African Values &
Moral Theory
Kevin Behrens
Kevin.behrens@wits.ac.za
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Why should we consider
African Values & Moral Theory?
2
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
HPCSA – Core Curriculum on Human Rights, Ethics & Medical Law
Some of the expected outcomes of the curriculum are that trained HCP
should:
• Show respect for patients and colleagues without prejudice, with an
understanding and an appreciation of their diversities of
background and opportunity, language and culture.
• Use his or her professional capabilities to contribute to the
community and to individual patient welfare.
• Demonstrate awareness, through action or in writing, of the legal
and ethical responsibilities involved in individual patient care and
the provision of care to populations.
• Demonstrate an ability to engage in ethical reasoning and decision
making.
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
Ability to engage in ethical reasoning and decision making.
• To enable you to do this, we need to equip you with knowledge and
skills including:
– An understanding of moral theories and principles
– The practical competence to apply these to actual moral issues
you will encounter
• This involves ‘…offering students a skill, primarily cognitive in this
instance; a set of conceptual tools to clarify and respond to moral
difficulties that arise in the practice of medicine… [where] medical
ethicists seek to enable medical trainees to deliberate use of the
conceptual apparatus of ethics to decide upon morally acceptable
courses of action in difficult situations’ (Huddle 2005: 885-6).
• No reason why only Western ethical values and notions should be
relevant
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
An understanding and an appreciation of [patients’] diversities of
background and opportunity, language and culture.
• Almost all bioethics is based on Western ethical theories & principles
• But, most of our patients belong to African cultures, and so do many
of the HCP we train
• African cultures have their own values, moral constructs and
principles
• Surely, we ought to be open to seeing what some of these can
contribute to our moral decision making
• One of the responsibilities of a HCP is to help patients make difficult
moral choices – if we understand how they might see the issues, we
can do this better
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• It goes without saying that this applies to other cultures &
worldviews, too
• Our ethical thought can be enriched by inputs from many other
sources
• But, African thought has been very neglected in this process
• And we are in Africa, attending to patients who have a mainly African
cultural heritage
• Many Africans, of all socio-economic groups, still routinely consult
with traditional healers, use traditional medicines, even when they
are also under the care of dentists / doctors schooled in Western
medicine
• Recognising & understanding this better, may make Western
practitioners more effective
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
We are more likely to get buy-in & moral change from people if we
appeal to moral values and notions they are familiar with
• Speaking about environmental ethics Callicott writes: ‘A persuasive
environmental ethic, however, cannot be constructed de novo. It
must be located in a more general cognitive context, and it must
retain continuity with the moral ideas and ideals of the past.
Accordingly, the handful of Western philosophers working in the field
of environmental ethics have begun with various strains of Western
moral philosophy and sought to extend them to the new
environmental questions’ (Callicott, 1994: xv).
• This applies to all ethics. People are more likely to respond to moral
challenge based on ethical values with which they are familiar
• Africans will more likely buy in to morality based on African ideas and
values
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• Possibly the single most important reason for us to study African
thought is because none of us is as smart as all of us
• We stand to LEARN from other perspectives, and enrich our own
ability to reason ethically
• Godfrey Tangwa, the most well-known and prolific African bioethicist,
wrote in Bioethics 1996; 10(3): 183-200.:
• “It is clearly up to western Bioethics and western systems of thought
and practice in general to allow African Bioethics and African culture
in general to influence them. If only more westerners could really
honestly try to get into the spirit and swing of things African, in the
same spirit that many Africans have honestly and enthusiastically got
into the spirit and swing of things western, humankind and the entire
biological world might stand to reap great benefits.”
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• “Africans have tried. From western Christianity through western
languages and education, to western systems of thought,
philosophies and fashions, Africans have honestly and
enthusiastically got into the spirit of things western. In the process,
Africans have benefitted from western culture and used it to enrich
their indigenous cultures. But, unfortunately, in so doing, Africans
have neglected some vital aspects of their own indigenous cultures
which could, in turn, have helped to humanise and enrich western
culture. As there is no possibility of Africans imposing these putative
benefits of African culture on westerners through any putative
‘blackman’s burden’ and ‘decivilising mission’, it is really up to
westerners to salvage these cultures for the enrichment of western
culture and the benefit of humankind, since western culture is,
indisputably, the overwhelmingly dominant culture of our historical
epoch.”
