MAY THE REAL UBUNTU PLEASE STAND UP?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25192/issn.1982-0496.rdfd.v28i12614Abstract
This article advocates for an alternative approach to ubuntu and elaborates an innovative proposal on African morality and ethics. In doing so, it refutes the normative description of ubuntu based on the aphorism umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (a person is a person through other people). According to this consideration of "greater harmony," Africans are harmonious and sharing collectivists, bound together by ties of moral and ethical goodwill transmission that define the community. The African theory of right action is often seen as a producer of harmony and a reducer of discord. However, it asserts that such a prima facie interpretation, notwithstanding its intuitive appeal, is still open to some very strong questioning.
Keywords: Definition. African ethics. Harmony. Questioning. Ubuntu.
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