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Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research pp 6761–6765Cite as

Ubuntu: The Good Life

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Synonyms

African ethics; Human excellence; Humanness; Self-realization; Summum bonum

Definition

The word “ubuntu” is from the southern African Nguni linguistic group, which includes the Zulu and Xhosa languages, and it literally means humanness. To have ubuntu is to be a person who is living a genuinely human way of life, whereas to lack ubuntu is to be missing human excellence or to live like an animal. It is common for traditional black people on the continent to believe that one’s basic aim in life should be to exhibit ubuntu (though different linguistic groups will have their own, corresponding term), which one can do by prizing communal relationships with other people.

Description

“Ubuntu” is the word for humanness in Zulu, Xhosa, and other Nguni languages of southern Africa, where it is widely held among indigenous black people that one’s foremost goal in life should be to exhibit ubuntu. As is explained in what follows, there are similarities between, on the one hand, a...

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  • DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_4029
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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy, University of Johannesburg, Philosophy Department B-605, 2006, Auckland Park, South Africa

    Thaddeus Metz

Authors
  1. Thaddeus Metz
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Correspondence to Thaddeus Metz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

  2. (residence), Brandon, MB, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

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Metz, T. (2014). Ubuntu: The Good Life. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_4029

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