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• It should seem a little strange that so little attention has been given
to African thought & what it can contribute to bioethics
Why have African Values & Moral Theory been overlooked?
• Pre-literate history: Many ideas have only recently entered the
written record
• Prejudiced early accounts: Many of these were written by Christian
apologists who sought to show African thought was primitive
• Scepticism about African Philosophy: Until very recently, many in
the West thought it was nonsense to talk of African Philosophy
• Western intellectual arrogance
• Failure of African theorists themselves to produce work on these
matters
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• “It is extremely important to understand the fact of a kind of 21stcentury racism that is undermining the development of our
knowledge of … ethics and other fields of enquiry. Any intellectual,
no matter how liberal or enlightened, who either explicitly or
implicitly suggests that there is nothing to be learned from Africa is
terribly ignorant of Africa, and is, in my opinion, suffering from this
phenomenon. Even today, many writers still do not expect the ‘Dark
Continent’ – as ‘traditionally’ portrayed by the Enlightenment
thinkers and colonial anthropologists – to be the source of … ideas
that can help the contemporary world solve… problems. In current
discourse ‘Africa’ still appears, even if only in its absence, as some
kind of black hole of evil” (Kelbessa, 2005: 21).
Why Should We Consider African
Values & Moral Theory?
• “More often than not the term [African philosophy] tends to revive
apparently innate skepticism on the one hand and to stimulate
ingrained condescension on the other. The skeptic, unswervingly
committed to the will to remain ignorant is simply dismissive of any
possibility, let alone the probability of African philosophy. Impelled
by the will to dominate, the condescendor is often ready to entertain
the probability of African philosophy provided the judgement
pertaining to the experience, knowledge and truth about African
philosophy is recognised as the sole and exclusive right of the
condescendor” (Ramose, 1999: 2).
• Basically, it boils down to prejudice or racism: Africans aren’t capable
of thinking philosophically
• Thankfully, this has changed significantly in the last few decades
African Philosophy:
A Brief Introduction
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African Philosophy:
A Brief Introduction
• We need to distinguish between African Thought & African
Philosophy
• Philosophy is a particular kind of intellectual endeavour,
characterised by the methods it uses
• Philosophy is about applying reason to systematically, robustly and
analytically reflect on important questions
• When we talk about African thought, we usually mean indigenous
African ideas, which most likely are not found in written form
• But, anthropologists, religious scholars and others have tried to
account for and record these ideas
• This is essentially descriptive work: it just tells us what certain African
people believe
• African Philosophy needs to apply analytical thinking to the project
African Philosophy:
A Brief Introduction
H Odera Oruka has identified 4 main trends in African Philosophy:
1. Ethnophilosophy (Tempels, Senghor, Mbiti)
• Early accounts of African thought, more descriptive than really
analytical
2. Nationalist-ideological Philosophy (Nyerere, Nkrumah, Kenyatta)
• Of the ‘Philosopher Kings’: Leaders after independence. Focussed on
justifying African socialism & ‘democracy’
3. Philosophic Sagacity (Sage Philosophy) (Oruka)
• Identification of ‘sages’ (with unwritten philosophies) & recording &
analysis of their ideas
4. Professional Philosophy (Wiredu, Appiah, Gyeke, Masolo)
• Trained philosophers, using academic methods to reflect on questions
from African perspective
African Philosophy:
A Brief Introduction
• There are five main branches of Philosophy:
– Epistemology (study of knowledge)
– Aesthetics (study of art & beauty)
– Logic (study of reasoning)
– Metaphysics (study of reality, especially that beyond scientific
realm)
– Ethics (study of moral values, right & wrong actions)
• Philosophy is also applied to many subjects:
– Philosophy of science, language, history. Political philosophy
– Environmental ethics, Business ethics, bioethics
• African Philosophers address most of these
• But, I am only concerned with African ethics: values and moral theory
African Philosophy:
A Brief Introduction
The kinds of questions I am interested in are:
• What contribution can African thought/philosophy make to bioethics?
• What are some characteristic African notions regarding the moral life
and ethics?
• How do these differ from Western or other notions?
• How can these enrich our moral thinking?
• How can we apply these to specific ethical issues?
• Will our moral judgments be in any way different if we take these
African notions into account?
