What is Ubuntu? Different Interpretations among South Africans of African Descent

Abstract

In this article, I describe and systematize the different answers to the
question ‘What is ubuntu?’ that I have been able to identify among
South Africans of African descent (SAADs). I show that it is possible
to distinguish between two clusters of answers. The answers of the
first cluster all define ubuntu as a moral quality of a person, while the
answers of the second cluster all define ubuntu as a phenomenon (for
instance a philosophy, an ethic, African humanism, or, a worldview)
according to which persons are interconnected. The concept of a
person is of central importance to all the answers of both clusters,
which means that to understand these answers, it is decisive to raise
the question of who counts as a person according to SAADs. I show
that some SAADs define all Homo sapiens as persons, whereas others
hold the view that only some Homo sapiens count as persons:
only those who are black, only those who have been incorporated into
personhood, or only those who behave in a morally acceptable
manner.