View source for Ubuntu philosophy

{{Short description|Southern African philosophy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Elephant parade ubuntu 1.jpg|thumb|Elephant statue with Ubuntu motif, [[Florianópolis]], Brazil]]
'''Ubuntu''' ({{IPA|zu|ùɓúntʼù}};<ref>{{cite AV media |last1=Tutu |first1=Desmond |date=2013 |title=Who we are: Human uniqueness and the African spirit of Ubuntu |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wZtfqZ271w#t=162 |via=[[YouTube]] |publication-date=Apr 4, 2013 |publisher=[[Templeton Prize]] |access-date=11 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/0wZtfqZ271w |archive-date=2025-03-04 |format=video |lang=en |time=2:42}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |title=Desmond Tutu on Ubuntu |work=Semester at Sea, Spring '07 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftjdDOfTzbk&t=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/ftjdDOfTzbk |archive-date=2021-11-10 |access-date=11 January 2015 |via=[[YouTube]] |date=2007 |publication-date=Apr 7, 2008 |publisher=Jared Reichbaum |format=video |lang=en |time=0:09}}</ref> meaning {{gloss|humanity}} in some [[Bantu languages]], such as [[Zulu language|Zulu]]) describes a set of closely related Bantu African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds.  "Ubuntu" is sometimes translated as "I am because we are" (also "I am because you are"),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2006/sep/29/features11.g2|title = The question: What does ubuntu really mean?|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 28 September 2006}}</ref> or "humanity towards others" ([[Zulu language|Zulu]] ''{{lang|zu|umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu}}''). In [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]], the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".<ref name="aboutthename">{{cite web|title=About the Name|url=https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/about-ubuntu/C/about-ubuntu-name.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130223104643/https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/about-ubuntu/C/about-ubuntu-name.html|archive-date=23 February 2013|access-date=2 February 2017|work=Official Ubuntu Documentation|publisher=Canonical}}</ref>

==Different names in other Bantu languages==

Although the most popular term referring to the philosophy today is "ubuntu" ([[Zulu language]], South Africa), the philosophy is believed to stretch back to the beginning of [[proto-Bantu language]] and has many other names in other [[Bantu languages]].

{|class=wikitable
|+"Humanity" in Bantu languages
!Countries
! Language !! Word 
|-
|[[Angola]], [[DRC]], [[RotC|ROC]]
|[[Kongo language|Kongo]]||''kimuntu'', ''gimuntu''
|-
|[[Botswana]]
|[[Setswana language|Setswana]]||''botho''
|-
|[[Burundi]], [[Rwanda]]
|[[Kinyarwanda language|Kinyarwanda]], [[Kirundi language|Kirundi]]||''ubuntu''
|-
|[[Cameroon]]
|[[Sawabantu languages|Sawabantu]]||''bato''
|-
|DRC
|Kongo, [[Luba-Kasai language|Luba-Kasai]]
|''bomoto'', ''bantu''
|-
|[[Kenya]]
|[[Kikuyu language|Kikuyu]]||''umundu{{efn|name=pers}}''
|-
|Kenya
|[[Ekegusii]]
|''obonto''
|-
|Kenya
|[[Luhya language|Luhya]]||''omundu''
|-
|Kenya
|[[Meru language|Meru]]||''munto{{efn|name=pers|"Person". Not a true class 14 word for "humanity".}}''
|-
|Kenya, [[Tanzania]]
|[[Swahili language|Swahili]]||''utu''
|-
|[[Mozambique]]
|[[Makua people|Makua]]
|''vumuntu''
|-
|[[Namibia]]
|[[Otjiherero ]]||''omundu''
|-
|Namibia
|[[Oshiwambo ]]||''omuntu''
|-
|Namibia
|[[Rukwangali]]|| ''muntu''
|-
|[[South Africa]], [[Lesotho]]
|[[Sesotho language|Sesotho]] ||''botho''
|-
|South Africa
|[[Tshivenda language|Tshivenda]]||''vhuthu''
|-
|South Africa, [[Zimbabwe]]
|[[Northern Ndebele language|Ndebele]], [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]], [[Zulu language|Zulu]]||''ubuntu''
|-
|[[Uganda]]
|[[Ganda language|Luganda]]||''obuuntu''
|-
|[[Zambia]], [[Malawi]]
|[[Chewa language|Chewa]] and [[Chitumbuka]]
|''umunthu''
|-
|Zambia
|[[Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe)|Tonga]]
|''ibuntu''
|-
|[[Zimbabwe]]
|[[Shona language|Shona]]
|''unhu'', ''hunhu''
|}

==Definitions==
There are various definitions of the word "Ubuntu". The most recent definition was provided by the ''African Journal of Social Work'' (''AJSW''). The journal defined ''Ubuntu'' as:

{{Blockquote|A collection of values and practices that people of Africa or of African origin view as making people authentic human beings. While the nuances of these values and practices vary across different ethnic groups, they all point to one thing – an authentic individual human being is part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world<ref name="Mugubate"/>}}

