Ubuntu philosophy
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Ubuntu (Zulu pronunciation: [ùɓúntʼù])[1] is a Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity". It's sometimes translated as "I am because we are" (also "I am because you are"),[2] or "humanity towards others" (Zulu umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu). In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".[3]
Different names in other Bantu languages[edit]
 | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Should be reformatted into a table of language(s)-word-countries. The non-Bantu words should ideally also be put into a table with source languages identified. (January 2021) |
Although the most popular name referring to the philosophy today is Ubuntu (Zulu language, South Africa), it has several other names in other Bantu languages. It must be noted though, that some of the following suggestions likely refer to "people" or "person" rather than humanity or being humane, which obuntu refers to.
| Language | Word | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| Chewa | umunthu | Malawi, Zambia |
| Zulu and Xhosa | ubuntu | South Africa |
| Kinyarwanda and Kirundi | ubuntu | Rwanda, Burundi |
| Sesotho | botho | South Africa |
| Shona | unhu, hunhu | Zimbabwe |
| Swahili | utu | Kenya, Tanzania |
| Meru | munto[a] | Kenya |
| Kikuyu | umundu[a] | Kenya |
| Herero | omundu | Namibia |
| Setswana | botho | Botswana |
| Kongo | kimuntu | Angola, DRC, RotC |
| Tonga | ibuntu | Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Luhya | Omundu | Kenya |
The name also differs by country, such as in Angola (kimuntu), Botswana (setho), Burundi (ubuntu), Cameroon (bato), Republic of the Congo (RotC; bantu), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; bomoto/bantu), Kenya (utu/munto/mondo), Malawi (umunthu), Mozambique (vumuntu), Namibia (omundu), Rwanda (ubuntu), South Africa (ubuntu/botho), Tanzania (utu/obuntu/bumuntu), Uganda (obuntu), Zambia (umunthu/ubuntu), Northern Nigeria (mutum) and Zimbabwe (Ubuntu, unhu or hunhu). It is also found in other Bantu countries not mentioned here.[4][5]
Definitions[edit]
There are various definitions of the word "Ubuntu". The most recent definition was provided by the African Journal of Social Work (AJSW). The journal defined Ubuntu as:
There are many different (and not always compatible) definitions of what Ubuntu is.[7] Even with the various definitions, Ubuntu encompasses the interdependence of humans on another and the acknowledgment of one's responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them. It is a philosophy that supports collectivism over individualism.
Ubuntu asserts that society gives human beings their humanity. An example is a Zulu-speaking person who when commanding to speak in Zulu would say "khuluma isintu", which means "speak the language of people". When someone behaves according to custom, a Sotho-speaking person would say "ke motho", which means "he/she is a human". The aspect of this that would be exemplified by a tale told (often, in private quarters) in Nguni "kushone abantu ababili ne Shangaan", in Sepedi "go tlhokofetje batho ba babedi le leShangane", in English (two people died and one Shangaan). In each of these examples, humanity comes from conforming to or being part of the tribe.
According to Michael Onyebuchi Eze, the core of Ubuntu can best be summarised as follows:
An "extroverted communities" aspect is the most visible part of this ideology. There is sincere warmth with which people treat both strangers and members of the community. This overt display of warmth is not merely aesthetic but enables the formation of spontaneous communities. The resultant collaborative work within these spontaneous communities transcends the aesthetic and gives functional significance to the value of warmth. Warmth is not the sine qua non of community formation but guards against instrumentalist relationships. Unfortunately, sincere warmth may leave one vulnerable to those with ulterior motives.[9]
"Ubuntu" as political philosophy encourages community equality, propagating the distribution of wealth. This socialisation is a vestige of agrarian peoples as a hedge against the crop failures of individuals. Socialisation presupposes a community population with which individuals empathise and concomitantly, have a vested interest in its collective prosperity. Urbanisation and the aggregation of people into an abstract and bureaucratic state undermines this empathy. African intellectual historians like Michael Onyebuchi Eze have argued, however, that this idea of "collective responsibility" must not be understood as absolute in which the community's good is prior to the individual's good. On this view, ubuntu it is argued, is a communitarian philosophy that is widely differentiated from the Western notion of communitarian socialism. In fact, ubuntu induces an ideal of shared human subjectivity that promotes a community's good through an unconditional recognition and appreciation of individual uniqueness and difference.[10] Audrey Tang has suggested that Ubuntu "implies that everyone has different skills and strengths; people are not isolated, and through mutual support they can help each other to complete themselves."[11]
"Redemption" relates to how people deal with errant, deviant, and dissident members of the community. The belief is that man is born formless like a lump of clay. It is up to the community, as a whole, to use the fire of experience and the wheel of social control to mould him into a pot that may contribute to society. Any imperfections should be borne by the community and the community should always seek to redeem man. An example of this is the statement by the African National Congress (in South Africa) that it does not throw out its own but rather redeems.
