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African Ethics.pptx
- 2. SOME KEY QUESTIONS What do the African hold dear in terms of moral values and ethics? What are some dos and don’ts in your local culture? What is the place of Character in African ethics? How does African ethics compare with that of the West? What are the sources of African Ethics?
- 3. INTRODUCTION • The ethics of a society is embedded in the ideas and beliefs about what is right or wrong, what is a good or bad character; • it is also embedded in the conceptions of satisfactory social relations and attitudes held by the members of the society; • it is embedded, furthermore, in the forms or patterns of behaviour that are considered by the members of the society to bring about social harmony and cooperative living, justice, and fairness.
- 4. INTRODUCTION • The ideas and beliefs about moral conduct are articulated, analysed, and interpreted by the moral thinkers of the society. • African societies, as organized and functioning human communities, have undoubtedly evolved ethical systems— ethical values, principles, rules—intended to guide social and moral behaviour.
- 5. WHAT IS AFRICAN ETHICS? • ‘African ethics’ is used to refer both to the moral beliefs and presuppositions of the sub- Saharan African people and the philosophical clarification and interpretation of those beliefs and presuppositions. • African Ethics is an interpretation of the moral ideas and values as found in the African moral language, conceptions of society, conceptions of a person, and so on.
- 6. CHARACTERIZATION OF AFRICAN ETHICS • African morality are not founded on religion because traditional African religion is a non-revealed religion. • This characterization makes African ethics independent of religion and, thus, underlines the notion of the autonomy of ethics in regard to African ethics. • Similarly, the claim about the social (non-individualistic) morality of the African society is closely related to the community and shared life of the African people.
- 7. THE CENTRALITY OF CHARACTER IN AFRICAN ETHICS • Inquiries into the moral language of several African peoples or cultures indicate that in these languages the word or expression that means ‘character’ is used to refer to what others call ‘ethics’ or ‘morality’. • Discourses or statements about morality turn to be discourses or statements essentially about character.
- 8. THE CENTRALITY OF CHARACTER IN AFRICAN ETHICS • When a speaker of the Akan language wants to say, “He has no morals”, or, “He is immoral”, or “He is unethical”, “His conduct is unethical”, he would almost invariably say, “He has no character” (Onni suban). • The statement, “He has no morals”, or “He is unethical”, is expressed by a speaker of the Ewe language as, nonomo mele si o (which means “He has no character”).
- 10. THE CENTRALITY OF CHARACTER IN AFRICAN ETHICS • Good character is the essence of the African moral system, the nucleus of the moral wheel. • Thus, the elders of African societies regards it their moral duty to impart moral knowledge to its younger members, making them aware of the moral values and principles of their society. • This they do through moral education of various forms, including telling morally-freighted proverbs and folktales to its younger members. • Taboos are also used as deterrents.
- 11. A transmissible character • Moral neutrality (neither good, nor bad) at birth • In Akan it is said that “one is not born with a bad ‘head’, but one takes it on from the earth. • Good character taught through scary proverbs and folktales
- 12. THE CENTRALITY OF CHARACTER IN AFRICAN ETHICS • In the African moral systems a moral failure would be put down to the lack of a good character. • In other words, the ability to act in accord with the moral principles and rules of the society requires the possession of a good character.
- 13. THE CENTRALITY OF CHARACTER IN AFRICAN ETHICS • African maxims are explicit about the formation of character: character is acquired. • A person is therefore responsible for the state of his or her character, for character results from the habitual actions of a person. An Akan maxim has it that “one is not born with a bad ‘head’, but one takes it on from the earth.” • Character is defined in terms of habits, which result from a person's deeds or actions: ‘character comes from your actions’ (or deeds: nneyee). • Persistent performance of a particular action will produce a certain habit and, thus, a corresponding character.
- 14. Moral Personhood (character) • in Akan : “onipa” VS “onnye onipa” • In Yoruba : “Ki i se eniyan” = he or she is not a person * • A PERSON = means ‘he has a good character’, ‘he is generous’, ‘he is peaceful’, ‘he is humble,’ ‘he has respect for others (oye onipa paa!) • Normative application rather than literal meaning • Personhood has a timeline= the transition from childhood to adulthood ** • It is even more Iconic/symbolic when you can take on DUTIES (Ifeanyi Menkiti)
- 15. Rather A Humanistic Foundations • “That is good (or evil) which tradition has defined as good (or evil)” • The good to the community (communitarian?) • based on the good of humanity/ preoccupied with human welfare.
- 16. Humanity and Brotherhood • Traditional African ethics recognize the dignity and integrity of the human being as a creature of God. • Our common brotherhood is intrinsically linked with our common humanity. There is only one universal family, to which all human beings belong. This family is fragmented, however, into a multiplicity of peoples and cultures. • The recognition of all human beings as brothers in the light of our common membership in one human species is a lofty ideal, that is, of great importance to the African people. • This is what the philosophy of Ubuntu is about. I am because you are, and because you are, I am.