[[Image:Experience ubuntu.ogg|thumb|300px|[[Nelson Mandela]] in 2006 was asked to define "ubuntu" in a video used to launch [[Ubuntu Linux]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |interviewer-first=Tim |interviewer-last=Modise |interviewer-link=Tim Modise |publisher=[[Canonical Ltd.|Canonical]] |quote=In the old days, when we were young, a traveler through the country would stop at a village, and he didn't have to ask for food or for water; once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. |date=24 May 2006 |type=video |title=Experience ubuntu |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Experience_ubuntu.ogv |via=[[Wikipedia]], from [[Wikimedia Commons]] |language=en}}</ref>]]

There are many different (and not always compatible) definitions of what Ubuntu is.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Christian B. N. Gade|year= 2012|url=http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/48387009/What_is_Ubuntu._Different_Interpretations_among_South_Africans_of_African_Descent.pdf |title=What is Ubuntu? Different Interpretations among South Africans of African Descent|journal=South African Journal of Philosophy|volume= 31|issue=3|pages= 484–503|doi= 10.1080/02580136.2012.10751789|s2cid= 27706776}}</ref> Even with the various definitions, Ubuntu encompasses the interdependence of humans on one another and the acknowledgment of one's responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them. It is a philosophy that supports [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]] over [[individualism]].  

Ubuntu asserts that society gives human beings their humanity. An example is a [[Zulu language|Zulu]]-speaking person who when commanding to speak in Zulu would say "''khuluma isintu''", which means "speak the language of people". When someone behaves according to custom, a [[Sotho language|Sotho]]-speaking person would say "''ke motho''", which means "he/she is a human". The aspect of this that would be exemplified by a tale told (often, in private quarters) in [[Nguni languages|Nguni]] "''kushone abantu ababili ne Shangaan''", in [[Sepedi]] "''go tlhokofetje batho ba babedi le leShangane''", in English (two people died and one [[Shangaan]]). In each of these examples, humanity comes from conforming to or being part of the tribe.

According to Michael Onyebuchi Eze, the core of Ubuntu can best be summarised as follows:
<blockquote>
''A person is a person through people'' strikes an affirmation of one’s humanity through recognition of an "other" in his or her uniqueness and difference. It is a demand for a creative intersubjective formation in which the "other" becomes a mirror (but only a mirror) for my subjectivity. This idealism suggests to us that humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual; my humanity is co-substantively bestowed upon the other and me. Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this ''otherness'' creation. And if we belong to each other, we participate in our creations: ''we are because you are, and since you are, definitely I am''. The "I am" is not a rigid subject, but a dynamic self-constitution dependent on this ''otherness'' creation of relation and distance.<ref>Eze, M. O. ''Intellectual History in Contemporary South Africa'', pp. 190–191.</ref>
</blockquote>
An "extroverted communities" aspect is the most visible part of this ideology. There is sincere warmth with which people treat both strangers and members of the community. This overt display of warmth is not merely aesthetic but enables the formation of spontaneous communities. The resultant collaborative work within these spontaneous communities transcends the aesthetic and gives functional significance to the value of warmth. Warmth is not the sine qua non of community formation but guards against instrumentalist relationships. Unfortunately, sincere warmth may leave one vulnerable to those with ulterior motives.<ref name="GriggsLouw1995">{{cite book|author1=Lewis Griggs|author2=Lente-Louise Louw|title=Valuing Diversity: New Tools for a New Reality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZubtAAAAMAAJ|year=1995|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-024778-9|page=200}}</ref>

"Ubuntu" as political philosophy encourages community equality, propagating the distribution of wealth. This socialisation is a vestige of agrarian peoples as a hedge against the crop failures of individuals. Socialisation presupposes a community population with which individuals empathise and concomitantly, have a vested interest in its collective prosperity. Urbanisation and the aggregation of people into an abstract and bureaucratic state undermines this empathy. African intellectual historians like Michael Onyebuchi Eze have argued, however, that this idea of "collective responsibility" must not be understood as absolute in which the community's good is prior to the individual's good. On this view, ubuntu it is argued, is a communitarian philosophy that is widely differentiated from the Western notion of communitarian socialism. In fact, ubuntu induces an ideal of shared human subjectivity that promotes a community's good through an unconditional recognition and appreciation of individual uniqueness and difference.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Eze, M. O. |url=http://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajpem/article/viewFile/31526/5888|title=What is African Comunitarianism? Against consensus as a regulative Ideal|year=2008|journal= South African Journal of Philosophy|volume= 27|issue=4|pages= 386–399|doi=10.4314/sajpem.v27i4.31526|s2cid=143775323|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Audrey Tang]] has suggested that Ubuntu "implies that everyone has different skills and strengths; people are not isolated, and through mutual support they can help each other to complete themselves."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-source-enlightenment-2015-part-1-audrey-tang|title=Open Source Enlightenment 2015 (Part 1)|author=Audrey Tang}}</ref>

"Redemption" relates to how people deal with errant, deviant, and dissident members of the community. The belief is that man is born formless like a lump of clay. It is up to the community, as a whole, to use the fire of experience and the wheel of social control to mould him into a pot that may contribute to society. Any imperfections should be borne by the community and the community should always seek to redeem man. An example of this is the statement by the [[African National Congress]] (in South Africa) that it does not throw out its own but rather redeems.

