Core aspects of ubuntu: A systematic review

In the paper

“There is also a general impression from reviewed studies that the term ubuntu cannot be adequately conveyed in English.”

In the paper

“Ubuntu is an ethical theory that asks individuals to become a certain sort of person/human being: to exhibit certain virtues, or relate communally/harmoniously by sharing a way of life with others (along the vertical and horizontal lines), and by caring for their quality of life; to enhance the relational capacity of others; to live a genuinely human life; and to value relationships of interdepend”

In the paper

“It is a philosophical construction by moral theorists, [23] which unifies a wide array of the moral judgements and practices found among many black Africans spanning a large geographical area in sub-Saharan Africa, and over a broad time period, from pre-colonial peoples to contemporary literati.”

What the sources say

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  cites [23]

In the paper

“They include: African humanism; [9,46] Afro-communitarian moral perspective or ethic; [14,60,61] humanist or communalistic ethic; [57] Afro-communalism; [62] African eco-bio-communitarian outlook; [2] and harmonious monism.[2]”

What the sources say

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  cites [9]
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  cites [46]
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  cites [60]
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  cites [61]
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  cites [57]

In the paper

“What is commonly accepted is the view that the maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu expresses a moral principle that prescribes that one ought to exhibit certain characteristics: [21,25,42,[68][69][70][71] to prize harmonious/communal or interdependent relationships; [10,57,72] to develop one's personhood through our availability to or affirmation of others; [1] to develop one's humanness through”

What the sources say

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  cites [21,25,42,[68][69][70][71]
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  cites [10]
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  cites [57]
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  cites [72]
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  cites [1]

In the paper

“These values are based on ethical beliefs, moral judgements or ideas such as prizing communal relationships prevalent among this population, rather than themes such as respect for autonomy or impartial cost-benefit analysis that are prevalent in the West.[4,14]”

What the sources say

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  cites [4]
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  cites [14]

In the paper

“in which actions are morally right to the extent that they honour the capacity to relate communally, reduce discord or promote friendly relationships with others”

In the paper

“However, although an individual is involved in a web of interconnectedness and relatedness with the extended (bio)physical and spiritual worlds, one's present and actual web of communion such as present family ties, some scholars [83] add, takes priority over future or possible relationships.”

What the sources say

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  cites [83]

In the paper

“First, some reviewed studies argue that the maxim expresses a descriptive claim (in part), which is the view that one's identity as a human being causally and even metaphysically depends on a community.”

In the paper

“To call the theory of ubuntu 'African' , Metz, for example, explains, does not imply that all sub-Saharan societies have believed it or have been aware of it.[59]”

What the sources say

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  cites [59]

In the paper

“and in which the physical world and the spiritual world are fundamentally united”

In the paper

“In light of this generally accepted prescription to exhibit certain characteristics, the theorisation around ubuntu, Koenane and Olatunji [84] observe, is best classified as a narrative of becoming, as opposed to its competing classification as a narrative of return.”

What the sources say

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  cites [84]

In the paper

“African ehics is described as a set of values distinctively associated with largely black African people residing in sub-Saharan Africa.”

In the paper

“In this way, one's humanity is expressed through one's relationship with others, and the humanity of others is in turn expressed through recognition of the individual's humanity.[26,67]”

What the sources say

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  cites [26]
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  cites [67]

In the paper

“Finally, in their view, advocates of ubuntu as a narrative of return view African life as monolithic, both in its interpretation, and how it is lived.”

What the sources say

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  cites [86]

In the paper

“The antithesis of ubuntu is 'into' , meaning a thing.Into results when an individual distances himself/herself from, or engages in acts that compromise the unity of, the community.[9]”

What the sources say

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  cites [9]

In the paper

“Relationality, interdependence, friendliness, communalism and personhood/humanness are all value-laden key concepts in this philosophy.”

In the paper

“Reviewed studies generally agree that the term ubuntu has its roots in the SA Nguni-Bantu oral traditions, and is made up of the prefix 'ubu-' meaning being in potency, or an enfolded being, and stem 'ntu' -meaning being in actuality or unfolded being.”

