Death, Afterlife, and Moral Accountability: A Comparative Study of Yoruba and Western Philosophical Traditions

This study conducts a comparative philosophical analysis of conceptions of death, afterlife, and moral accountability in Yoruba philosophical tradition and selected Western philosophical frameworks, with particular reference to communities in Nigeria's South West geopolitical zone. Questions about what happens after death and whether posthumous consequences motivate moral behaviour are among the most enduring problems in philosophy, and Yoruba thought offers sophisticated answers that differ significantly from Platonic, Christian, and secular Western perspectives. Using a descriptive and comparative philosophical design, the study draws on Yoruba oral philosophical traditions, the thought of Wande Abimbola, and comparative Western sources from Plato to contemporary analytic philosophy, supplemented by secondary literature published between 2019 and 2024. Structured interviews with 20 Yoruba traditional priests and philosophy academics in Ibadan and Ile-Ife inform the primary data. Findings reveal that the Yoruba concept of Iku (death) is embedded in a relational ontology in which the dead remain active participants in community moral life through ancestral authority, creating accountability structures that extend beyond biological death. This framework differs from Western accounts of posthumous moral responsibility but converges with communitarian ethics on the social dimensions of moral agency. The study contributes to the growing literature on African philosophy of religion and comparative ethics. Keywords: Yoruba philosophy, death, afterlife, moral accountability, comparative philosophy.