Other scholars such as Mboti (2015) argue that the normative definition of Ubuntu, notwithstanding its intuitive appeal, is still open to doubt. The definition of Ubuntu, contends Mboti, has remained consistently and purposely fuzzy, inadequate and inconsistent. Mboti rejects the interpretation that Africans are "naturally" interdependent and harmony-seeking, and that humanity is given to a person by and through other persons. He sees a philosophical trap in attempts to elevate harmony to a moral duty – a sort of categorical imperative – that Africans must simply uphold. Mboti cautions against relying on intuitions in attempts to say what Ubuntu is or is not. He concludes that the phrase ''umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu'' references a messier, undisciplined relationship between persons, stating that: "First, there is value in regarding a broken relationship as being authentically human as much as a harmonious relationship. Second, a broken relationship can be as ethically desirable as a harmonious one. For instance, freedom follows from a break from oppression. Finally, harmonious relations can be as oppressive and false as disharmonious ones. For instance, the cowboy and his horse are in a harmonious relationship."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mboti |first1=N. |title=May the Real Please Stand Up? |journal=Journal of Media Ethics |date=2015 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=125–147 |doi=10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380|s2cid=53519937 |url=https://osf.io/mgzw6/ |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Ubuntu maxims or short statements==

Ubuntu is often presented in short statements called [[Maxim (philosophy)|maxims]] by [[Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange|Samkange]] (1980). Some of these are:<ref name=Samkange1980/>
* ''Motho ke motho ka batho'' ([[Sotho language|Sotho]]/[[Tswana language|Tswana]]). A person is a person through people.
* ''Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu'' ([[Zulu language|Zulu]]). A person is a person through people.
* ''Umntu ngumntu ngabantu'' ([[Xhosa language|Xhosa]]). A person is a person through people.
* ''Munhu munhu nevanhu'' ([[Shona language|Shona]]). A person through people.
* ''Ndiri nekuti tiri'' (Shona). I am because we are.
* ''Munhu i munhu hivanwani vanhu'' ([[Xitsonga]]). A person is a person through people.
* ''Muthu ndi muthu nga vhathu'' ([[Venda language|Venda]]). A person is a person through people.

==History of the concept in African written sources==
Ubuntu has been in existence in [[Oral literature|orature (oral literature)]] and in the culture of Bantu peoples. It appeared in South African written sources from as early as the mid-19th century. Reported translations covered the [[semantic field]] of "human nature, humanness, humanity; virtue, goodness, kindness". Grammatically, the word combines the root ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Bantu/mʊ̀ntʊ̀|-ntʊ̀]]'' "person, human being" with the [[Zulu grammar#Nouns|class 14]] ''[[:wikt:ubu-|ubu-]]'' prefix forming [[abstract noun]]s,<ref>see also [[:wikt:Appendix:Zulu nouns#Noun classes|Zulu noun classes]] on [[Wiktionary]].</ref> so that the term is exactly parallel in formation to the abstract noun ''[[:wikt:humanity|humanity]]''.<ref>in the sense of an abstract quality. The sense "mankind" is taken by the class 7 collective noun ''[[:wikt:isintu|isintu]]''.</ref>

The concept was popularised in terms of a "[[philosophy]]" or "[[world view]]" (as opposed to a quality attributed to an individual) beginning in the 1950s, notably in the writings of [[Jordan Kush Ngubane]] published in the ''[[Drum (South African magazine)|African Drum]]'' magazine. From the 1970s, the ''ubuntu'' began to be described as a specific kind of "African humanism". Based on the context of [[Pan-Africanism|Africanisation]] propagated by the political thinkers in the 1960s period of [[decolonization|decolonisation]], ''ubuntu'' was used as a term for a specifically African (or Southern African) kind of humanism found in the context of the transition to majority rule in [[Zimbabwe]] and [[South Africa]].

The first publication dedicated to ''ubuntu'' as a philosophical concept appeared in 1980, ''Hunhuism or Ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy'' (''hunhu'' being the [[Shona languages|Shona]] equivalent of Nguni ''ubuntu'') by [[Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange]]. Hunhuism or Ubuntuism is presented as political ideology for the new Zimbabwe, as [[Southern Rhodesia]] attained independence from the United Kingdom.<ref name=Samkange1980/>

The concept was used in South Africa in the 1990s as a guiding ideal for the [[Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa|transition from apartheid to majority rule]]. The term appears in the Epilogue of the Interim Constitution of South Africa (1993): "there is a need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not for retaliation, a need for ''ubuntu'' but not for victimisation".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Christian B. N. Gade|url=http://pure.au.dk/portal/files/40165256/The_Historical_Development_of_the_Written_Discourses_on_Ubuntu.pdf |title=The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu|journal=South African Journal of Philosophy|volume= 30|issue=3|pages= 303–329|doi=10.4314/sajpem.v30i3.69578 |year=2011 |s2cid=143928483 }}</ref>

In South Africa, it has come to be used as a contested<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mboti |first1=Nyasha |title=May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up? |journal=Journal of Media Ethics |date=3 April 2015 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=125–147 |doi=10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380 |s2cid=53519937 |issn=2373-6992|url=https://osf.io/mgzw6/ |url-access=subscription }}</ref> term for a kind of [[humanism|humanist]] philosophy, ethic, or ideology, also known as '''Ubuntuism''' propagated in the [[Africanization|Africanisation]] (transition to majority rule) process of these countries during the 1980s and 1990s. New research has begun to question the exclusive "humanism" framing, and thus to suggest that ''ubuntu'' can have a "militaristic" angle – an ''ubuntu'' for warriors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chasi |first1=Colin |title=Ubuntu for Warriors |date=2021 |publisher=Africa World Press |location=Trenton, NJ |url=https://africaworldpressbooks.com/ubuntu-for-warriors-by-colin-chasi/}}</ref>

In Uganda the term is used in people's everyday language as a way to relate to one another and call for community. The term can also be used to criticize another's actions if one states that they have lost "Obuuntu" (their humanity).

