May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up?

Abstract

This article defends an alternative account of ubuntu, and makes a novel proposition about African morality and ethics. In doing so, it refutes the normative account of ubuntu premised on the aphorism umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (persons are persons through other persons).According to this "greatest harmony" account, Africans are harmonic collectivists and sharers, linked together by community-defining conveyor-belts of moral and ethical goodwill "gifts". It is assumed that an African theory of right action produces harmony and reduces discord. I aver, however, that such a prima facie interpretation, notwithstanding its intuitive appeal, is still open to some rather strong doubt.

Social media dissidence and activist resistance in Zimbabwe

“…Rather, he is talking from ‘the ground’, as it were. In this case, Mawarire’s form of dissidentiality in resonating with Zimbabweans both at home and abroad and fighting the government in a way is an attempt at what Mboti (2015) characterizes as restoring hunhu or humanness.…”

Exploring the Role of Shared Decision Making in the Consent Process for Pediatric Genomics Research in Cameroon, Tanzania, and Ghana

“…Whilst informed consent is generally recognized as one of the pillars of research ethics and plays a key role in protecting the rights and interests of participants, some authors have questioned whether its strong reliance on autonomous and individual decision-making is appropriate in the African research context (IJsselmuiden and Faden 1992;Chima 2015;Chukwuneke et al 2014;Chuwa 2014;DeCosta et al 2004;Levine 1991;Marshall and Rotimi 2001;Vreeman et al 2012;Azetsop 2011). In particular, these authors emphasize the importance of shared decision-making processes that are more reflective of communitarian worldviews (Louw 2010;Mboti 2015;Shutte 2001;van Loon and Lindegger 2009) and that should be taken seriously in the context of research enrollment. The argument is that shared decision making may be more appropriate than individual decision-making in the African context due to the nature of how family members interact with or relate to one another (Andoh 2011;Biko 1971;Chukwuneke et al 2014).…”

“…For instance, Chukwuneke and colleagues have challenged the notion of decision-making through consensus and argue that African societies should shift from communal to individual decision-making (Chukwuneke et al 2014). Other critics have argued that in addition to understanding individuals in relation to their communities or social networks, it is just to acknowledge that every individual is different and that Africans are persons with or without the community (Mboti 2015). One exponent of this view, Mboti objects to the false dichotomy that casts all Westerners as individualists and all Africans as interdependent.…”

Ubuntu and climate change governance: Moving beyond conceptual conundrum

“…The praxis, as articulated by Metz (2007), basis the moral rightness or acceptability of an act on its ability to create harmony and reduces discord. Amidst the doubt surrounding praxis according to Mboti (2015), we add that an act is morally impermissible to the degree that it fails to develop eco‐communes. By eco‐communes, we mean members of an ecological community, the social and the natural systems that make up our world.…”