The Human Being as a Melancholy Being

Abstract This article inserts the novel notion of the human being as a melancholy being, or homo melancholicus, into the African discourse on the human person and promotes the perspective as an Afro-existentialist contribution to the understanding of human nature from an African angle. The article analyzes the concept of consolation and exhibits certain emotions and orientations of the melancholy being in relation to the key questions of the philosophy of consolationism. The key questions raised for discussion here are as follows: (1) Is human life futile? (2) Is the universe pointless? The article identifies such emotions and orientations of the melancholy being as anxiety, joy, sadness, and homelessness. It proposes that for a consolation-seeking entity like the melancholy being, death may serve as a kind of home. It argues that human life is ultimately futile even as the universe may well have a purpose that, tragically, humans cannot know with certainty although they may speculate about it.