Other scholars such as Mboti (2015) argue that the normative definition of Ubuntu, notwithstanding its intuitive appeal, is still open to doubt. The definition of Ubuntu, contends Mboti, has remained consistently and purposely fuzzy, inadequate and inconsistent. Mboti rejects the interpretation that Africans are "naturally" interdependent and harmony-seeking, and that humanity is given to a person by and through other persons. He sees a philosophical trap in attempts to elevate harmony to a moral duty – a sort of categorical imperative – that Africans must simply uphold. Mboti cautions against relying on intuitions in attempts to say what Ubuntu is or is not. He concludes that the phrase umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu references a messier, undisciplined relationship between persons, stating that: "First, there is value in regarding a broken relationship as being authentically human as much as a harmonious relationship. Second, a broken relationship can be as ethically desirable as a harmonious one. For instance, freedom follows from a break from oppression. Finally, harmonious relations can be as oppressive and false as disharmonious ones. For instance, the cowboy and his horse are in a harmonious relationship."[12]
Ubuntu maxims or short statements[edit]
Ubuntu is often presented in short statements called maxims by Samkange (1980). Some of these are:[13]
- Motho ke motho ka batho (Sotho/Tswana). A person is a person through other people.
- Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (Zulu). A person is a person through other people.
- Umntu ngumntu ngabantu (Xhosa). A person is a person through other people.
- Munhu munhu nevanhu (Shona). A person through other people.
- Ndiri nekuti tiri (Shona). I am because we are.
- Munhu i munhu hivanwani vanhu (Xitsonga). A person is a person through other people.
- Muthu ndi muthu nga vhathu (Venda). A person is a person through other people
History of the concept in African written sources[edit]
Although ubuntu has been in existence in orature (oral literature), it appeared in South African written sources from as early as the mid-19th century. Reported translations covered the semantic field of "human nature, humanness, humanity; virtue, goodness, kindness". Grammatically, the word combines the root -ntʊ̀ "person, human being" with the class 14 ubu- prefix forming abstract nouns,[14] so that the term is exactly parallel in formation to the abstract noun humanity.[15]
The concept was popularised in terms of a "philosophy" or "world view" (as opposed to a quality attributed to an individual) beginning in the 1950s, notably in the writings of Jordan Kush Ngubane published in the African Drum magazine. From the 1970s, the ubuntu began to be described as a specific kind of "African humanism". Based on the context of Africanisation propagated by the political thinkers in the 1960s period of decolonisation, ubuntu was used as a term for a specifically African (or Southern African) kind of humanism found in the context of the transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The first publication dedicated to ubuntu as a philosophical concept appeared in 1980, Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy (hunhu being the Shona equivalent of Nguni ubuntu) by Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange. Hunhuism or Ubuntuism is presented as political ideology for the new Zimbabwe, as Southern Rhodesia attained independence from the United Kingdom.[13]
The concept was used in South Africa in the 1990s as a guiding ideal for the transition from apartheid to majority rule. The term appears in the Epilogue of the Interim Constitution of South Africa (1993), "there is a need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not for retaliation, a need for ubuntu but not for victimisation".[16]
In South Africa, it has come to be used as a contested[17] term for a kind of humanist philosophy, ethic, or ideology, also known as Ubuntuism propagated in the Africanisation (transition to majority rule) process of these countries during the 1980s and 1990s. New research has begun to question the exclusive "humanism" framing, and thus to suggest that ubuntu can have a "militaristic" angle - an ubuntu for warriors.[18]
Since the transition to democracy in South Africa with the Nelson Mandela presidency in 1994, the term has become more widely known outside of Southern Africa, notably popularised to English-language readers through the ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu.[19] Tutu was the chairman of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and many have argued that ubuntu was a formative influence on the TRC.
By country[edit]
Zimbabwe[edit]
In the Shona language, the majority spoken language in Zimbabwe, ubuntu is unhu or hunhu. In Ndebele, it is known as ubuntu. The concept of ubuntu is viewed the same in Zimbabwe as in other African cultures. The Shona phrase munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu means a person is human through others while ndiri nekuti tiri means I am because we are.
Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange (1980) highlights the three maxims of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism that shape this philosophy: The first maxim asserts that 'To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.' And 'the second maxim means that if and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life'. The third 'maxim' as a 'principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy' says 'that the king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him'.[13]
South Africa[edit]
Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a definition offered by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered a definition in a 1999 book:[20]
Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:.[21]
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows:[22]
Tim Jackson refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.[23] Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the hate speech trial of Julius Malema:.[24]
At Nelson Mandela's memorial, United States President Barack Obama spoke about Ubuntu, saying,
Malawi[edit]
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2013) |
In Malawi, the same philosophy is called "uMunthu" in the local Chewa language.[26] According to the Catholic Diocese of Zomba bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. Thomas Msusa, "The African worldview is about living as one family, belonging to God".[27] Msusa noted that in Africa "We say 'I am because we are', or in Chichewa kali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu (when you are on your own you are as good as an animal of the wild; when there are two of you, you form a community)."