In the paper

“This means that they are generous, hospitable, friendly, caring and compassionate.They share what they have.It also means that my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in theirs.”

What the sources say

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  cites [65]

In the paper

“Breems [11] and Dolamo [80] imply that ntu has continuities with other categories -the unborn, plants, animals, spirits, transcendent or supernatural forces, and so on.”

What the sources say

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  cites [11]
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  cites [80]

In the paper

“An individual cannot survive on his or her own, [25] but needs others.”

What the sources say

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  cites [25]

In the paper

“Ubuntu, some studies [26,28,66] maintain, refers to the very essence of being human.”

What the sources say

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  cites [66]

In the paper

“Koenane and Olatunji's [84] view appears to be the commonly accepted one (and a uniting principle) in the reviewed literature.”

What the sources say

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  cites [84]

In the paper

“What 'return' means here is also a source of controversy: while some scholars believe the phrase implies a return to some glorious past (the era of destination being the precolonial period), others argue that the phrase implies retrieving values from the past and adapting them to address contemporary issues.”

In the paper

“Forster [68] expresses this differently: 'the unity and harmony of personhood expressed in ubuntu stretches from the world seen through the naked eye to the world of ancestors, the spirit world.'”

What the sources say

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  cites [68]

In the paper

“In other words, disagreement exists among scholars regarding the classification of ubuntu as a narrative of return.”

What the sources say

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  cites [10,22,60,[85][86][87]

In the paper

“The core aspects of ubuntu, as described in the reviewed ethical literature, include the essentially relational nature of this ethical theory, which prizes relationship[s] of interdependence, fellowship, reconciliation, relationality, community friendliness, harmonious relationships and other-regarding actions, and in which actions are morally right to the extent that they promote social”

In the paper

“Thus participation in the life of the community and reciprocal compassion on the part of the community are two key features of relationship in ubuntu philosophy.”

In the paper

“In light of the above, the maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu implies that the pathway to authentic development of one's personhood/humanness is never something that can be achieved in opposition to others.Rather, authentic personhood/humanness is essentially achieved through others, by relating communally with others, comprising both the world seen by the physical eyes and the spiritual world.[46]”

What the sources say

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  cites [46]

In the paper

“Venter [78] quotes Teffo as arguing this point in the following words: in ubuntu, 'every individual forms a link in a chain of vital forces, a living link, active and passive, joined from above to the ascending line of his ancestry and sustaining below him the line of his descendants.'”

What the sources say

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  cites [78]

In the paper

“On Metz's [94] account, beings in the womb during the first 2 months of pregnancy, who merely have the potential for communal relationships and not a capacity for such, lack moral status.”

What the sources say

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  cites [94]

In the paper

“One who fails to exhibit humanness/personhood is considered a non-person or an animal.However, one study [83] remarks that '[t]his way of speaking does not mean that wicked or unjust individuals are literally no longer human, namely, no longer the subject of human rights; it means rather that they have failed to exhibit what is valuable about human nature to any significant degree.'”

What the sources say

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  cites [83]

In the paper

“In summary, this review of existing ethical literature on ubuntu philosophy shows that each person is never alone, but is constituted by webs of interconnection (through shared identity), interrelatedness, intersubjectivity (mainly by cognition, that is, thinking of oneself as 'we') and interdependence (whereby one develops personhood/ humanness through others).[68]”

What the sources say

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  cites [68]

In the paper

“As Metz [104] puts it, '[t]o be”

What the sources say

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  cites [104]

In the paper

“In addition, it is also in this regard that ubuntu is said to be essentially relational.In other words, relationships have special moral importance, in contrast to Western ethical frameworks such as principlism, which makes no essential reference to others, but only the given individual, this African ethics requires individuals to interact harmoniously with others.”

In the paper

“An interdependent community is one in which individuals can only discover who they are through others, while recognising the distinctive identity of individuals.[79]”

What the sources say

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  cites [79]

In the paper

“To this end, one has (human) rights to the extent that one has full moral status, that is, the extent to which one can be both a subject and an object of a communal relationship.”

