Reconsidering Ubuntu: On the educational potential of a particular ethic of care

Educational Philosophy and Theory 44 (s2):6-20 (2012)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this article we argue that ubuntu (human interdependence) is not some form of essentialist notion that unfolds in exactly the same way as some critics of ubuntu might want to suggest. Rather, we offer a philosophical position that (re)considers the situation of the self in relation to others. The article starts from the general issues at stake in the debate concerning particularity and universalist ethics. We then reconsider the general position of the ethics of care, and particularly how it has recently been revisited by Michael Slote. Following this, ubuntu is characterised as a particular kind of ethic of care. With this in mind, what we shall put forward is an extension of Seyla Benhabib's (2006) view that the self and others should iteratively and hospitably engage in deliberation. Although we agree with Benhabib that iterations (as arguing over and over again and talking back) are worthwhile in themselves, considering ubuntu (‘a person becoming a person in relation with other persons’), we find Stanley Cavell's (1979) idea of ‘living with skepticism’—particularly, acknowledging humanity in the Other and oneself—as more apposite to extend the theoretical premises of ubuntu. Although the practice of ubuntu is lived out differently amongst Africa's people, we want to add to the diverse ways in which ubuntu can both disrupt and offer ways as to how challenges of human conflict and violence can possibly be resolved. The article finally addresses a couple of educational examples and argues that this approach, by being well-grounded in the life experience of learners, can critically assist the central role of education

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

In Defence of Ubuntu.Moeketsi Letseka - 2011 - Studies in Philosophy and Education 31 (1):47-60.
The Notion of Ubuntu and Communalism in African Educational Discourse.Elza Venter - 2004 - Studies in Philosophy and Education 23 (2/3):149-160.
Understanding South Africa: the uBuntu way of living.Johann Broodryk - 2007 - Waterkloof, South Africa: uBuntu School of Philosophy.
The african view of participatory business management.E. D. Prinsloo - 2000 - Journal of Business Ethics 25 (4):275 - 286.
Ubuntu: an ethic for a new South Africa.Augustine Shutte - 2001 - Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications.
Ubuntu as a Moral Theory and Human Rights in South Africa.Thaddeus Metz - 2011 - African Human Rights Law Journal 11 (2):532-559.
Dignity in the Ubuntu Tradition.Thaddeus Metz - 2014 - In Marcus Düwell (ed.), Cambridge Handbook on Human Dignity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 310-18.
Ubuntu, Ukama and the Healing of Nature, Self and Society.Lesley le Grange - 2012 - Educational Philosophy and Theory 44 (s2):56-67.
Toward an african moral theory.Thaddeus Metz - 2007 - Journal of Political Philosophy 15 (3):321–341.

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-11-03

Downloads
84 (#183,889)

6 months
8 (#158,054)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

Core aspects of ubuntu: A systematic review.C. Ewuoso & S. Hall - 2019 - South African Journal of Bioethics and Law 12 (2):93.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Philosophical Investigations.Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1953 - New York, NY, USA: Wiley-Blackwell. Edited by G. E. M. Anscombe.
The Ethics of Care and Empathy.Michael Slote - 2001 - New York: Routledge.

View all 16 references / Add more references