• Can we describe an “African Moral Theory”? How would this differ
from Western moral theories?
• So, we need to revise Western moral theories, first.
Recap of Western
Moral Theories
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Recap of Western Moral Theories
Moral Theories
• One of the most important theoretical questions that ethics asks is:
– How do we decide what is the morally right thing to do in any
situation?
• Here we are concerned to come up with a theory of right action
• We don’t just want to claim that action A or action B is right or
wrong, we want a theory that can give us the basis for knowing
whether ANY action is right or wrong
• There area number of main types of moral theories of right action
that have been proposed
• The 2 most influential: consequentialism (utilitarianism), & duty
based (deontology)
• + Virtue Ethics
Recap of Western Moral Theories
The Cash in a Suitcase Thought Experiment
Consequentialism:
• An action is morally right if the CONSEQUENCES of that action are
on balance more positive than negative for the greatest number
• Positive i.t.o. pleasure / happiness / well-being
Duty theories (deontology):
• There are certain actions that we have a duty to perform or to
refrain from performing
• Keeping promises is such a duty (not lying, killing, stealing)
• Universalizability: if everybody decided to break their promises to
suit themselves, no-one would ever believe promises that are made.
Contracts would be meaningless. So, for instance, nobody would give
credit to anyone else.
Recap of Western Moral Theories
The Trolley Car Thought Experiment
Consequentialism:
• It is morally obligatory for us to flick the switch
Duty theories (deontology):
• Flicking the switch make us responsible for choosing some lives over
others and complicit in the wrong
• It would entail using the sacrificed person as a means, and not
respecting the person
This also raises issue of the difference between doing & allowing
• Intention is irrelevant to the consequentialist
Recap of Western Moral Theories
The Organ Donor Thought Experiment
Consequentialism:
• Cannot account for why this act would be wrong
• Lives are exchangeable
• End justifies means
Duty theories (deontology):
• We cannot treat persons just as means to our own ends, we need to
respect their inherent value
• Boils down to ‘respect for persons’
• No life can replace another
• No just ends without just means
Recap of Western Moral Theories
• Act Consequentialism seems to lead to very intuitively wrong
conclusions, especially since lives are exchangeable
• These problems can be (partially) resolved by another form
Rule Consequentialism
• Instead of subjecting each action to a calculation, more general
moral rules are tested against the requirement of achieving the
greatest good for the greatest number
• E.g. moral rules like not lying, stealing, murdering
• Always choose an action that is required by a rule whose
acceptance would have the best overall consequences for the
greatest number of people
• A rule such as ‘We cannot regard human lives as exchangeable’
could resolve the problem
Recap of Western Moral Theories
1. Consequentialism (Utilitarianism)
• Theory of right action: An action is morally right if the
CONSEQUENCES of that action are on balance more positive than
negative for the greatest number
• Requires a calculation of all of the good consequences minus all of
the bad consequences of an action
• Only consequences count, so intentions are irrelevant
• Some of the problems can be overcome by rule consequentialism
– Instead of subjecting each action to a calculation, more general
moral rules are tested against the requirement of achieving the
greatest good for the greatest number
Recap of Western Moral Theories
2. Deontology:
• Duty-based theories
• Theory of right action: Actions that are morally right are those who
we have a duty to perform or to refrain from performing
• How do we know what these rules or duties are?
– Common morality: there are a number of moral duties agreed to
by most people in the world, and that have proven themselves as
helpful in creating a good society
– Universalizability: these duties or rules should apply to everyone
in the same way (I can’t expect special rules that apply just to
myself)
– Respect for Persons: Treat people with respect due just because
they are persons. Most common deontological approach.
Recap of Western Moral Theories
3.
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Virtue Ethics
Possibly the oldest moral theory going back to Plato & Aristotle
Instead of a focus on actions/duties, it is concerned with character
Instead of rules, it promotes developing good habits of character
It is more based on being than doing & seeks to produce excellent
persons.
‘Always act as a virtuous person (person of good character) would’
Virtues: fairness, friendliness, generosity, loyalty, patience, selfdiscipline, courage, dependability, compassion, benevolence, etc
It has appeal, has become very popular recently
But apply it to any of the thought experiments…. It does not easily
provide answers to moral dilemmas. What would a good person do?