- 17. The South African intellectual Steve Biko, predicted that the core of Africa contribution to the World, will be its trait of humanism, away from its current industrial and military look (Metz, 2021). Africa’s gift to the world
- 18. if we are human, we are (must be) brothers • brotherhood’ = association of men and/or women with common aims and interests • In Akan = Humanity has no boundary. (Honam mu nni nhanoa) • A human being's brother is a (or another) human being (Onipa nua ne onipa) • Hospitality is one of the most sacred and ancient customs of Bantuland, • In Akan: The human being is more beautiful than gold. (onipa ye fe sen sika)
- 19. Communalism and Individualism • The value that traditional African societies place on communalism is expressed in the sharing of a common social life, commitment to the social or common good of the community, appreciation of mutual obligations, caring for others, interdependence, and solidarity. • Even though some claims of individuality are recognized, African ethic, however, urges the avoidance of extreme individualism, which is seen as potentially destructive of human values and of the whole meaning and essence of a human society.
- 20. A Communitarian African Ethics • Akan thinker indicated that “When a human being descends from the heavens, he [or she] descends into a human town [or, a human society]
- 21. The Centrality of the Family • Marriage is considered as a valuable institution, for without it there would be no family, that is, the basic unit of social life. • Without the family there would be none of the kinship ties that are essential to a comprehensive social life, with an intricate network of social relationships. • Values associated with the family include recognizing the responsibility to share life with a wife or husband and children in the nuclear family and with members from an entire lineage in the extended family, recognizing the need to have and to care for children, respecting parents, taking care of our parents in their old age and so on.
- 22. SOME VALUES AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN AFRICAN ETHICS • Hospitality • Chastity • Truth • Respect for old age • Covenant keeping • Hard work • Solidarity • Altruism • Honor • Respect for nature
- 23. Ethics of duty, not of rights • African ethics prescribe an ethic of duty or, responsibility • social ethics VS duty ethics • Impose duties on the individual with respect to the community and its members • induced by a consciousness of needs rather than of rights
- 24. Conclusion • African morality is founded on humanism, the doctrine that considers human interests and welfare as basic to the thought and action of the people. • It is this doctrine as understood in African moral thought that has given rise to the communitarian ethics of the African society. • Also central or basic to the African morality is character, for the success of the moral life is held to be a function of the quality of an individual's personal life.
- 25. Sources and Further readings 2010 Kwame Gyekye, 2010. African Ethics. Online at: https://plato.stanford.edu/e ntries/african-ethics/ 2015 Sunday Awoniyi, 2015. African cultural values: the past, present and future. Online at: https://jsd- africa.com/Jsda/V17No1- Spr15A/PDF/African%20Cultu ral%20Values.Sunday%20Ow oniyi.pdf
- 26. •END
Editor's Notes
- began with the identification of words or phrases in African languages that connote “Ethics” However, in Sub-Saharan African languages, no word or phrase can be directly translated into “Ethics” or “Morality”. Nonetheless, some phrases in African languages communicate an understanding of a “person's ethical or moral conduct” In African languages, words or expressions that means “character” are used to refer to ‘ethics’ or ‘morality’, just like in Greek where ethos means ‘character’ There are other moral concepts in African languages. For example, the concepts of good or right in Akan, is expressed as “pa or papa”, while the expression “onipa bone” means a “bad person”, to make reference to a person with a bad character, also expressed as “suban bone” (Gyekye, 2011) Given that there are between 15000 to 20000 languages on the African continent the morally meaningful terms in African languages are underexplored just as the African ethics (Spoken Languages of African Countries - Nations Online Project, 2021).
- >>>>>>Remember that Africa the morality of a person is judged by his or her character. the good character considered a central element of African morality system is presumably a transmissible knowledge. In Akan it is said that “one is not born with a bad ‘head’, but one takes it on from the earth.” In other terms, morality is taught through moral education in various forms including freighted proverbs and folktales, and the education is often tailored to young members of the community (That is probably why our mothers don’t like when we have bad friends because we might take emulate their character) >>>>We will see why when we get to personhood However some members do fail to apply what is considered a good moral character and also fail to transmits the good character In the Akan and other African moral systems such a moral failure would be put down to the lack of a good character (suban pa) But the concept that good character can be transmitted means that implies that character can be reformed when its bad, again through moral education. >>>>>How is character formed in African ethics ? and character is the results of the habitual actions of a person. in Akan, it is understood that “character comes from one’s actions” and that persistent performance of “good” actions will become habit, thus character(Gyekye, 2011). There would be no point teaching good character through moral proverbs and folktales, as we do, if our character inborn. We might just decide to discard such individual and in such case who discard the one whose duty is to discard? Because he has a little of bad character too. The reason for teaching is that moral narratives would help the young to acquire and internalize , including specific moral virtues moral values of the society To acquire virtue, a person must perform good actions, that is, morally acceptable actions so that they become habitual. persistently performed in order to strengthen that habit in this way, virtue (or, good character) is acquired. The Akan would say aka ne ho, “it has remained with him,” “it has become part of him,” “it has become his habit.” Thus character is acquired through education, narrative approach and through action, repeated good action that becomes habitual What a person does or does not do is most crucial to the formation and development of his or her character. >>>>>>>For example???
