The Philosophy of Ubuntu and the Origins of Democracy

The Philosophy of Ubuntu and the Origins of Democracy PDF

Author: Jeroen Zandberg

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2010-03-23

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 1445282348

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This book deals with the African philosophy of Ubuntu and uses the latest scientific insights into human nature to show how to understand the human condition and best organize societyThe philosophy of Ubuntu states that people are by nature directed at others and that they can only be fully human when they are recognized by others. Ubuntu therefore provides for the best possible solution for the social contract theory. In Western and Eastern philosophy all connections are imposed from the outside causing a chicken-and-the-egg problem with social contract theories. These theories state that individuals enter an agreement with each other in order to live together. Unfortunately a contract can only have value if there is already a morality present but in both Western and Eastern philosophy this morality is not innately present making it impossible to ever come to a contract. This problem is not present with Ubuntu because there is an innate tendency to recognize others as part of the Self

Ubuntu

Ubuntu PDF

Author: Mfuniselwa John Bhengu

Publisher: Novalis Press (ZA)

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13:

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This title explains the concept of Ubuntu since there is no equivalent English word for Ubuntu. Ubuntu ( the Essence of Democracy) stands for a process that is active and adaptable.

The Secret History of Democracy

The Secret History of Democracy PDF

Author: Benjamin Isakhan

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-01-28

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0230299466

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This book explores the intriguing idea that there is much more democracy in human history than is generally acknowledged. It establishes that democracy was developing across greater Asia before classical Athens, clung on during the 'Dark Ages', often formed part of indigenous governance and is developing today in unexpected ways.

Ubuntu and the Reconstitution of Community

Ubuntu and the Reconstitution of Community PDF

Author: James Ogude

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2019-05-16

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 0253042143

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Ubuntu is premised on the ethical belief that an individual's humanity is fostered in a network of human relationships: I am because you are; we are because you are. The essays in this lively volume elevate the debate about ubuntu beyond the buzzword it has become, especially within South African religious and political contexts. The seasoned scholars and younger voices gathered here grapple with a range of challenges that ubuntu puts forward. They break down its history and analyze its intellectual surroundings in African philosophical traditions, European modernism, religious contexts, and human rights discourses. The discussion embraces questions about what it means to be human and to be a part of a community, giving attention to moments of loss and fragmentation in postcolonial modernity, to come to a more meaningful definition of belonging in a globalizing world. Taken together, these essays offer a rich understanding of ubuntu in all of its complexity and reflect on a value system rooted in the everyday practices of ordinary people in their daily encounters with churches, schools, and other social institutions.

A Relational Model of Public Discourse

A Relational Model of Public Discourse PDF

Author: Leyla Tavernaro-Haidarian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-01-29

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13: 1351108611

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Contemporary democratic discourses are frequently, though not exclusively, characterized by an attitude of ‘pro and con' where the aim is to persuade others, a jury or an audience, of what is right and what is wrong. Challenging such procedures, this book teases out an alternative model of public discourse that is based in collaboration and deliberation. The African philosophy of ubuntu offers valuable insights in this regard as it implies relational notions of power that contrast and complement individualist facets. It provides the space to think and speak in ways that support harmonious and cohesive societal structures and practices. The book’s model of communication rests on the premise that the various interests of individuals and groups, while richly diverse, can be conceived of as profoundly bound-up rather than incompatible. In this way communication enables broader lines of action and a wider scope for achieving diversity and common ground.

Philosophy, Democracy and Responsible Governance in Africa

Philosophy, Democracy and Responsible Governance in Africa PDF

Author: Josephat Obi Oguejiofor

Publisher: Lit Verlag

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13:

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The essays presented in this collection set out to explore various aspects of the issue of governance and to reflect on how governance in Africa can be made to be more responsible. All the contributors exhibit clear awareness of the stupendous problems confronting governance in Africa, and make different suggestions aimed at obviating the difficulties. The volume is a timely and welcome contribution to the never-ending discussions about Africa, its problems, its leaders and managers, and the possible ways of drawing it out of the quagmire into which decades of bad governance, in addition to many other factors, have thrown most countries of the continent.

Freedom and Democracy in an Imperial Context

Freedom and Democracy in an Imperial Context PDF

Author: Robert Nichols

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-03-26

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 1135053820

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Freedom and Democracy in an Imperial Context: Dialogues with James Tully gathers leading thinkers from across the humanities and social sciences in a celebration of, and critical engagement with, the recent work of Canadian political philosopher James Tully. Over the past thirty years, James Tully has made key contributions to some of the most pressing questions of our time, including: interventions in the history of moral and political thought, contemporary political philosophy, democracy, citizenship, imperialism, recognition and cultural diversity. In 2008, he published Public Philosophy in a New Key, a two-volume work that promises to be one of the most influential and important statements of legal and political thought in recent history. This work, along with numerous other books and articles, is foundational to a distinctive school of political thought, influencing thinkers in fields as diverse as Anthropology, History, Indigenous Studies, Law, Philosophy and Political Science. Critically engaging with James Tully’s thought, the essays in this volume take up what is his central, and ever more pressing, question: how to enact democratic practices of freedom within and against historically sedimented and actually existing relationships of imperialism?

The Roots of Participatory Democracy

The Roots of Participatory Democracy PDF

Author: M. Williams

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2008-05-26

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 0230612601

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This book compares the Communist parties of India and South Africa in their pursuits of socialist democracy. Williams looks at their organizational characteristics, party history, and their competing tendencies, as well as how they have pushed forward their similar ideologies within their unique political and economic environments.

African Philosophy Through Ubuntu

African Philosophy Through Ubuntu PDF

Author: Mogobe B. Ramose

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13:

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In spite of decolonisation, the philosophical character of European standpoint on colonisation together with its corresponding practices remains unchanged in its relations with the erstwhile colonies. It is precisely this condition which calls for the need for the authentic liberation of Africa. This speaks of a two-fold exigency. One is that the colonised people's conceptions of reality, knowledge and truth should be released from slavery and dominance under the European epistemological paradigm. Without this essential first step there cannot evolve a common authentic and liberating universe of discourse. The second exigency is that the evolving common universe of discourse must take into account the rational demands of justice to the colonised arising from the unjust wars of conquest that resulted in colonial disseizing of territory as well as the enslavement of the colonised. These rational demands of justice are specifically the restoration of territory to its indigenous rightful owners and reparations to them. This two fold exigency is the indisplensable neccessity for the authentic liberation of Africa, and indeed, all the colonised people of the world.