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Human Dignity in an African Context

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2023-12-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783031373404

This book is a contribution to African philosophy, by philosophers focusing specifically on the concept of human dignity in ethical theory. The concept of ‘human dignity’ denotes the intrinsic and superlative worth associated with human beings in virtue of which we owe them utmost moral regard. Although dignity is a foundational concept for African philosophy, there remains scant literature in African philosophy dedicated to critical and systematic reflection on the concept of human dignity. This volume responds to this lacuna by bringing together chapters that offer philosophical exposition, defense (or even rejection) and application of the concept of human dignity in light of intellectual resources in African cultures, such as ubuntu, personhood, and serithi.

Human Dignity in African Philosophy

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-03-01

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13: 3030932176

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This book throws a spotlight on the under-explored African perspective on the mercurial concept of human dignity. To do so, it employs two strategies. In the first instance, it considers African theories of human dignity: (1) vitality; (2) community; (3) Personhood. Secondly, it explores the plausibility of these theories by applying them to select applied ethics themes, specifically: animal ethics, disability ethics and euthanasia. The aim of this book is not to argue for the plausibility of these African theories, but to familiarize the global audience of philosophy, ethics and related disciplines (legal studies, sociology, bioethics and so on) with a neglected African perspective on this vital concept. The books is aimed at scholars of philosophy interested in non-European and specifically African perspective.

An African Philosophy of Personhood, Morality, and Politics

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-04-02

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 3030155617

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This book explores the salient ethical idea of personhood in African philosophy. It is a philosophical exposition that pursues the ethical and political consequences of the normative idea of personhood as a robust or even foundational ethical category. Personhood refers to the moral achievements of the moral agent usually captured in terms of a virtuous character, which have consequences for both morality and politics. The aim is not to argue for the plausibility of the ethical and political consequences of the idea of personhood. Rather, the book showcases some of the moral-political content and consequences of the account it presents.

African Personhood and Applied Ethics

Author: Molefe, Motsamai

Publisher: NISC (Pty) Ltd

Published: 2020-02-16

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 1920033696

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Recently, the salient idea of personhood in the tradition of African philosophy has been objected to on various grounds. Two such objections stand out – the book deals with a lot more. The first criticism is that the idea of personhood is patriarchal insofar as it elevates the status of men and marginalises women in society. The second criticism observes that the idea of personhood is characterised by speciesism. The essence of these concerns is that personhood fails to embody a robust moral-political view. African Personhood and Applied Ethics offers a philosophical explication of the ethics of personhood to give reasons why we should take it seriously as an African moral perspective that can contribute to global moral-political issues. The book points to the two facets that constitute the ethics of personhood – an account of (1) moral perfection and (2) dignity. It then draws on the under-explored view of dignity qua the capacity for sympathy inherent in the moral idea of personhood to offer a unified account of selected themes in applied ethics, specifically women, animal and development.

Odera Oruka and the Right to a Human Minimum

Author: Michael Kamau Mburu

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-06-21

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 1793650039

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Odera Oruka and the Human Minimum: An African Philosopher's Defence of Human Dignity and Environment considers the work of Odera Oruka (1944–1995)—arguably one of the finest philosophers in Africa—by analyzing his major practical contribution to philosophy from the practical point of view. Odera Oruka is well known for his sage philosophy, but his "practical philosophy" has received less attention. This book situates Oruka within philosophical discourses around issues of justice, human rights, ethical duty, ecology, humanism, and politics. A thread that ties these questions together is Oruka's argument for the right to a human minimum, defined by three basic human needs: physical security, subsistence, and health care. Michael Kamau Mburu explores how these three taken together constitute the most basic and necessary (though not sufficient) right, and establishing this right is a means to ensuring human dignity, a condition for global justice. The book also expounds and applies some ethical values and philosophies from Africa—such as "ubuntu" or humanness—to clarify, defend, and promote human dignity without jeopardizing the environment.

African Personhood and Applied Ethics

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2020-02-03

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 192003370X

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Recently, the salient idea of personhood in the tradition of African philosophy has been objected to on various grounds. Two such objections stand out the book deals with a lot more. The first criticism is that the idea of personhood is patriarchal insofar as it elevates the status of men and marginalises women in society. The second criticism observes that the idea of personhood is characterised by speciesism. The essence of these concerns is that personhood fails to embody a robust moral-political view. African Personhood and Applied Ethics offers a philosophical explication of the ethics of personhood to give reasons why we should take it seriously as an African moral perspective that can contribute to global moral-political issues. The book points to the two facets that constitute the ethics of personhood an account of (1) moral perfection and (2) dignity. It then draws on the under-explored view of dignity qua the capacity for sympathy inherent in the moral idea of personhood to offer a unified account of selected themes in applied ethics, specifically women, animal and development.

An African Ethics of Personhood and Bioethics

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-05-30

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 3030465195

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This book articulates an African conception of dignity in light of the salient axiological category of personhood in African cultures. The idea of personhood embodies a moral system for evaluating human lives exuding with virtue or ones that are morally excellent. This book argues that this idea of personhood embodies an under-explored conception of dignity, which accounts for it in terms of our capacity for the virtue of sympathy. It then proceeds to apply this personhood-based conception of dignity to bioethical questions, specifically, those of abortion and euthanasia. Regarding abortion, it concludes that it is impermissible since foetuses possess partial moral status. Regarding euthanasia, it argues that it is permissible for reasons revolving around avoiding the reversing of personhood. It also, though, minimally, touches on the questions regarding the mentally disabled and animals, to which it assigns lower moral status.

African Conceptions of Human Dignity

Author: Brett G. Scharffs

Publisher: African Sun Media

Published:

Total Pages: 213

ISBN-13: 1991260253

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Contributors join together in this tenth ACLARS volume to propose a framing of human rights in terms of African conceptions of human dignity. Following on the signing of the Punta del Este and Botswana Declarations of Human Dignity for Everyone Everywhere in 2018 and 2023, contributors discuss human dignity as an African and indigenous concept grounded in relationship, community, and an overarching ethic of Ubuntu. Chapters further explore human dignity’s many meanings and relation to other rights in the African context, as well as human dignity’s connection to basic human needs, state obligations, religion and theology, gender and age, and the environment.

Towards an African Political Philosophy of Needs

Author: Motsamai Molefe

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-02-16

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 3030644960

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This book focuses on the domains of moral philosophy, political philosophy, and political theory within African philosophy. At the heart of the volume is a call to imagine African political philosophy as embodying a needs-based political vision. While discourses in African political philosophy have fixated on the normative framework of human rights law to articulate demands for social and global justice, this book charts a new frontier in African political thought by turning from ‘rights’ to ‘needs.’ The authors aim to re-orient discourses in African philosophy beyond the impasse of rights-based confrontations to shift the conversation toward needs as a cornerstone of African political theory.