The philosophy of uMunthu has been passed on through proverbs such as Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye (your neighbor's child is your own, his/her success is your success too).[27] Some notable Malawian uMunthu philosophers and intellectuals who have written about this worldview are Augustine Musopole, Gerard Chigona, Chiwoza Bandawe, Richard Tambulasi, Harvey Kwiyani and Happy Kayuni. This includes Malawian philosopher and theologist Harvey Sindima’s treatment of uMunthu as an important African philosophy is highlighted in his 1995 book Africa’s Agenda: The legacy of liberalism and colonialism in the crisis of African values.[28] In film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of Madonna's 2008 documentary, I Am Because We Are, about Malawian orphans.
Applications[edit]
In diplomacy[edit]
In June 2009, in her swearing-in remarks as US Department of State Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Global Partnership Initiative, Office of the Secretary of State, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley discussed ubuntu in the context of American foreign policy, stating: "In understanding the responsibilities that come with our interconnectedness, we realize that we must rely on each other to lift our World from where it is now to where we want it to be in our lifetime, while casting aside our worn out preconceptions, and our outdated modes of statecraft." She then introduced the notion of "Ubuntu Diplomacy" with the following words:
In education[edit]
In education, ubuntu has been used to guide and promote African education, and to decolonise it from western educational philosophies.[30] Ubuntu education uses the family, community, society, environment and spirituality as sources of knowledge but also as teaching and learning media.[4] The essence of education is family, community, societal and environmental well-being.[30] Ubuntu education is about learners becoming critical about their social conditions. Interaction, participation, recognition, respect and inclusion are important aspects of ubuntu education. Methods of teaching and learning include groups and community approaches. The objectives, content, methodology and outcomes of education are shaped by ubuntu.
In social work, welfare and development[edit]
This refers to Afrocentric ways of providing a social safety net to vulnerable members of society. Common elements include collectivity. The approach helps to "validate worldview and traditions suppressed by Western Eurocentric cultural hegemony".[31] It is against materialism and individualism. It looks at an individual person as holistically. The social interventions done by social workers, welfare workers and development workers should strengthen, not weaken families, communities, society, the environment and peoples's spirituality. These are the five pillars of ubuntu intervention: family, community, society, environment and spirituality.[4] Ubuntu is the current theme for the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development and represents the highest level of global messaging within social work profession for the years 2020–2030 .[32] Utilising the biopsychosocial and ecological system approaches, ubuntu is a philosophy that is applicable in clinical social work in mental health.[33]
In research[edit]
Ubuntu can guide research objectives, ethics and methodology.[34][35] Using ubuntu research approach provides researchers with an African oriented tool that decolonises research agenda and methodology.[34] The objectives of ubuntu research are to empower families, communities and society at large. In doing ubuntu research, the position of the researcher is important because it helps create research relationships. The agenda of the research belongs to the community, and true participation is highly valued. Ujamaa is valued, it means pulling together or collaboration.[36]
In moral philosophy[edit]
According to this philosophy, "actions are right roughly insofar as they are a matter of living harmoniously with others or honouring communal relationships", "One's ultimate goal should be to become a full person, a real self or a genuine human being". Ukama, i.e. relationships are important.[37] Among the Shona people, for example, when a person dies, his or her property is shared amongst relatives and there are culturally approved ways of doing this. The practice is called kugova. Samkange (1980)'s maxim on morality says “If and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life”.
In politics and leadership[edit]
Samkange (1980) said no foreign political philosophy can be useful in a country more than the indigenous philosophies.[13] "Is there a philosophy or ideology indigenous to (a) country that can serve its people just as well, if not better than, foreign ideologies?", asked Samkange in the book Hunhuism or Ubuntuism. His maxim for leadership is “The king owes his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him”.[13]: 7
In social justice, criminal justice and jurisprudence[edit]
Ubuntu justice has elements different from western societies: it values repairing relationships. Ubuntu justice emphasises these elements:[37]
- Deterrence which can be done socially, physically, economically or spiritually
- Returning and Replacement - meaning bring back what has been stolen, replacing it or compensating. In Shona language this is called kudzora and kuripa
- Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation (restoration of ukama or relations) after meeting the above
- Warnings and Punishments (retribution) from leaders and elders if the above have not been achieved or ignored
- Warnings and Punishments from spiritual beings if the above have not been met. In Shona culture, these are called jambwa and ngozi
Families, and at times community are involved in the process of justice.
African scholars have noted that while some elements of Ubuntu are liberating to women, others "marginalize and disempower" them, and "can be seen as engendering patriarchy".[38]
In popular culture[edit]
Ubuntu was a major theme in John Boorman's 2004 film In My Country.[39] Former US president Bill Clinton used the term at the 2006 Labour Party conference in the UK to explain why society is important.[40]
The Boston Celtics, the 2008 NBA champions, have chanted "ubuntu" when breaking a huddle since the start of the 2007–2008 season.[41] The first episode of the 2020 Netflix docuseries The Playbook shows how Boston Celtic's coach, Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers learned of the Ubuntu philosophy. The documentary then explores the impact of the philosophy on the team members and how it became their guiding principle.[42]
At the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), there was an Ubuntu Village exposition centre.[43] Ubuntu was the theme of the 76th General Convention of the American Episcopal Church.[44] The logo includes the text "I in You and You in Me".
