Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide the reader with a synthetic view of African ethics with the aim of fostering an in-depth understanding of the ethical issues that arise in ethical issues in post-colonial political discourses. To achieve this objective, the chapter has been divided into three themes that are deemed pivotal to an authentic understanding of African ethics. First, African ethics is regarded as ancestral ethics in the sense that the existence of the present community and all that is regarded as ethical has its genealogy in the ancestors. The belief in ancestors is based on the presumption that life is endless, and the sacred and profane are intertwined with each other. The present community exists in anamnestic solidarity with the past, and hence when the present community becomes the past, it will influence the wellbeing of those who will exist in the future. As ancestral ethics, African ethics is not about an uncritical acceptance of traditions; rather it demonstrates the narrative of nature of ethics where critical thinking is integral to improvisation and creativity. Second, African ethics places premier value on relationality in its ontology of a human being. My humanity is conjoined with the humanity of others as espoused in the adage—Umuntu ngomuntu gabantu (a person is a person because of other persons). Human beings are communal beings whose ultimate wellbeing is indispensable from the reality of human common belonging. Third, the motif of relationality is paramount to the discourse of African ethics.
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Murove, M.F. (2020). African Ethics in a Nutshell. In: African Politics and Ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54185-9_2
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