is that a pregnant woman is usually 



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     189 

 

so deeply disturbed by both the death and amputation of a part of 

her baby that the emotional stress is strong enough to create an 

involvement which is physically capable of affecting the unborn”26. 

This was often the case until society stopped inflicting physical 

deformities on children born with special health problems; and 

especially as modern medicine has reduced much of such ailments. 

The last; that is, memory transfer has never been properly 

established by adherents of reincarnation. The transfer of memory 

to another is usually through a rigorous process of learning. But this 

is far from memory transfer in this context. Adherents of the 

reincarnation theory have been unable to establish the medium of 

memory transfer within the human person or between the human 

persons. It therefore means that until the modus operandi of memory 

transfer is established we hold onto its impossibility.  

This naturalized or scientific explication of the theory of 

reincarnation leaves scholars thinking as to whether an end has been 

put to the great and perennial debate on reincarnation. I think 

Echekwube has been unable to silence the reincarnation debate. Yet 

the truth remains that he directed our minds to the usage of the term 

in a better light.  

 

Conclusion 

The theory of naturalization upholds the usage of scientific lens in 

addressing whatever exists. Naturalism, in Philosophy, relates 

scientific method or principles to Philosophy by affirming that all 

things in the universe including man are natural and knowable. 

Naturalism holds that our search for scientific knowledge is a 

possibility because in the universe, there is regularity, unity and 

wholeness which makes for the objectivity of scientific laws. This 

has recently been made explicit in different aspects of Philosophy. 

This is how we have discussed and understood the project of 

biologizing Ethics, the project of Naturalizing Epistemology, and 

the project of naturalizing Metaphysics; of Philip Kitcher, W.V.O. 

Quine, and Don Ross and James Ladyman respectively.  

This paper has also delineated Echekwube’s concept of 

reincarnation as regeneration within the parameters of naturalism. 

For him, “I have opted for regeneration as a substitute for 



190      |     Ekpoma Review, Volume. 5 No. 1., 2019    
 

reincarnation because it is derived from generation which is a 

biological term for prolongation and multiplication of family group 

and membership. It satisfies the biological extension of the 

family”27. Regeneration in this usage is a project of prolongation 

which defends the position of Kitcher who sees Ethics as a project 

and not a final system28. Reincarnation as regeneration is a project 

and not a final system that should be avoided but one that should be 

considered and reviewed according to scientific rubrics.  

 
END NOTES 

1Stephen Lampe, The Christian and Reincarnation (Ibadan: Millenium Press, 

2008), 34. 
2Justina Ehiakhamen, “A Critical Analysis of Echekwube’s Concept of 

Reincarnation as Regeneration” in Explorations in African Philosophy: Essays in 

Honour of Echekwube, ed. Monday Igbafen and Blessing Agidigbi, (Ibadan: B 

Wright Integrated Publishers, 2015), 32. 
3Idowu, Bolaji. African Traditional Religion: A Definition (London: SCM Press 

LTD, 1973), 179. 
4John Mbiti. African Religions & Philosophy, (London: Heinemann Educational 

Books Ltd, 1969), 161 
5Oluwole, Sophie. Witchcraft, Reincarnation and the God-Head: Issues in 

African Philosophy, (Lagos: Excel Publisher, 1992). 
6 Ibid 46 
7 Ibid. 51 
8Echekwube, Anthony. A Metaphysical Analysis of the Concept of Reincarnation 

as Regeneration: Towards Global Harmony and Peace. Ekpoma: Ambik Press, 

2002. Print. P. 32 
9Ibid. 
10 Ibid. 33 
11 Ibid. 
12Lacey, Alan. “Naturalism” The Oxford Guide to Philosophy (United States: 

Oxford University press, 2005), P.640 
13 Ibid. 640-641 
14 Arthur Danto, “Naturalism” in The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, ed. Edwards 

Paul, Vol. 5and 6. New York: McMillian publishing co., inc. And the free press, 

1967),p. 446. 
15 Luke Mastin, “Naturalism”. The Basics of Philosophy, accessed 10 October, 2

016 http/www.philosophybasics.com/branch_naturalism.html 
16 Searle, John. “Biological Naturalism”, in The Oxford Guide to Philosophy, Ted 

Honderich ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), Pp. 1996-1997. 
17 Ibid. p.1997 
18The Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Vol. 5 and 6.,s.v.  “Naturalism” 

                                                           



Reincarnation Naturalized: A Critique of Echekwube’s …       |     191 

 
                                                                                                                                  
19 Willard, Van Orman Quine. “Epistemology Naturalized” in Ontological 

Relativity and other Essays. (New York: Columbia University press, 1969), P. 17. 
20Anthony Echekwube, A Metaphysical Analysis of the Concept of Reincarnation 

as Regeneration: Towards Global Harmony and Peace (Ekpoma: Ambik Press, 

2002), P. 32. 
21 Bible: Revised Standard Version,  Genesis 1:28 
22Ibid. p.4-5. 
23Oluwole, Sophie. Witchcraft, Reincarnation and the God-Head: Issues in 

African Philosophy. (Lagos: Excel Publisher, 1992)P.41. 
24 Op cit. p.33 
25Op cit. Ehiakhamen, “A Critical Analysis of Echekwube’s Concept of 

Reincarnation as Regeneration”. P. 36 
26Op cit. Oluwole. Pp. 46-47. 
27 Op cit. Echekwube, P.32 
28 Philip, Kitcher. “Four Ways of Biologizing Ethics.” In Evolution und Ethik. E

d. Bayertz.  London: Reclaim, 1993. 14  

March, 2016. Web.< http://joelvelasco.net/teaching/167win10/kitcher%20%20f

our%20ways%20of%20biologicizin%20ethics.pdf p. 13 

 