In October 2004 Mark Shuttleworth, a South African entrepreneur and owner of UK based company Canonical Ltd., founded the Ubuntu Foundation that is the company behind the creation of a computer operating system based on Debian GNU/Linux. He named the Linux distribution Ubuntu.[3]
In film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of pop singer Madonna's documentary, I Am Because We Are about Malawian orphans.[45]
A character in the 2008 animated comedy The Goode Family is named Ubuntu.
Ubuntu was the title and theme of an EP released by British band Clockwork Radio in 2012.
Ubuntu was the title of an EP released by American rapper Sage Francis in 2012.[46]
Ubuntu was chosen as the name of a clan of meerkats in the 2021 season of Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty.
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Tutu, Desmond (2013). "Who we are: Human uniqueness and the African spirit of Ubuntu". YouTube. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ "The question: What does ubuntu really mean?". TheGuardian.com. 28 September 2006.
- ^ a b "About the Name". Official Ubuntu Documentation. Canonical. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d Mugumbate, Jacob Rugare; Chereni, Admire (23 April 2020). "Editorial: Now, the theory of Ubuntu has its space in social work". African Journal of Social Work. 10 (1). ISSN 2409-5605.
- ^ "Hunhu/Ubuntu in the Traditional Thought of Southern Africa". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- ^ Interviewed by Tim Modise, copyright by Canonical Ltd.--transcription: "In the old days, when we were young, a traveler through the country would stop at a village, and he didn't have to ask for food or for water; once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of ubuntu, but it will have various aspects".
- ^ Christian B. N. Gade (2012). "What is Ubuntu? Different Interpretations among South Africans of African Descent" (PDF). South African Journal of Philosophy. 31 (3): 484–503. doi:10.1080/02580136.2012.10751789. S2CID 27706776.
- ^ Eze, M. O. Intellectual History in Contemporary South Africa, pp. 190–191.
- ^ Lewis Griggs; Lente-Louise Louw (1995). Valuing Diversity: New Tools for a New Reality. McGraw-Hill. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-07-024778-9.
- ^ Eze, M. O. (2008). "What is African Comunitarianism? Against consensus as a regulative Ideal". South African Journal of Philosophy. 27 (4): 386–399. doi:10.4314/sajpem.v27i4.31526. S2CID 143775323.
- ^ Audrey Tang. "Open Source Enlightenment 2015 (Part 1)".
- ^ Mboti, N. (2015). "May the Real Please Stand Up?". Journal of Media Ethics. 30 (2): 125–147. doi:10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380. S2CID 53519937.
- ^ a b c d e Samkange, S., & T. M. Samkange (1980). Hunhuism or ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy. Salisbury [Harare]: Graham Publishing, ISBN 0-86921-015-7. 106pp. Paperback
- ^ see also Zulu noun classes on Wiktionary.
- ^ in the sense of an abstract quality. The sense "mankind" is taken by the class 7 collective noun isintu.
- ^ Christian B. N. Gade (2011). "The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu" (PDF). South African Journal of Philosophy. 30 (3): 303–329. doi:10.4314/sajpem.v30i3.69578. S2CID 143928483.
- ^ Mboti, Nyasha (3 April 2015). "May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up?". Journal of Media Ethics. 30 (2): 125–147. doi:10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380. ISSN 2373-6992. S2CID 53519937.
- ^ Chasi, Colin (2021). Ubuntu for Warriors. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
- ^ "Get the Definition of Ubuntu, a Nguni Word with Several Meanings". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
- ^ Tutu, Desmond (1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. Image. ISBN 0-385-49690-7.
- ^ "Brief Meaning of African Word 'UBUNTU'". Ubuntu Women Institute USA. 24 January 2012.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained
- ^ File:Experience ubuntu.ogg Experience Ubuntu Interview.
- ^ Jackson, Tim (July 2010). "Tim Jackson's Economic Reality Check". Speech. TED. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ^ Afri-Forum and Another vs. Malema and others, 23 (The Equality Court, Johannesburg 2011).
- ^ "Obama's Tribute To Nelson Mandela At Memorial Service - Business Insider". Business Insider. 10 December 2013.
- ^ "Pambazuka - Teaching uMunthu for global peace". pambazuka.org. 4 March 2016.
- ^ a b Steve Sharra (2008). "uMunthu, Peace and Education: On Malawi's 44th Independence Anniversary". Archived from the original on 22 July 2012.
- ^ "Community of Life: Ecological Theology in African Perspective".
- ^ U.S. Department of State. Ubuntu Diplomacy.
- ^ a b Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru, Oswell; Makuvaza, Ngoni (1 August 2014). "Hunhu: In Search of an Indigenous Philosophy for the Zimbabwean Education System Practice without thought is blind: thought without practice is empty" (PDF). Journal of Indigenous Social Development. 3 (1). ISSN 2164-9170.
- ^ Schiele, Jerome (1 June 1997). "An Afrocentric Perspective on Social Welfare Philosophy and Policy". The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. 24 (2). doi:10.15453/0191-5096.2414. ISSN 0191-5096. S2CID 142897928.
