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Doing Moral Philosophy Through Personhood

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Handbook of African Philosophy

Part of the book series: Handbooks in Philosophy ((HP))

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Abstract

The chapter provides the reader with one way to approach and understand African moral philosophy. It pivots African moral philosophy on the concepts of personhood. It identifies these concepts of personhood in the salient axiological concept of Ubuntu, which is typically explained in terms of the saying “a person is a person through other persons.” In relation to the first two instances of the concepts of personhood in the saying, it identifies three crucial themes of African moral philosophy. First, it identifies foundational issues relating the source and the nature of moral value as secular and construes morality to be derived from human nature. In relation to foundations, it further clarifies that African ethics is a dignity-based ethics. Second, it identifies and elucidates the final good to revolve around the pursuit and acquisition of virtue or excellence. Finally, it considers the robustness of African moral philosophy by considering how it can account for right action, the debate on partiality and impartiality and the status and place of animals in African moral philosophy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Leadership Ethics in Africa, University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa

    Motsamai Molefe

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  1. Motsamai Molefe
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Correspondence to Motsamai Molefe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Director of the Centre for Global and Comparative Philosophies, School of History, Religions and Philosophies, School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London, London, UK

    Elvis Imafidon

  2. Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Mpho Tshivhase

  3. Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy Gettysburg College, Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania, USA

    Björn Freter

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Molefe, M. (2023). Doing Moral Philosophy Through Personhood. In: Imafidon, E., Tshivhase, M., Freter, B. (eds) Handbook of African Philosophy. Handbooks in Philosophy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25149-8_5

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