Ethnic and racial valorisations in Nigeria and South Africa: How ubuntu may harm or help

Woermann, Minka; Sanni, John Sodiq

doi:10.1080/02580136.2020.1809123

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Metz laments that, “It is well known that African ethics is characteristically communitarian, but this element is often left vague or is construed in a crude and unattractive manner, say, as the group taking precedence over the individual, so that the latter may be used merely as a means for the former” (Metz, 2015). Woermann and Sanni worry that, “[A] conception of ubuntu based on the communitarian notion of ‘unity’ may inadvertently exacerbate ethnic or racial divisions due to the limited reach of the notion of ‘community’” (Woermann & Sanni, 2020). Finally, Chimakonam holds that strong communitarianism “brazenly denies individual endowments such as autonomy and rights” in an attempt to describe “the pristine African communal setting” when what is needed is a theory that can account for the current modern setting in which these endowments are cardinal (Chimakomnam, 2018).…”

Section: A Challenge Case: the Osu Caste Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

African Ethics, Respect for Persons, and Moral Dissent

Jecker

2022

Theoria

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This paper examines the ethic of respect for dignity within African relational ethics. Following an introduction to African relational ethics (in Section 1), Section 2 introduces two ways of respecting dignity associated with two strands of African communitarianism: strong and moderate. Section 3 tests each version by considering a challenge case involving an oppressive social structure, the Osu caste system in Igboland (Southeastern Nigeria). It argues that both strong and moderate communitarianism are compatible with respecting the dignity of moral dissenters who oppose the Osu caste system. The result is somewhat surprising: while it is generally held that moderate communitarianism is compatible with respecting dignity, it is often thought that strong communitarianism is not. The final section (Section 4) considers and replies to objections. It concludes that an African relational framework lends strong support to respecting dignity in the case of moral dissent.

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Section: A Challenge Case: the Osu Caste Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%