- ^ Mayaka, Bernard; Truell, Rory (20 July 2021). "Ubuntu and its potential impact on the international social work profession". International Social Work. 64 (5): 649–662. doi:10.1177/00208728211022787. ISSN 0020-8728.
- ^ Chigangaidze, Robert K. (4 July 2021). "Defending the African philosophy of ubuntu and its place in clinical social work practice in mental health: The biopsychosocial and ecological systems perspectives". Social Work in Mental Health. 19 (4): 276–288. doi:10.1080/15332985.2021.1910894. ISSN 1533-2985. S2CID 235172607.
- ^ a b Seehawer, Maren Kristin (4 July 2018). "Decolonising research in a Sub-Saharan African context: exploring Ubuntu as a foundation for research methodology, ethics and agenda". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 21 (4): 453–466. doi:10.1080/13645579.2018.1432404. ISSN 1364-5579. S2CID 149213225.
- ^ Mugumbate, Jacob; Mtetwa, Edmoss (12 January 2019). "Reframing social work research for Africa's consumers of research products: a guiding tool". African Journal of Social Work. 9 (2): 52–58.
- ^ Muwanga-Zake, J.W.F. (December 2009). "Building bridges across knowledge systems: Ubuntu and participative research paradigms in Bantu communities". Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 30 (4): 413–426. doi:10.1080/01596300903237198. S2CID 144633541.
- ^ a b Metz, Thaddeus; Gaie, Joseph B.R. (September 2010). "The African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho : implications for research on morality". Journal of Moral Education. 39 (3): 273–290. doi:10.1080/03057240.2010.497609. S2CID 143660998.
- ^ Manyonganise, Molly (2015). "Oppressive and liberative: A Zimbabwean woman's reflections on ubuntu". Verbum et Ecclesia. 36 (2): 1–7. doi:10.4102/VE.V36I2.1438. ISSN 2074-7705.
- ^ "The Listings", The New York Times, March 25, 2005.
- ^ Coughlan, Sean (28 September 2006). "All you need is ubuntu". BBC News Magazine. BBC. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ Kiszla, Mark (7 November 2007). "New Big 3 dream in green". The Denver Post. Denver Post. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- ^ "Watch the Playbook | Netflix Official Site". Netflix.
- ^ World Resources Institute. "The Success and Failures of Johannesburn: A Story of Many Summits". WRI.org.
- ^ General Convention 2009, EpiscopalChurch.org.
- ^ "I Am Because We Are". powerHouse Books.
- ^ "Sage Francis - "UBUNTU" song, video + fundraiser". Strange Famous Records. 2 December 2012.
Further reading[edit]
- Chasi, Colin (2021). Ubuntu for Warriors Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
- Mboti, N. (2014). "May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up?" Journal of Media Ethics 30(2), pp. 125–147.
- Battle, Michael (2007). Reconciliation: The ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu. Pilgrim Press. ISBN 978-0-8298-1158-2
- Blackwood, Alecia, "Transformative Learning: Improving Teachers' Cultural Competencies Through Knowledge and Practice of Ubuntu Pedagogy" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6056. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6056
- Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2017). "I am Because You Are: Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Xenophobia", Philosophical Papers, 46:1, 85-109
- Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2010). Intellectual history in contemporary South Africa. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-62299-9.
- Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2008). "What is African Comunitarianism? Against consensus as a regulative Ideal", South African Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 27:4, pp. 386–399
- Forster, Dion (2006). Self validating consciousness in strong artificial intelligence: An African theological contribution. Pretoria: Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Africa / UNISA, an extensive and detailed discussion of ubuntu in chapters 5–6.
- Forster, Dion (2006). Identity in relationship: The ethics of ubuntu as an answer to the impasse of individual consciousness (Paper presented at the South African science and religion Forum – Published in the book The impact of knowledge systems on human development in Africa. du Toit, CW (ed.), Pretoria, Research institute for Religion and Theology (University of South Africa) 2007:245–289).Pretoria: UNISA. Dion Forster
- Gade, C. B. N. (2017). A Discourse on African Philosophy: A New Perspective on Ubuntu and Transitional Justice in South Africa. New York: Lexington Books.
- Gade, C. B. N. (2011). "The historical development of the written discourses on ubuntu", South African Journal of Philosophy, 30(3), 303–329.
- Kamwangamalu, Nkonko M. (2014). Ubuntu in South Africa: A sociolinguistic perspective to a pan-African concept. In Molefi Kete Asante, Yoshitaka Miike, & Jing Yin (eds), The global intercultural communication reader (2nd edn, pp. 226–236). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Louw, Dirk J. 1998. "Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other". Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy.
- Metz, Thaddeus 2007, "Toward an African Moral Theory" (Symposium) S. Afr. J. Philos. 2007, 26(4).
- Ramose, Mogobe B. (2003). "The philosophy of ubuntu and ubuntu as a philosophy". In P. H. Coetzee & A. P. J. Roux (eds), The African philosophy reader (2nd edn, pp. 230–238). New York/London: Routledge.
- Samkange, S., & T. M. Samkange (1980). Hunhuism or ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy. Salisbury [Harare]: Graham Publishing, ISBN 0-86921-015-7. 106pp. Paperback.
