Defining ubuntu
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In 2005 I developed a fascination for UBUNTU. Somehow this traditional African philosophy seemed to me to have a truer ring than our conventional models. My research exposed me to a philosophy fundamentally out of tune with contemporary Western thinking. This was about WE … not ME. Its an approach that sets out to build and maintain a true sense of community through compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity. Here is what I uncovered … DEFINING “UBUNTU” (C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
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Transcript of Defining ubuntu
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
In 2005 I developed a fascination for UBUNTU. Somehow this traditional African philosophy seemed to me to have a truer ring than our conventional models.
My research exposed me to a philosophy fundamentally out of tune with contemporary Western thinking.
This was about WE … not ME.
Its an approach that sets out to build and maintain a true sense of community through compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity.
Here is what I uncovered …
DEFINING “UBUNTU”
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
“I AM BECAUSE WE ARE”.
“YOUR PAIN IS MY PAIN, YOUR PROSPERITY IS MY PROSPERITY, YOUR SALVATION IS MYSALVATION.”
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU … AND BEING “HUMAN”
Through UBUNTU we affirm our humanity when we acknowledge the humanity of others. Through our interaction with others we discover our own human qualities. Through mutual-support and a positive outlook we overcome hardship and misery and promote the well-being of the individual, the community and ultimately of society at large.
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU … THE COLLABORATION PRINCIPLE …UBUNTU encourages participation and extolls the virtues of building consensus and a common vision which all participants accept and buy into … a sound foundation for COLLABORATION
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU AND THE INDIVIDUAL …UBUNTU asks us to think of the individual not as a solitary, self-sufficient entity who exists independent of the rest of society ... but rather as individual human beings in relation to the rest of Creation.
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU AND RELATIONSHIPS …• UBUNTU considers our interconnectedness, our common humanity, our shared
knowledge and wisdom.
• According to UBUNTU, relationships are fluid and change with time, as do the characters of the individuals concerned. Thus each individual in effect has a host of personalities corresponding to the multiplicity of relationships in which the individual is involved.
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU AND CAPITALISM …
The Cartesian conception of individuality does not take cognisance of relationships … and instead exaggerates the solitary aspects of human existence while largely ignoring the relationship aspects.
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU AND SOCIALISM …Collectivism makes the same mistake, only on a larger scale. For the collectivist, society is nothing but a collection of separately existing, detached individuals (Dirk, 1998).
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
UBUNTU … THE THIRD PATH …UBUNTU treads a third path that is neither collectivist (socialist/communist) nor individualist (capitalist). Instead it is COLLABORATIONIST, relying on a flexible group of people working together towards a shared goal and for their common good.
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
A NEW FOCUS …In so doing UBUNTU asks us to shift focus …
• from SOLITARY … to SOLIDARITY,
• from INDEPENDENCE … to INTERDEPENDENCE,
• from individuality VIS-À-VIS COMMUNITY … to individuality À-LA COMMUNITY (Dirk, 1998).
(C) IAN FALCON BENTLEY, 2013.
"IMAGINE THE POTENTIAL IF UBUNTU’S SUNLIGHT WERE TO BE EMBRACED AS A VITAL PART OF THE AFRICANRENAISSANCE ... OR EVEN AS AFRICA’S CONTRIBUTION TO HELP A DIVIDED, FRAGMENTED WORLD"(BARBARA NUSSBAUM, 2003: 21).