Since the transition to democracy in South Africa with the [[Nelson Mandela]] presidency [[South African general election, 1994|in 1994]], the term has become more widely known outside of Southern Africa, notably popularised to English-language readers through the [[ubuntu theology]] of [[Desmond Tutu]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-43307|title=Get the Definition of Ubuntu, a Nguni Word with Several Meanings|work=ThoughtCo|access-date=2017-08-28}}</ref> Tutu was the chairman of the South African [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC), and many have argued that ''ubuntu'' was a formative influence on the TRC.

== By country ==

===Zimbabwe===

In the [[Shona language]], the majority spoken language in [[Zimbabwe]], ubuntu is ''unhu'' or ''hunhu''. In Ndebele, it is known as ubuntu. The concept of ubuntu is viewed the same in Zimbabwe as in other African cultures. The Shona phrase ''munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu'' means a person is human through others while ''ndiri nekuti tiri'' means I am because we are.

[[Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange]] (1980) highlights the three maxims of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism that shape this philosophy: The first maxim asserts that 'To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.' And 'the second maxim means that if and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life'. The third 'maxim' as a 'principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy' says 'that the king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him'.<ref name=Samkange1980/>

===South Africa===
[[File:St John's church tutu (cropped).jpg|thumb|Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] is often associated with "[[ubuntu theology]]"]]

Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a definition offered by Liberian peace activist [[Leymah Gbowee]].)

[[Archbishop]] [[Desmond Tutu]] offered a definition in a 1999 book:<ref>{{cite book | last = Tutu | first = Desmond | author-link = Desmond Tutu | title = No Future Without Forgiveness | publisher = Image | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-385-49690-7 }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.}}

Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:.<ref>{{cite web
| date = January 24, 2012
| publisher = Ubuntu Women Institute USA
| title = Brief Meaning of African Word 'UBUNTU'
| quote = Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained
| url = https://uwi-usa.blogspot.be/2012/01/ubuntu-brief-meaning-of-african-word.html}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2021|reason=The source is quoting Tutu from an unnamed 2008 work but does not give original info|certain=|name=}}}}

[[Nelson Mandela]] explained Ubuntu as follows:<ref>[[:File:Experience ubuntu.ogg]] Experience Ubuntu Interview.</ref>
{{Blockquote|A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food and attend him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?}}

[[Tim Jackson (economist)|Tim Jackson]] refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.<ref name="Ted Talk">{{cite web | url=http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check.html | title=Tim Jackson's Economic Reality Check | access-date=2010-12-09 | author=Jackson, Tim | date=July 2010 | work=Speech | publisher=TED}}</ref> Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the [[hate speech]] trial of [[Julius Malema]].<ref name="Lamont">{{Cite court
  |litigants=Afri-Forum and Another vs. Malema and others
  |vol=
  |reporter=
  |opinion=23
  |pinpoint=
  |court=The Equality Court, Johannesburg
  |date=2011
  |url=https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAEQC/2011/2.pdf }}</ref>

At Nelson Mandela's memorial, United States President [[Barack Obama]] spoke about Ubuntu, saying,

{{Blockquote|
There is a word in South Africa – Ubuntu – a word that captures Mandela's greatest gift:  his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him, or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell.  But we remember the gestures, large and small – introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; taking a pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS – that revealed the depth of his empathy and his understanding.  He not only embodied Ubuntu, he taught millions to find that truth within themselves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-nelson-mandela-memorial-service-speech-full-text-2013-12|title=Obama's Tribute To Nelson Mandela At Memorial Service - Business Insider|date=10 December 2013|work=Business Insider}}</ref>}}

===Malawi===
In [[Malawi]], the same philosophy is called "uMunthu" in the local [[Chewa language]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/67211|title=Pambazuka - Teaching uMunthu for global peace|work=pambazuka.org|date=4 March 2016}}</ref> According to the Catholic Diocese of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Zomba|Zomba]] bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. [[Thomas Msusa]], "The African worldview is about living as one family, belonging to God".<ref name="freireproject.org">{{cite web|url=http://freireproject.org/content/umunthu-peace-and-education-malawi%E2%80%99s-44th-independence-anniversary |title=uMunthu, Peace and Education: On Malawi's 44th Independence Anniversary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722234550/http://www.freireproject.org/content/umunthu-peace-and-education-malawi%E2%80%99s-44th-independence-anniversary|archive-date=22 July 2012|author=Steve Sharra|year=2008 }}</ref> Msusa noted that in Africa "We say 'I am because we are', or in [[Chichewa]] ''kali kokha nkanyama, tili awiri ntiwanthu'' (when you are on your own you are as good as an animal of the wild; when there are two of you, you form a community)."