- Sesanti, Simphiwe. (2022). Humane communication in African languages: African philosophical perspectives. In Yoshitaka Miike & Jing Yin (Eds.), The handbook of global interventions in communication theory (pp. 122–135). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp. 27–38.[dead link]https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/decolonizing-global-citizenship-education/
- Chigangaidze, Robert Kudakwashe. (2021). "An exposition of humanistic-existential social work in light of ubuntu philosophy: Towards theorizing ubuntu in social work practice". Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 40 (2), 146–165.
- Ukpokodu, O. N. (2016). You can't teach us if you don't know us and care about us: Becoming an ubuntu, responsive and responsible urban teacher. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.
External links[edit]
- "Hunhu/Ubuntu in the Traditional Thought of Southern Africa". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Ubuntu Party
- Ubuntu Planet
- Magolego, Melo. 2013. "Ubuntu in Western Society", M&G Thought Leader Blog
- Sonal Panse, Ubuntu – African Philosophy (buzzle.com)
- Sean Coughlan, "All you need is ubuntu", BBC News Magazine, Thursday, 28 September 2006.
- A. Onomen Asikele, Ubuntu Republics of Africa (2011)
우분투 (사상)
우분투 (운영 체제)는 이 사상에서 유래한 리눅스 배포판 중 하나이다.우분투(ubuntu)는 사람들간의 관계와 헌신에 중점을 둔 윤리 사상이다. 이 말은 남아프리카의 반투어에서 유래된 말로, 아프리카의 전통적 사상이며 평화운동의 사상적 뿌리이다. 남아프리카 성공회 대주교인 데스몬드 투투 대주교에 의하면 옮겨 쓰기에는 어려울 정도로 다양한 뜻이 있다고 한다.
의미[편집]
- 넬슨 만델라는 우분투를 다음과 같이 설명하였다.
우분투에 근거한 과거사 청산[편집]
한국말로 옮기자면 자비의 실천이라고 할 수 있을 우분투는 인종차별시절 백인들이 국가주의에 근거한 폭력으로 국가의 유지를 위해서는 사람을 죽이거나 고문해도 된다는 반인권적인 생각으로 흑인들을 핍박한 과거사를 진실은 국가폭력 피해자들과 가해자들의 증언 듣기, 피해자 유골 발굴 등으로 철저하게 밝히는 한편 가해자들이 잘못을 고백하고 뉘우치면 사면함으로써 극복하게 하였다. 실제 사례로 흑인들의 인종차별 폐지 투쟁을 국가폭력으로 탄압한 보안군 출신 가해자가 아프리카 민족회의 활동가를 살해한 죄를 정직하게 고백하자, 방청석의 흑인 방청객들이 용서의 뜻으로 박수를 보낸 사례가 있다.[2]
각주[편집]
Ubuntu (philosophy)
Ubuntu pronounced [ùbúntú], is a traditional African concept. The word ubuntu comes from the Zulu and Xhola languages, and can be roughly translated as "humanity towards others." Ubuntu embodies all those virtues that maintain harmony and the spirit of sharing among the members of a society. It implies an appreciation of traditional beliefs, and a constant awareness that an individual’s actions today are a reflection on the past, and will have far-reaching consequences for the future. A person with ubuntu knows his or her place in the universe and is consequently able to interact gracefully with other individuals. One aspect of ubuntu is that, at all times, the individual effectively represents the people from among whom he or she comes, and therefore tries to behave according to the highest standards and exhibit the virtues upheld by his or her society.
During the 1990s, the concept of ubuntu was adapted as an ideology by post-apartheid South Africa, as a vehicle to bring about harmony and cooperation among its many racial and ethnic groups. The ethical values of ubuntu include respect for others, helpfulness, community, sharing, caring, trust, and unselfishness. Ubuntu underscores the importance of agreement or consensus, and gives priority to the well-being of the community as a whole.
Meaning of the word ubuntu
The word ubuntu comes from the Zulu and Xhola languages, and can be roughly translated as "humanity towards others," and "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity." Related Bantu languages have similar terms. In the Shona language, the most common spoken language in Zimbabwe after English, ubuntu is unhu; the concept of ubuntu in Zimbabwe is similar to that of other African cultures. In Kinyarwanda, the mother tongue in Rwanda, and in Kirundi, the mother tongue in Burundi, ubuntu means 'human generosity' as well as 'humanity.' In Rwanda and Burundi societies, it is common for people to exhort or appeal to others to gira ubuntu meaning to "have consideration and be humane" towards others. In Runyakitara, the collection of dialects spoken by the Banyankore, Banyoro, Batooro and Bakiga of Western Uganda and also the Bahaya, Banyambo and others of Northern Tanzania, obuntu refers to the human characteristics of generosity, consideration and humaneness towards others in the community. In Luganda, the dialect of Central Uganda obuntu-bulamu refers to the same characteristics.
Samkange’s explanation of ubuntu
In 1980, Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange (1922–1988), a Zimbabwean historiographer, educator, journalist, author, and African nationalist, attempted to systematize an African epistemology in Hunuism or Ubuntuism. He emphasized three maxims which shape the philosophy of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism:
- “To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.”