In the paper

“On this relational account of morality, an other-regarding view fundamentally determines the way the self should behave. [19]”

What the sources say

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  cites [19]

In the paper

“The view of the individual and the community as coterminous is a mutually constitutive one, in which the good of the individual and that of the community are interwoven such that the individual's subjectivity is not solely determined by the community but co-substantively constituted with that of the community.[51]”

What the sources say

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  cites [51]

In the paper

“Finally, interdependence/interconnection also means that one's humanity is caught up or inextricably bound up with and intertwined in, that of others.[28,54,92,105] For this reason, when a community is broken, the individual is also broken.Restoration of the community also cannot occur without the healing of the individual.”

What the sources say

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  cites [105]

In the paper

“In this African ethics, each individual contributes his experience, abilities, knowledge and strategies to the final social goal, and where there are disagreements, such disagreements are negotiated through indaba(s) -or discussions among all members of the community -in order to arrive at a consensus.[93]”

What the sources say

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  cites [93]

In the paper

“Note, however, that the term community, as used by the reviewed studies, does not refer to an existing society 'out there' in the world.Rather, the commonly expressed view is that community refers to an ideal way of relating to others in a society.[90]”

What the sources say

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  cites [90]

In the paper

“We note here that the studies do not seem to share the same view on how one gains (full) moral status: while scholars such as Mnyaka and Mothlhabi [56] see actual participation in communal relationship as essential for developing one's status or personhood/humanness, and other scholars such as Dolamo [80] and Forster [68] see a continuity in the unity and harmony of personhood that is expressed by”

What the sources say

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  cites [68]

In the paper

“Unfriendly interactions are inappropriate ways of relating, since they are not other-regarding.”

In the paper

“One has moral status to the extent that one is capable of being part of a communal relationship of a certain kind -what Metz calls modal relationality (that is, what is required is for one to be capable of being in communal relationship and not that one is necessarily in an actual communal relationship).[94]”

What the sources say

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  cites [94]

In the paper

“Typical discussions around the nature of community, a reviewed study [75] claims, coalesce around these two themes: identifying with others, and exhibiting solidarity with others.”

What the sources say

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  cites [75]

In the paper

“In addition, this formulation supplements previous attempts at a literature review of the scope of ubuntu by correcting for the methodological shortcomings inherent in these studies.”

In the paper

“In other words, the morally right action is one that connects, rather than separates.”

In the paper

“In Wiredu's [113] view, for example, one is obliged to tell the truth because not to do so would threaten one's very status as person, as well as the very status of the community.[57] On the other hand, the obligation to tell the truth disappears in cases where the disharmony of the community would result from truth-telling.”

What the sources say

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  cites [113]
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  cites [57]

In the paper

“Finally, the capacity to be both the subject and object of friendship, some studies [4,94] point out, is essential for acquiring a higher (full) moral status, which cannot be achieved by being merely the object of friendship.”

What the sources say

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  cites [4]
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  cites [94]

In the paper

“Humanness/personhood is essentially developed through communal relationships: one does not accomplish personhood or humanness by oneself.The community -in which the physical and spiritual worlds are fundamentally united -must also be involved, requiring individuals to embrace a socially generated body of norms.[23,56,95]”

What the sources say

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  cites [95]

In the paper

“Ubuntu, on the other hand, defines right actions as right insofar as they promote friendly relations among individuals, enhance friendliness or the capacity for the same, and connect individuals.”

In the paper

“Hence the maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, Metz [88,94] notes, is to be understood as a claim to live in harmonious or communal relationships 'in which people identify with each other and exhibit solidarity with one another' .”

What the sources say

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  cites [88]
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  cites [94]

In the paper

“A failure to be friendly with others -along the vertical and horizontal lines -results in alienation, ill-will and/or the devaluation of oneself to the level of an animal.[100]”

What the sources say

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  cites [100]

In the paper

“Thus the maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu in the reviewed ethical literature implies that the morally right action is one that honours communal relationships, reduces discord or promotes friendly relationships with others, and in which the physical world (horizontal line) and the spiritual world (the vertical line) are fundamentally united.”