The philosophy of uMunthu has been passed on through proverbs such as ''Mwana wa mnzako ngwako yemwe, ukachenjera manja udya naye'' (your neighbor's child is your own, his/her success is your success too).<ref name="freireproject.org"/> Some notable Malawian uMunthu philosophers and intellectuals who have written about this worldview are [[Augustine Musopole]], [[Gerard Chigona]], [[Chiwoza Bandawe]], [[Richard Tambulasi]], [[Harvey Kwiyani]] and [[Happy Kayuni]]. This includes Malawian philosopher and theologist [[Harvey Sindima]]’s treatment of uMunthu as an important African philosophy is highlighted in his 1995 book ''Africa’s Agenda: The legacy of liberalism and colonialism in the crisis of African values''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=2327|title=Community of Life: Ecological Theology in African Perspective.}}</ref> In film, the English translation of the proverb lent its hand to forming the title of [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s 2008 documentary, ''[[I Am Because We Are]]'', about Malawian orphans.

== Applications ==

=== In diplomacy ===
In June 2009, in her swearing-in remarks as [[U.S. Department of State|US Department of State]] Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Global Partnership Initiative, Office of the Secretary of State, [[Elizabeth Frawley Bagley]] discussed ubuntu in the context of American [[foreign policy]], stating: "In understanding the responsibilities that come with our interconnectedness, we realize that we must rely on each other to lift our World from where it is now to where we want it to be in our lifetime, while casting aside our worn out preconceptions, and our outdated modes of statecraft." She then introduced the notion of "Ubuntu Diplomacy" with the following words:

{{Blockquote|In 21st-century diplomacy, the Department of State will be a convener, bringing people together from across regions and sectors to work together on issues of common interest. Our work no longer depends on the least common denominator; but rather, we will seek the highest possible multiplier effect for the results we can achieve together.

We will also act as a catalyst, with our Foreign Service Officers launching new projects in tandem with those NGOs, philanthropies, and corporations at the front lines of foreign affairs to discover untapped potential, inspire fresh ideas, and create new solutions.

And we will act as a collaborator, leading interagency coordination here in Washington and cross-sector collaboration in the field, with our Ambassadors working closely with our non-governmental partners to plan and implement projects for maximum impact and sustainability.

It takes a shared, global response to meet the shared, global challenges we face. This is the truth taught to us in an old South African principle, ubuntu, or 'A person is a person through other persons.' As Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] describes this perspective, ubuntu 'is not, "I think therefore I am." It says rather: "I am a human because I belong. I participate. I share.{{"'}} In essence, I am because you are.

We are truly all in this together, and we will only succeed by building mutually beneficial partnerships among civil society, the private sector, and the public sector, in order to empower the men and women executing our foreign policy to advance their work through partnerships.

The truth and reconciliation council believed in the philosophy of Ubuntu because they believed that Ubuntu was going to help to reform and reconnect the already broken country of South Africa.

This is Ubuntu Diplomacy: where all sectors belong as partners, where we all participate as stakeholders, and where we all succeed together, not incrementally but exponentially.<ref>U.S. Department of State. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090715073339/http://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/ubuntu/index.htm Ubuntu Diplomacy.]</ref>}}

=== In education ===
In education, Ubuntu has been used to guide and promote African education, and to decolonise it from Western educational philosophies.<ref name=HC>{{cite journal |last1=Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru |first1=Oswell |last2=Makuvaza |first2=Ngoni |title=Hunhu: In Search of an Indigenous Philosophy for the Zimbabwean Education System Practice without thought is blind: thought without practice is empty |journal=Journal of Indigenous Social Development |date=1 August 2014 |volume=3 |issue=1 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/32298369.pdf |language=en |issn=2164-9170}}</ref> Ubuntu education uses the family, community, society, environment and spirituality as sources of knowledge but also as teaching and learning media.<ref name="Mugubate">{{Cite journal |last1=Mugumbate |first1=Jacob Rugare |last2=Chereni |first2=Admire |date=2020-04-23 |title=Editorial: Now, the theory of Ubuntu has its space in social work |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/195112 |journal=African Journal of Social Work |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |issn=2409-5605}}</ref> The essence of education is family, community, societal and environmental well-being.<ref name=HC/> Ubuntu education is about learners becoming critical about their social conditions. Interaction, participation, recognition, respect and inclusion are important aspects of ubuntu education. Methods of teaching and learning include groups and community approaches. The objectives, content, methodology and outcomes of education are shaped by Ubuntu.