- “If and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life.”
- “The king owes his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him.” This, Samkange said, was a “principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy.”
According to Samkange, sharing is only one of many virtues encompassed within unhu. In the ethical domain of unhu, all visitors are provided for and protected in every home they pass through, without the expectation of payment, and do not need to carry provisions when they are on the read, as long as they dress in a respectable manner. Every individual who is aware of the presence of a visitor within a locality should try his or her best to make that visitor comfortable.
Another aspect of ubuntu is that, at all times, the individual effectively represents the people from among whom he or she comes. It is taboo to call elderly people by their given names; instead they are called by their surnames to banish individualism and replace it with a representative role. The individual’s identity is replaced by a larger societal identity. Every individual represents a family, village, district, province and region. This requires the individual to behave according to the highest standards and to exhibit, to the greatest possible degree, the virtues upheld by his or her society. Unhu embodies all those virtues that maintain harmony and the spirit of sharing among the members of a society.
A key concept associated with ubuntu, or unhu, is behavior and interaction in the context of various social roles. For example, a daughter-in-law traditionally kneels down when greeting her parents-in-law and serves them food, as a sign of respect. She maintains the highest standards, because her behavior is a reflection on her family and on all the women raised in that family. The daughter-in-law does this as part of the ambassadorial function that she assumes at all times. A woman’s deference to a husband or brother does not imply that the woman is subordinate, only that she possesses unhu and knows the proper attitude and behavior for each social circumstance.
Under unhu, children are never orphans, since the roles of mother and father are, by definition, not vested in a single individual with respect to a single child. Furthermore, a man or a woman with unhu will never allow any child around him or her to be an orphan.
The concept of unhu is also essential to traditional African jurisprudence and governance. Under unhu, a crime committed by one individual against another extends far beyond the two individuals and has far-reaching implications for the people from among whom the perpetrator of the crime comes. Unhu jurisprudence supports remedies and punishments that tend to bring people together. A crime of murder might be remedied by creating a bond of marriage between the families of the victim and the accused, in addition to punishing the perpetrator both inside and outside his social circles. The family and the society from which the criminal came are regarded as a sort of “tertiary perpetrator,” and are punished with a fine and social stigma that can only be absolved by many years of demonstrating unhu or ubuntu. A leader who has unhu is selfless, consults widely and listens to his subjects. He or she does not adopt a lifestyle that is different from his subjects, but lives among them and shares what he owns. A leader who has unhu does not lead but allows the people to lead themselves. Forcefully imposing his or her will on his people is incompatible with unhu.
Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language. When we want to give high praise to someone we say, Yu u nobuntu; "Hey, so-and-so has ubuntu." Then you are generous, you are hospitable, you are friendly and caring and compassionate. You share what you have. It is to say, "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours." ... We say, "A person is a person through other persons." ... A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. ... To forgive is not just to be altruistic. It is the best form of self-interest. What dehumanizes you inexorably dehumanizes me. [Forgiveness] gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them. [1]
Ubuntu and Western Humanism
The unifying worldview of Ubuntu is expressed in the Zulu maxim "umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu," ("a person is a person through other persons"),[2] also common in Shona as "munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu." By a Western humanist, this aphorism might be interpreted as an effective social ethic or rule of conduct, or simply as a description of the human situation. In traditional African thought this maxim has a profoundly religious significance. “Persons” includes not only living human beings, but ancestors who have already died and children who have not yet been born.[3] Ubuntu or unhu embodies deep respect for ancestors, and includes all the attitudes and behaviors necessary not only for a harmonious life with other individuals on earth, but with ancestors in the world beyond death and with those who will live on earth in the future. Every individual is the fruit of his or her ancestors, and will become the ancestor of all future descendants.
Ubuntu implies an appreciation of traditional beliefs, and a constant awareness that an individual’s actions today are a reflection on the past, and will have far-reaching consequences for the future. A person with ubuntu knows his or her place in the universe and is consequently able to interact gracefully with other individuals. Those who uphold ubuntu throughout their lives will, in death, achieve a unity with those still living. In Western thought, an individual is a pre-existent and self-sufficient being and exists prior to, separately and independently from the rest of the community or society. Ubuntu defines the individual only in terms of his or her relationships with others in the community. As these relationships change, the character of the individual changes. An individual constitutes multiple personalities corresponding to his or her various roles in society.[4]
Change in South Africa
During the 1990s, the concept of ubuntu was adapted into an ideology in post-apartheid South Africa, as a vehicle to bring about harmony and cooperation among its many racial and ethnic groups. Ubuntu is regarded as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa, and has been associated with the idea of an “African Renaissance.” In the political sphere, the concept of ubuntu is used to emphasize the need for unity or consensus in decision-making, as well as the need for a suitably humanitarian ethic to inform those decisions.
The ethical values of ubuntu ideology include respect for others, helpfulness, community, sharing, caring, trust and unselfishness. It is seen as a basis for a morality of co-operation, compassion, and communalism. Ubuntu underscores the importance of agreement or consensus, and gives priority to the well-being of the community as a whole.