- One with good moral standing or good character is call a PERCON and one that has bad character is designated as NOT a PERSON However, both expressions do not imply that one is no long a human being. Rather, the person of interest as a human being is still acknowledge and moral treatment vis a vis that person is still prescribed . Personhood is marked by the transition from childhood to adulthood. The transition to adulthood is more iconic when one can participate into communal life; the discharge of obligations or responsibilities. This also means that in Akan the metaphysical understanding of a person is a being with good character and that is judged from the person moral achievements, good actions and habits there are certain fundamental norms and ideals to which the conduct of a human being, if he is a person, ought to conform that there are moral virtues that an individual has the capacity to display in his conduct and ought to display them, if he is a person. Those who fail to perform as a PERSON are stil human being only that he is not considered a morally worthy individual. in Akan metaphysical and moral thought A person is essentially good, i.e., he is capable of doing good. >>>> Example In Akan it is said that : God created every human being (to be) good” (Onyame boo obiara yie) What happens to our moral-neutrality here ? Are we born good or we are born capable of good doing? i.e.,, we have the chose to do good or bad from factual analysis of the world status quo , WE ARE DEFINTLY NOT BORN t GOOD. However we have the choice. That is why SHE was tempted and HE was also tempted and HE ate the apple in the first place . Hummmmmm Human have the capacity for moral judgement This is confirmed in the Akan notion “tiboa”: conscience, moral sense—a sense of right or wrong Tiboa is held has the power of as creating a sense of guilt in the individual, convicting him or her of wrong deeds. It is by virtue of tiboa that the notion of self- sanctioning in moral conduct becomes intelligible. tiboa is can influence the individual's moral choice, decision, response, and attitude The activity of toboa is nutyral at birth and grows as individual as thought through the narrative approach Just like Tiboa, The Rwanda word for conscience, kamera, and its operation are similar to tiboa
- what is good is constituted by the deeds, habits, and behaviour patterns considered by the society as worthwhile because of their consequences for human welfare. Are we right to thing that to some extent, African morality is based on consequentialism and utilitarianism ? As a matter of fact, in Akan moral system the good or moral value is determined based on its consequences for humankind and human society (communitarians) >>>>>> A natural religion African religion can be characterized as a natural religion since it is derived from the people experiences of the world, and their preoccupation with human welfare (humanism). , it cannot be denied that religion plays an important role in moral lives in Africa. The god and the ancestors are all supposed to be interested in the welfare of the society as well as the moral life of individuals The views of the traditional thinkers indicate that what is good is constituted by the deeds, habits, and behavior patterns considered by the society as worthwhile because of their consequences for human welfare
- There is some affiliation between humanity and brotherhood in African ethical conceptions In African terms, humanity is not just an anthropological term; it is also a moral term when it comes to considering the relations between members of the human species. But the notion of brotherhood is essentially a moral notion, for it is about the relations between individual human beings that make for their own interest and well-being. >>>>> the Aken There is no the cultivation of the friendship and fellowship of human beings human being can be related only to another human being, not to a beast. All people are brothers to lift people up from the purely biologically determined blood relation level onto the human level, A practical expression of brotherhood = hospitality, generosity, concern for others, and communal feeling Most people, including foreign visitors to Africa, often testify, in amazement, to the ethic of hospitality and generosity of the African people. That ethic is an expression of the perception of our common humanity and universal human brotherhood. that a human being is to be enjoyed for his or her own sake It means you should be open to the interests and welfare of others and feel it a moral duty to offer help where it is needed
- that human beings are social by nature in African proverbs where emphasis is placed on mutual helpfulness, collective responsibility, cooperation, interdependence, and reciprocal obligations; Similarities with Aristotle's saying that “The human being is by nature a social animal” This sense of social being and common good has an economic dimension. In the African context, help is seen as currency that can be paid and payed back (mutual reciprocity). it will be unconceivable to refuse help to other members of the society and such refusal can even be seen as an act of betrayal from other members and that would reflect in their character. Altruism is thus a fundamental human value in African ethics. It acknolwde ethe Human limitations. That it not to proimote depenece thoug, rather cooperation, and reciprocity , interdepoendce . Mutual aid is a morlar oblication , human being deserved to be helpt >>>>> for example Work in a farm that need other to be involved in the work for it to be done like in the village
- African have moral duty to have morally acceptable character toward other members in the society This is a mandate clearly weighted on duty to satisfy the community rather than based on individual’s underlaying rights. because the community needs it, not because individuals earn some rights out of it. it is simply what is required, what is to be done, it is the norm This concept of moral duty obliges one to demonstrate concern towards others in the community for the interests of the community. The good conduct is expected from each member, and this has equal level of importance as the notion of right in Western society. A morality of duty is one that requires each individual to demonstrate concern for the interests of others