Abstract
This article proffers a personhood-based conception of a meaningful life. I look
into the ethical structure of the salient idea of personhood in African philosophy
to develop an account of a meaningful life. In my view, the ethics of personhood is
constituted by three components, namely (1) the fact of being human, which informs
(2) a view of moral status qua the capacity for moral virtue, and (3) which specifies
the final good of achieving or developing a morally virtuous character. In light of
the ethics of personhood, I will propose the view that a meaningful life is a function
of achieving moral excellence or perfection. The moral perfection proposed here, to
embody a meaningful life, is of a deontological and satisficing kind. The achievement
of satisfactory levels of moral excellence, within sociopolitical and moral limits,
captures the essence of a meaningful life. I conclude the article by considering
objections against the view proposed here.