Recap of Western Moral Theories
4. The Ethics of Care
• Another challenge to the dominance of consequentialism &
deontology has come mainly from feminist philosophers
• Feminism in the 1960s & 70s was dominated by the idea that the
supposed psychological differences between men & women had
been exaggerated – basically we are all just human
• But, from the early 1980s this began to change
• In 1982 Carol Gilligan claimed that it is true that men & women
think differently about morality. But, this does not mean that men’s
moral thinking is better than women’s – they are just different
• She claimed that men tend to think in terms of the application of
abstract moral principles & base their decisions on rational
calculation, impersonal duty, respecting contracts etc
Recap of Western Moral Theories
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Women’s morality is centred on caring for others, being concerned
about their interests and attending to their needs
‘Caring, empathy, feeling with others, being sensitive to each other’s
feeling all may be better guides to what morality requires in actual
contexts than may abstract rules of reason, or rational calculation,
or at least they may be necessary components of an adequate
morality’. (Virginia Held, 1990).
The supposed differences between men and women may not be as
clear or significant as these authors suggest, but their challenge to
male-dominated ethics is plausible
Do we not need an approach to ethics that considers caring,
empathy, sympathy, emotion, etc as relevant?
Whilst this approach is still not dominant, it has been taken up well
by some bioethicists. Perhaps because of the nature of medical
practice.
Recap of Western Moral Theories
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Ethics of care not only focusses on the need to promote good
relationships and include emotional considerations in our thinking
It also emphasises the place of special relationships, such as family
relationships
Neither consequentialism nor deontology in standard form are able
to account for our moral intuition that it is morally right to give
some priority to our own family & friends – the poor person in a far
away country has an equal claim on my extra income to my own
child
Somehow this seems to be wrong, and the ethics of care can give us
grounds for justifying why
Recap of Western Moral Theories
5. The four principles: (mid-level – not a ‘moral theory’)
• 1 Respect for Autonomy
• Individual autonomous choice & decision making. Basis for informed
consent & respecting confidentiality
• 2 Nonmaleficence
• Avoid harming others
• 3 Beneficence
• Doing good for others, promoting their interests & well-being
• 4 Justice
• Distributive justice. Fair allocation of health resources. Distribute
benefits & harms fairly
Towards an African
Moral Theory
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Towards an African Moral Theory
• Clearly, there is not a fully developed African moral theory such as
Utilitarianism or Deontology
• But, there are some distinctive ethical conceptions to be found
• Africa is also a vast continent, with many different peoples. There is
no single African worldview or philosophy
• But, there are some notions that seem to be shared by quite a
number of different indigenous groups
• So, we need to construct a moral theory based on salient African
ideas and values
• Thad Metz (UJ) has made it a major part of his work to do this: He is
trying to articulate a moral theory (Ubuntu) that he thinks should be
taken as seriously as the classical Western theories
Towards an African Moral Theory
Some widely-shared African moral notions/values:
• The essence of African morality is often expressed in these two (or
similar) expressions:
– “I am because we are”
– “A person is a person through other persons”
• The main idea is that we can only become a real or authentic
(virtuous) PERSONS through our relationships with others
• We are mutually dependent. What I do affects others, and vice versa.
• Because of this, we need to consider others
• Family analogy is often used to explain this. Just as the members of a
family realise that they depend on each other, and therefore look
after each other and seek the good of the family, so we should do so
in other relationships
Towards an African Moral Theory
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‘[Ubuntu] speaks to the very essence of being human…. It … means
my humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in theirs. We
belong in a bundle of life…. Harmony, friendliness, community are
great goods. Social harmony is for us… the greatest good. Anything
that subverts or undermines this sought after good is to be avoided
like the plague’ (Tutu, 1999: 34-35).
Harmonious, communal relationships are valued
Metz argues that Ubuntu requires 2 things: identity and solidarity
Identity: individuals conceive of themselves as part of a ‘we’ not just
an ‘I’. We understand ourselves to be in this business of life together
with others. As it goes with others, so it goes with me.
