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Towards a Ludic Ubuntu Ethic

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African Philosophy in an Intercultural Perspective

Part of the book series: Reihe Interkulturelle Philosophie ((RIPH))

Abstract

The Western juridical paradigm has struggled to legitimate its punishment regime centred on the modern carceral system. ‘Doing time’ in a cell was meant to correct the errant Christian soul so that the offender would never return to jail. It has been a tragic failure. Undergirding its philosophy is a logic of revenge that is unable to restore peace and harmony among conflicting parties. I trouble the Western paradigm with a ludic Ubuntu ethical model which outlines five levels of justice, whereby the lowest level is the rule of law centred on retribution and the abstract rights-bearing subject while the highest levels evolve around Indigenous harm-reduction philosophies of restorative and transformative justice. The model accounts for current practices descriptively, and suggests a model that adopts playfulness, forgiveness, and restitution as practical ways of overcoming transgressive behaviours.

This publication is the outcome of the project 'Performativity in Philosophy: Contexts, Methods, Implications. No. 16-00994Y; Czech Science Foundation' at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences, where Nagel was a Research Fellow from January to March 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy; Director, Center for Ethics, Peace, and Social Justice, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, USA

    Mechthild Nagel

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  1. Mechthild Nagel
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Correspondence to Mechthild Nagel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Philosophie, Universität Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany

    Anke Graneß

  2. Philosophy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Edwin Etieyibo

  3. Zentrum Theologie Interkulturell und Studium der Religionen, Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Franz Gmainer-Pranzl

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Nagel, M. (2022). Towards a Ludic Ubuntu Ethic. In: Graneß, A., Etieyibo, E., Gmainer-Pranzl, F. (eds) African Philosophy in an Intercultural Perspective. Reihe Interkulturelle Philosophie. J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-05832-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-476-05832-4_9

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  • Publisher Name: J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-476-05831-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-476-05832-4

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