In the paper

“The first regards the community as a basic value (good for its own sake), and necessary for one's development of personhood/ humanness.The second opinion regards the community as an instrumental value (merely as a means to an end, such as personhood or humanness).[28,88,89]”

What the sources say

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  cites [88]
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  cites [89]

In the paper

“In light of the above, the communal character of ubuntu, the studies point out, does not imply that individual rights are subordinated.Rather it implies that in communal relationships, the individual, as Lutz [55] and others [49,69] observe, does not pursue the common good over his own good, but pursues his own good through pursuing the common good.”

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  cites [69]

In the paper

“In the literature, [16,49,56,63,72,91,92] the communal character of ubuntu does not wipe away individuality (in the sense of everyone having the same frame of mind); rather, one's individuality persists.”

What the sources say

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  cites [16]
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  cites [91]
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  cites [92]

In the paper

“Ubuntu invites one to develop the self by prizing other-regarding actions.Actions are wrong when they constitute a failure to regard others, or they jeopardise friendship with others.”

In the paper

“Similarly, the term community does not imply that moral norms are determined by a group's culture, that is, that what is right is what the majority of people in the society want.According to one study, [90] these are Western forms of relativism and communitarianism.Rather, community is an (objective) standard that should guide what the majority wants, or what moral norms become central.[21,23,62,”

What the sources say

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  cites [90]

In the paper

“For this reason, one is not only a subject of relationship, but an object of relationship as well: 'we are, therefore I am, and since I am, therefore we are.' [28]”

What the sources say

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  cites [28]

In the paper

“In order to act in accordance with ubuntu, there is a primary obligation to be friendly oneself or to end unfriendliness, and a secondary obligation to promote new friendships.[19]”

What the sources say

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  cites [19]

In the paper

“There are two dominant views regarding the nature of community in the ethical literature on ubuntu.These concern whether community is ontologically prior to the individual or coterminous with the individual.”

In the paper

“In Wiredu's [113] view, the survival and harmony of the human community is the ground for morally right action.It is in promoting the harmony of the community that individuals develop their personhood and humanness.”

What the sources say

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  cites [113]

In the paper

“It is in respect of this feature that some studies distinguish ubuntu as being less individualistic and anti-egoistic, as forbidding the seeking of personal goods without regard for others, and as more communal than Western ethics.[11,64,78]”

What the sources say

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  cites [11]
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  cites [64]
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  cites [78]

In the paper

“Other authors whose works appeared in this review have made significant references to books in their works, and some of these references and quotes appear in this review.”

In the paper

“However, the exclusion of books does not significantly affect the quality of the study, as many of the books on this topic have been published by authors who have themselves explained their ideas in articles published in international peer-reviewed journals, which have been included in this study.”

In the paper

“Moreover, using a systematic literature review to answer a research question in philosophical ethics is not entirely new.[34,35]”

What the sources say

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  cites [34]
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  cites [35]

In the paper

“This methodology ensures that the article selection process is transparent and can be replicated.”

In the paper

“Hence to be a human being is to be a being-withothers.”

In the paper

“Systematic reviews, on the other hand, are regarded as a thorough, less biased and more objective methodology for answering descriptive questions, [29][30][31][32][33] such as the one posed in this study.”

What the sources say

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  cites [29]
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  cites [32]
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  cites [33]

In the paper

“For this reason, it can be concluded that ubuntu has something to do with what it means to be truly human -what it means to be a person.”

In the paper

“Non-systematic recovery of such external knowledge risks bias.”

What the sources say

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  cites [36]

In the paper

“Pae [37] and others [35,36] add that literature reviews such as narrative reviews and eminence-based reviews, which fail to include pre-specified eligibility criteria, can result in methodological shortcomings, leading to bias that may influence an author's interpretation and/or conclusions, 37] or reducing methodological transparency regardless of the actual methodological quality of a study.”

What the sources say

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  cites [37]
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In the paper

“In summary, a systematic review -rather than a narrative review -is a more suitable approach for the descriptive aim of this study, as it provides a comprehensive overview of the ubuntu literature that minimises selection bias (by pre-specifying inclusion and exclusion criteria).”

In the paper

“In other words, a systematic literature review ensures that all relevant studies that ought to be included for review are not excluded without justification, thus minimising the risk of human bias.”