=== In social work, welfare and development ===
Applications in social work, welfare and development reference Afrocentric ways of providing a social safety-net to vulnerable members of society. Common elements include [[social collectivity | collectivity]]. The approach helps to "validate worldview and traditions suppressed by Western Eurocentric cultural hegemony".<ref name="Schiele">{{cite journal |last1 =Schiele |first1 =Jerome |title =An Afrocentric Perspective on Social Welfare Philosophy and Policy |journal =The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare |date =1 June 1997 |volume =24 |issue =2 |doi =10.15453/0191-5096.2414 |s2cid =142897928 |url =https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol24/iss2/3/ |issn =0191-5096|doi-access =free }}</ref> It opposes [[economic materialism | materialism]] and individualism. It looks at an individual person holistically. The social interventions performed by social workers, welfare workers and development workers should strengthen, not weaken families, communities, society, the environment and peoples' spirituality. These are the five pillars of ubuntu intervention: family, community, society, environment and spirituality.<ref name="Mugubate"/> Ubuntu is the current theme for the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development and represents the highest level of global messaging within the social-work profession for the years 2020–2030.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mayaka|first1=Bernard|last2=Truell|first2=Rory|date=2021-07-20|title=Ubuntu and its potential impact on the international social work profession|journal=International Social Work|volume=64|issue=5|pages=649–662|doi=10.1177/00208728211022787|issn=0020-8728|doi-access=|s2cid=237433849 }}</ref> Utilising [[biopsychosocial]] and ecological system approaches, ubuntu is a philosophy that is applicable in clinical social work in mental health.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Chigangaidze|first=Robert K.|date=2021-07-04|title=Defending the African philosophy of ubuntu and its place in clinical social-work practice in mental health: The biopsychosocial and ecological systems perspectives |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2021.1910894 |journal=Social Work in Mental Health |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=276–288 |doi=10.1080/15332985.2021.1910894 |s2cid=235172607 |issn=1533-2985|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== In research ===
Ubuntu can guide research objectives, ethics and methodology.<ref name=Seehawer>{{cite journal |last1=Seehawer |first1=Maren Kristin |title=Decolonising research in a Sub-Saharan African context: exploring Ubuntu as a foundation for research methodology, ethics and agenda |journal=International Journal of Social Research Methodology |date=4 July 2018 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=453–466 |doi=10.1080/13645579.2018.1432404 |s2cid=149213225 |language=en |issn=1364-5579}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/192200|title=Reframing social work research for Africa's consumers of research products: a guiding tool|first1=Jacob|last1=Mugumbate|first2=Edmoss|last2=Mtetwa|date=January 12, 2019|journal=African Journal of Social Work|volume=9|issue=2|pages=52–58}}</ref> Using ubuntu research approach provides researchers with an African oriented tool that decolonises research agenda and methodology.<ref name="Seehawer"/> The objectives of ubuntu research are to empower families, communities and society at large. In doing ubuntu research, the position of the researcher is important because it helps create research relationships. The agenda of the research belongs to the community, and true participation is highly valued. ''[[wikt:ujamaa#Swahili|Ujamaa]]'' is valued, it means pulling together or collaboration.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Muwanga-Zake |first1=J.W.F. |title=Building bridges across knowledge systems: Ubuntu and participative research paradigms in Bantu communities |journal=Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education |date=December 2009 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=413–426 |doi=10.1080/01596300903237198|s2cid=144633541 }}</ref>

=== In moral philosophy ===
According to this philosophy, "actions are right roughly insofar as they are a matter of living harmoniously with others or honouring communal relationships", "One's ultimate goal should be to become a full person, a real self or a genuine human being". ''[[wikt:Ukama#Shona|Ukama]]'', i.e. relationships are important.<ref name=Metz>{{cite journal |last1=Metz |first1=Thaddeus |last2=Gaie |first2=Joseph B.R. |title=The African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho : implications for research on morality |journal=Journal of Moral Education |date=September 2010 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=273–290 |doi=10.1080/03057240.2010.497609|s2cid=143660998 }}</ref> Among the Shona people, for example, when a person dies, his or her property is shared amongst relatives and there are culturally approved ways of doing this. The practice is called ''[[wikt:kugova#Shona|kugova]]''. Samkange (1980)'s maxim on morality says "If and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life".

=== In politics and leadership ===
Samkange (1980) said no foreign political philosophy can be useful in a country more than the indigenous philosophies.<ref name=Samkange1980>Samkange, S., & T. M. Samkange (1980). Hunhuism or ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy. Salisbury [Harare]: Graham Publishing, {{ISBN|0-86921-015-7}}. 106pp. Paperback</ref> "Is there a philosophy or ideology indigenous to (a) country that can serve its people just as well, if not better than, foreign ideologies?", asked Samkange in the book ''Hunhuism or Ubuntuism''. His maxim for leadership is "The king owes his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him".<ref name=Samkange1980/>{{rp|7}}

=== In social justice, criminal justice and jurisprudence ===
Ubuntu justice has elements different from western societies: it values repairing relationships. Ubuntu justice emphasises these elements:<ref name=Metz/>
# Deterrence which can be done socially, physically, economically or spiritually
# Returning and Replacement – meaning bring back what has been stolen, replacing it or compensating. In Shona language this is called ''[[wikt:kudzora#Shona|kudzora]]'' and ''[[wikt:kuripa#Shona|kuripa]]''
# Apology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation (restoration of ''[[wikt:ukama#Shona|ukama]]'' or relations) after meeting the above
# Warnings and Punishments (retribution) from leaders and elders if the above have not been achieved or ignored
# Warnings and Punishments from spiritual beings if the above have not been met. In Shona culture, these are called ''[[wikt:jambwa#Shona|jambwa]]'' and ''[[wikt:ngozi#Shona|ngozi]]''

Families, and at times community are involved in the process of justice.

