School
Ubuntu philosophy
Ubuntu philosophy is the southern African ethic of shared humanity, summed up in the saying that a person is a person through other persons.
The word comes from the Nguni languages, and the saying umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu expresses the idea in isiZulu. Since the late twentieth century writers such as Mogobe Ramose and Thaddeus Metz have developed it as a philosophy of personhood, community and moral value. Desmond Tutu drew on it to describe restorative justice at South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Critics ask how well it protects individual rights. On this site it answers questions on normative ethics, care and relational approaches (3.2.5), social ontology, rights and disagreement.
Thinkers of this school
Guide: Schools of Philosophy: The Main -isms and the Questions They Answer
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Where do Ubuntu and Confucian role ethics fit, if they are neither utilitarian, Kantian nor virtue ethics?
I teach capoeira Angola in Salvador, and I am new to academic ethics. In a free course online, the lecturer said there are three main moral theories: consequences, duties and virtues. Then, in a footnote, she said Ubuntu and Confucian ethics “don't…
Started by Jorge Bonfim4 replies -
Does ubuntu ground human rights, or quietly replace them with duties?
I support families facing eviction in Johannesburg, and I think ubuntu is a serious legal idea, and also a slogan that is easily abused. This question sits right on that line. In S v Makwanyane (1995), the case that abolished the death…
Started by Thandeka Mokoena5 replies