In the paper

“The methodological approach of this study fulfils this recommendation, and is therefore likely to identify normative contributions from ubuntu philosophy in a way that is conducive to evidence-based ethical decision-making in bioethics.”

In the paper

“making a total of 116 articles that were included for review (Fig. 1).”

In the paper

“This construction of ubuntu could be used to support a moral rule that claims that a failure to exhibit caring concern for the physical environment (with whom the human person is in a relationship on the horizontal line) is itself a devaluation of oneself, since through such an act one fails to end unfriendliness (towards the environment).”

In the paper

“In light of the above, abortion within 2 months of conception is justified.”

In the paper

“The methodological approach of this study is more likely to ensure internal validity (reproducibility) and external validity (rendering this formulation more conducive for external use).”

In the paper

“It may, however, be wrong to kill advanced dementia patients if this will negatively affect others who still think of the patient as a part of a 'we' .In other words, it is wrong because of the way others are likely to feel about the death of the objects of their communal relationships.”

In the paper

“According to this study's construction of the theoretical formulation of ubuntu, human beings are in a web of relationships and interconnectedness in which we are to care for others' well-being.The other comprises all beings and things on the vertical and horizontal lines.”

In the paper

“This framework, it may be argued, is suitable for grounding ethical duties to protect the environment by collectively working towards ending global climate change.[77]”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites [77]

In the paper

“In addition, given Metz's [104] view of those who have human rights, advanced dementia patients do not have rights.”

What the sources say

• ?Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  cites [104]

In the paper

“Finally, this theoretical formulation also provides justification for actions such as rebellion, when it is necessary to end unfriendliness, and it grounds concepts such as (restorative) justice.”

In the paper

“Finally, this theoretical formulation also provides justification for actions such as rebellion, when it is necessary to end unfriendliness, and it grounds concepts such as (restorative) justice.”

In the paper

“Furthermore, this theoretical formulation has great potential for addressing ethical challenges around truth-telling within the clinical context.”

In the paper

“Nonetheless, scholars, health professionals, policy makers and others should be aware that a useful alternative to Western theories of right action(s) exists in the global South that may be embraced to enhance ethical decision-making in the clinical context, as well as to address a variety of (bio)ethical issues more globally.”

In the paper

“Furthermore, recent engagements with ubuntu have largely appeared in published journal articles, and many of these have been indexed by the databases in which we conducted searches.”

In the paper

“The latter requires evaluative argument.”

In the paper

“No one single systematic review can complete this enormous objective, but this review seeks to take a first step in this regard.”

In the paper

“The above theoretical formulation best captures the core aspects of this theory, and it is an important methodological contribution to the written discourse on ubuntu.”

In the paper

“Notwithstanding these limitations, we are optimistic that this formulation captures what most ubuntu scholars would accept as constituting the core aspects of this ethical theory.”

In the paper

“Finally, this study notes that merely providing (by way of a systematic review) a theoretical formulation of ubuntu that encompasses the common themes that run across existing, and sometimes competing, interpretations of this theory, does not in itself imply that it is valuable, and particularly that it will be useful in practice.”

In the paper

“This may have resulted in the unintended exclusion of potentially relevant studies indexed by other databases and search engines.”

In the paper

“Additionally, we acknowledge that excluding books from this systematic review is another limitation.”

In the paper

“For example, the decision to pool only studies published in English may have resulted in the exclusion of potentially relevant studies published in other languages.”

In the paper

“This systematic review is a contribution towards providing a definition of ubuntu that encompasses the common themes which runs across existing, and sometimes competing, interpretation of the same.”

In the paper

“In addition to this, we are also aware that the strict screening process, as well as the eligibility conditions, may have also resulted in the exclusion of other potentially relevant materials.”

In the paper

“CE was responsible for selecting articles for review, but discussed the process extensively with SH to ensure consistency in the inclusion and exclusion criteria.Two revisions of the process were done by SH to ensure consistency with selection criteria, as well as with the larger project aims and objectives.”

In the paper

“The above theoretical formulation best captures the core aspects of this theory, and it is an important methodological contribution to the written discourse on ubuntu.”