African scholars have noted that while some elements of Ubuntu are liberating to women, others "marginalize and disempower" them, and "can be seen as engendering [[patriarchy]]".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Manyonganise|first=Molly|date=2015|title=Oppressive and liberative: A Zimbabwean woman's reflections on ubuntu|journal=Verbum et Ecclesia|volume=36|issue=2|pages=1–7|doi=10.4102/VE.V36I2.1438|issn=2074-7705|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Ubuntu has also been associated with [[restorative justice.]] Some scholars have argued that restorative justice practices are embedded in the Ubuntu philosophy which shares similarities with their philosophy, values and practices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arguments for Following a Restorative Approach to Act in the Best Interest of At-Risk Youth: An Interpretative Review – RJ4ALL PUBLICATIONS |url=https://www.rj4allpublications.com/product/arguments-for-following-a-restorative-approach/ |access-date=2024-10-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> Within the restorative justice context, ubuntu is understood as African humanism, a philosophy, an ethic, and as a worldview.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gade |first=Christian B.N. |date=January 2011 |title=The Historical Development of the Written Discourses on Ubuntu |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.4314/sajpem.v30i3.69578 |journal=South African Journal of Philosophy |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=303–329 |doi=10.4314/sajpem.v30i3.69578 |issn=0258-0136|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The underlying restorative justice value of power sharing is very much aligned with the Ubuntu philosophy which "sees" the other through their humanity.

==In popular culture==

Ubuntu was a major theme in [[John Boorman]]'s 2004 film ''[[In My Country (2004 film)|In My Country]]''.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E4D8153FF936A15750C0A9639C8B63 "The Listings"], ''The New York Times'', March 25, 2005.</ref> Former US president [[Bill Clinton]] used the term at the 2006 [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] conference in the UK to explain why society is important.<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Coughlan
  | first = Sean
  | title = All you need is ubuntu
  | work = BBC News Magazine
  | publisher = [[BBC]]
  | date = 2006-09-28
  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5388182.stm
  | access-date = 2006-09-29}}</ref>

The [[Boston Celtics]], the [[2008 NBA Finals|2008 NBA champions]], have chanted "ubuntu" when breaking a [[huddle]] since the start of the [[2007–08 Boston Celtics season|2007–2008 season]].<ref>{{cite news
  | last = Kiszla
  | first = Mark
  | title = New Big 3 dream in green
  | work = The Denver Post
  | publisher = [[Denver Post]]
  | date = 2007-11-07
  | url = https://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_7389312
  | access-date = 2007-11-09}}</ref> The first episode of the 2020 [[Netflix]] [[docuseries]] ''[[The Playbook (2020 TV series)|The Playbook]]'' shows how [[Boston Celtics|Boston Celtic's]] coach, [[Doc Rivers|Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers]] learned of the Ubuntu philosophy. The documentary then explores the impact of the philosophy on the team members and how it became their guiding principle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch the Playbook &#124; Netflix Official Site |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/81025735 |website=[[Netflix]]}}</ref>

At the [[Earth Summit 2002|2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development]] (WSSD), there was an Ubuntu Village exposition centre.<ref>World Resources Institute. "The Success and Failures of Johannesburn: A Story of Many Summits". [http://www.wri.org/publication/content/8845 WRI.org.]</ref> Ubuntu was the theme of the 76th [[General Convention]] of the American [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]].<ref>General Convention 2009, [https://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2009_96805_ENG_HTM.htm EpiscopalChurch.org.]</ref> The logo includes the text "I in You and You in Me".

First released in October 2004, a prominent computer software package is called the [[Ubuntu (operating system)|Ubuntu operating system]]. The operating system development was led by [[Mark Shuttleworth]], a South African entrepreneur and owner of the UK-based company [[Canonical Ltd.]]<ref name="aboutthename"/>

In film, the English translation of the proverb was used for the title of pop singer [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s 2008 documentary film ''[[I Am Because We Are]]'' about Malawian orphans. An accompanying book of the same name was published in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=I Am Because We Are |url=https://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/i-am-because-we-are/|website= powerHouse Books}}</ref>

A character in the 2008 animated comedy ''[[The Goode Family]]'' is named [[Ubuntu Goode]].

Ubuntu was the title and theme of an EP released by British band [[Clockwork Radio (band)|Clockwork Radio]] in 2012.

Ubuntu was the title of an EP released by American rapper [[Sage Francis]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sage Francis - "UBUNTU" song, video + fundraiser |url=https://www.strangefamousrecords.com/blogs/sage-francis/ubuntu/ |website=Strange Famous Records |date=2012-12-02}}</ref>

Ubuntu was chosen as the name of a clan of meerkats in the 2021 season of ''[[Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty]]''.

==See also==
{{Wiktionary|ubuntu}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Traditional African religions]]
*[[African philosophy]]
*[[Bantu peoples]]
*[[Nguni languages]]
*[[Africanization]]
*[[Decolonisation]]
*[[Ethics]]
*[[Ethic of reciprocity]]
*[[Harambee]] (Kenyan/Swahili concept)
*[[Humanity (virtue)]]
*[[Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa]]
*[[Pan-Africanism]]
*[[Ubuntu theology]]
*[[Universalism]]
*[[Social construction]]
{{Div col end}}