A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you be able to improve?[5]
The concept of ubuntu ideology is illustrated in the film In My Country, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche.
Applications
The "Ubuntu" distribution of the Linux computer operating system claims that it "brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world."[6][7]
Ubuntu is the founding philosophy of Ubuntu Pathways (formerly Ubuntu Education Fund), an NGO working with orphans and vulnerable children in Gqeberha, South Africa, previously known as Port Elizabeth.[8]
Notes
- ↑ Desmond Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness (Doubleday, 1999, ISBN 978-0385496896).
- ↑ Augustine Shutte, Philosophy for Africa (Rondebosch, South Africa: UCT Press, 1993, ISBN 9780799214871), 46.
- ↑ John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy (Heinemann, Oxford, 1990, ISBN 9780435895914), 108.
- ↑ Dirk J. Louw, Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other. Paper delivered at the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, Massachusetts, August 10-15, 1998. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ↑ The Ubuntu Experience (Nelson Mandela Interview), YouTube. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ↑ The story of Ubuntu Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ↑ Ubuntu: Code of Conduct Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ↑ Ubuntu Pathways Retrieved November 17, 2022.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Broodryk, Johann. Ubuntu: life lessons from Africa. Pretoria: Ubuntu School of Philosophy, 2002. ISBN 9780620293310
- Matshe, Getrude. Born on the continent: Ubuntu. Wellington, NZ: Gertrude Matshe, 2006. ISBN 9780473110208
- Mbiti, John S. African Religions and Philosophy. Oxford: Heinemann, 1990. ISBN 9780435895914
- Samkange, Stanlake John Thompson, and Tommie Marie Samkange. Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe indigenous political philosophy. Salisbury: Graham Pub., 1980. ISBN 9780869210154
- Shutte, Augustine. Philosophy for Africa. Rondebosch, South Africa: UCT Press, 1993. ISBN 9780799214871
- Tutu, Desmond. No Future Without Forgiveness. Doubleday, 1999. ISBN 978-0385496896
External Links
All links retrieved May 2, 2023.
- Ubuntu told by Nelson Mandela YouTube
- 'I Am Because We Are': The African Philosophy of Ubuntu
- Hunhu/Ubuntu in the Traditional Thought of Southern Africa Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- What does ubuntu really mean? by Nkem Ifejika, The Guardian
What Is the Spirit of Ubuntu? How Can We Have It in Our Lives?
We all have a lot to learn from this beautiful southern African philosophy.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE
When former president of the United States, Barack Obama, made a speech earlier this year in Johannesburg — at the 2018 Nelson Mandela annual lecture — he said that Mandela “understood the ties that bind the human spirit.”
“There is a word in South Africa — Ubuntu — that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us,” Obama said.
Take Action: End Modern Slavery: Ask World Leaders to Ratify the Forced Labour Protocol
“Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu” or “I am, because you are” is how we describe the meaning of Ubuntu. It speaks to the fact that we are all connected and that one can only grow and progress through the growth and progression of others.
Ubuntu has since been used as a reminder for society on how we should be treating others.
Nelson Mandela once said: “A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects."
This example of the concept of Ubuntu shows the exact “oneness” Obama describes in his speech. As a society, looking after one another plays a major role in the success of humanity.
Related Stories
Mandela is the true definition of Ubuntu, as he used this concept to lead South Africa to a peaceful post-apartheid transition. He never had the intention of teaching our oppressors a lesson. Instead, he operated with compassion and integrity, showing us that for us to be a better South Africa, we cannot act out of vengeance or retaliation, but out of peace.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1996, also touched on the meaning of Ubuntu and how it defines us as a society.
“We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world,” he said. “When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity."
This is exactly what Ubuntu is about, it’s a reminder that no one is an island — every single thing that you do, good or bad, has an effect on your family, friends, and society. It also reminds us that we need think twice about the choices we want to make and the kind of impact they may have on others.
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What exactly are we doing to live Ubuntu and make it a daily act in our lives?
Gender inequality, poverty, and violence happens on a global scale and these atrocities are what tells us that we need to do more as a society to actively live and breathe Ubuntu and put it into action on a daily basis.
Everyone in society needs to play a part, regardless of how small one may think it is. We all have a role to play and it’s of vital importance that our actions inspire others to want to be a part of a better and brighter future.
Ubuntu is also about justice, and particularly, justice for all people. As much as we must look after each other, it is also just as important that we exercise fairness and equality for all people regardless of race, gender, or social status.
So essentially, Ubuntu is about togetherness as well as a fight for the greater good. This is what Mandela was prepared to sacrifice his life for.
Ubuntu is the common thread and DNA that runs through the UN’s Global Goals, because without the spirit of Ubuntu within us, we cannot implement great change in our society. It’s imperative that we help all people, young and old, to achieve only the best for our future.
The Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 is presented and hosted by The Motsepe Foundation, with major partners House of Mandela, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Nedbank, Vodacom, Coca Cola Africa, Big Concerts, BMGF Goalkeepers, Eldridge Industries, and associate partners HP and Microsoft.
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