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
<!-- Do not list random works, should be dedicated to the concept of "ubuntu" explicitly. -->
<!-- Please don't add links relating to the Linux distribution, as we have a whole article on that at [[Ubuntu (operating system)]]. -->
* Chasi, Colin (2021). [https://africaworldpressbooks.com/ubuntu-for-warriors-by-colin-chasi/ ''Ubuntu for Warriors''] Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
* Mboti, N. (2014). [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23736992.2015.1020380 "May the Real Ubuntu Please Stand Up?"] ''Journal of Media Ethics'' 30(2), pp.&nbsp;125–147.
*Battle, Michael (2007). ''Reconciliation: The ubuntu theology of Desmond Tutu''. Pilgrim Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8298-1158-2}}
* Blackwood, Alecia, "Transformative Learning: Improving Teachers' Cultural Competencies Through Knowledge and Practice of Ubuntu Pedagogy" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 6056. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/6056
*Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2017). "I am Because You Are: Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Xenophobia", ''Philosophical Papers'', 46:1, 85-109
*Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2010). ''Intellectual history in contemporary South Africa''. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-0-230-62299-9}}.
*Eze, Michael Onyebuchi (2008). "What is African Comunitarianism? Against consensus as a regulative Ideal", ''South African Journal of Philosophy'', Vol. 27:4, pp.&nbsp;386–399
*[[Dion Forster|Forster, Dion]] (2006). ''[https://www.spirituality.org.za/files/D%20Forster%20doctorate.pdf Self validating consciousness in strong artificial intelligence: An African theological contribution]''. [[Pretoria]]: Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Africa / [[UNISA]], an extensive and detailed discussion of ubuntu in chapters 5–6.
*[[Dion Forster|Forster, Dion]] (2006). ''[https://www.spirituality.org.za/files/ubuntu%20and%20identity%20D%20Forster%202006.doc Identity in relationship: The ethics of ubuntu as an answer to the impasse of individual consciousness]'' (Paper presented at the South African science and religion Forum – Published in the book ''The impact of knowledge systems on human development in Africa.'' du Toit, CW (ed.), Pretoria, Research institute for Religion and Theology (University of South Africa) 2007:245–289).[[Pretoria]]: [[UNISA]]. [[Dion Forster]]
* Gade, C. B. N. (2017). [https://www.amazon.com/Discourse-African-Philosophy-Transitional-Perspectives/dp/1498512259/ref=mt_hardcover?_encoding=UTF8&me= ''A Discourse on African Philosophy: A New Perspective on'' Ubuntu ''and Transitional Justice in South Africa'']. New York: Lexington Books.
* Gade, C. B. N. (2011). [https://pure.au.dk/portal/files/40165256/The_Historical_Development_of_the_Written_Discourses_on_Ubuntu.pdf "The historical development of the written discourses on ''ubuntu''"], ''South African Journal of Philosophy'', ''30''(3), 303–329.
* Kamwangamalu, Nkonko M. (2014). ''Ubuntu'' in South Africa: A sociolinguistic perspective to a pan-African concept. In Molefi Kete Asante, Yoshitaka Miike, & Jing Yin (eds), ''The global intercultural communication reader'' (2nd edn, pp.&nbsp;226–236). New York, NY: Routledge.
* Louw, Dirk J. 1998. "[https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Afri/AfriLouw.htm Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other]". ''Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy''.
* Metz, Thaddeus 2007, "Toward an African Moral Theory" (Symposium) ''S. Afr. J. Philos.'' 2007, 26(4).
* [[Mogobe Ramose|Ramose, Mogobe B.]] (2003). "The philosophy of ''ubuntu'' and ''ubuntu'' as a philosophy". In P. H. Coetzee & A. P. J. Roux (eds), ''The African philosophy reader'' (2nd edn, pp.&nbsp;230–238). [[New York City|New York]]/[[London]]: Routledge.
* [[Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange|Samkange, S.]], & T. M. Samkange (1980). ''Hunhuism or ubuntuism: A Zimbabwe Indigenous Political Philosophy''. Salisbury [Harare]: Graham Publishing, {{ISBN|0-86921-015-7}}. 106pp. Paperback.
* Sesanti, Simphiwe. (2022). Humane communication in African languages: African philosophical perspectives. In Yoshitaka Miike & Jing Yin (Eds.), ''The handbook of global interventions in communication theory'' (pp. 122–135). New York, NY: Routledge.
*Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, pp.&nbsp;27–38. {{dead link|date=October 2021}}https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/decolonizing-global-citizenship-education/
*Chigangaidze, Robert Kudakwashe. (2021). "An exposition of humanistic-existential social work in light of ubuntu philosophy: Towards theorizing ubuntu in social work practice". ''Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought'', 40 (2), 146–165.
* Ukpokodu, O. N. (2016). ''You can't teach us if you don't know us and care about us: Becoming an ubuntu, responsive and responsible urban teacher''. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|ubuntu}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Ubuntu (ideology).ogg|date=2006-08-03}}
* {{IEP|hunhu|Hunhu/Ubuntu in the Traditional Thought of Southern Africa}}
* [https://www.ubuntuparty.org.za/ Ubuntu Party]
* [https://www.ubuntuplanet.org/ Ubuntu Planet]
* Magolego, Melo. 2013. [https://www.thoughtleader.co.za/mandelarhodesscholars/2013/04/03/ubuntu-in-western-society/ "Ubuntu in Western Society"], ''M&G'' Thought Leader Blog
* Sonal Panse, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120925195807/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-22-2006-103206.asp Ubuntu – African Philosophy]}} (buzzle.com)
* Sean Coughlan, [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5388182.stm "All you need is ubuntu"], ''BBC News Magazine'', Thursday, 28 September 2006.
* A. Onomen Asikele, [https://ubunturepublics.org Ubuntu Republics of Africa] (2011)

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