Solidarity: we express this by working together for the common
good, helping one another and caring for one another
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Together, identity and solidarity work to promote harmonious
relationships
• Metz claims we can express these ideas as a theory of right action
• ‘An action is right just insofar as it is a way of living harmoniously or
prizing communal relationships, ones in which people identify with
each other and exhibit solidarity with one another; otherwise, an
action is wrong’ (Metz)
• So you become a true person (virtue) to the extent that you act to
promote harmonious relationships (including adhering to social
norms & practices (deontology) and helping others and seeking their
well-being (utilitarianism)
• Seems to embrace other moral theories
• But, focus is on relationships, caring & sharing, maintaining harmony
& balance (ethics of care)
Towards an African Moral Theory
• This notion embraces many ethical norms shared by the West and
others prohibiting stealing, lying, murder, etc.
• Metz also identifies some specific ethical obligations entailed by this
theory of right action and characteristic of much African thought:
– Special obligations to family include much wider family members
– Strong duty for rich to aid the poor
– Greeting others (including strangers) is important
– Marrying and having children is a moral requirement
– Reconciliation is preferred over retribution when people offend
– Decision making by consensus preferred over majoritism
– (I add): strong valuing of hospitality, especially to the stranger
Towards an African Moral Theory
What are some of the implications of all of this for bioethics?
The focus on relationships, caring & sharing, maintaining harmony &
balance
• Different emphasis from: maximising the good for the greatest
number or respecting persons
• Also different from autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence &
justice
• How?
• There is some ‘heart’ in this approach. Caring and sharing,
compassion and empathy
• Western bioethics has been thin on these concepts
• Calls to mind the feminist ethicist notion of the ethics of care
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Some theorists believe that the recent focus on Professionalism in
health care is a return to the view that HCPs are expected to be
caring, compassionate, understanding and sympathetic – not just
expert technicians of the body
• What do you think? Do patients have the right to expect such things?
• We don’t expect these from other professionals such as engineers,
lawyers and accountants. Why of physicians?
• Often understood in terms of an implicit social contract between
society and the HC profession:
– Profession gets relative status, wealth, respect & the right to selfregulation
– Society expects specialist knowledge, competence, ethical
behaviour & compassion, empathy & understanding
Towards an African Moral Theory
• “The morality of medicine derives, in part, from the fact that the
physician swears an oath acknowledging the primacy of the patient in
his or her work as a physician. He argues that the sincere, intentional
profession of this primacy is necessary because of the existential
predicament of the patient – vulnerable, frightened, largely ignorant,
largely powerless, with significantly diminished autonomy. These are
the facts of illness. The patient, with no recourse but trust, has a
moral claim on a special degree of trust in the care to be rendered”
Sulmassy quoting Paligrino
• It is the special existential predicament of patients that justifies the
need for compassion and focus on patient needs
• Some might say that the HCP is losing this dimension, and African
thought can re-affirm its central place in medical ethics
Towards an African Moral Theory
The focus on becoming a virtuous person through community with
other persons
• There has been a strong resurgence of interest in virtue ethics –
African thought encourages this
• Why is this important?
• Friend visits you in hospital
• Insists he is only there because he is doing his duty
• How does it make you feel?
• Do patients not feel the same about HCPs? If it is only a job and not
something you do because of your character, they might not trust you
as much.
• Social contract: society expects people of moral integrity & character
Towards an African Moral Theory
The focus on family and community relationships
• The Western bioethical notion of autonomy may need to be
questioned or re-visited
• E.g. the standard Jehovah’s witness case vs. the modified Jehovah’s
Witness Case
• Is informed consent only of the individual enough – what of family
and community?
• In cases of futile treatment in SA, it is regarded as acceptable practice
to override the decision of family members – is consensus decision
making not better?
• In SA law the choice to terminate a pregnancy is the right of the
pregnant woman alone. Is this morally right?
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Standard approach to experimentation with human participants is
that the individual must give consent. But, in societies where
community is stressed this might not be sufficient.
• There may be grounds for thinking that Western bioethics gives too
much emphasis to autonomy
• What may be needed is not to throw out the principle of autonomy,
but to acknowledge that there are other factors that ought to be
taken into account
Towards an African Moral Theory
Focus on duty of rich to assist the poor and need to provide hospitality
to strangers
• The issue of whether healthcare should be universally provided by
the State is a huge debate around the world
• Some argue that health being such a basic need ought to be provided
through taxation like education, emergency service safety & security
• Western ethical systems are divided on the subject
• Would African thought not suggest that it is a no-brainer: people
should get access to health care irrespective of what they can pay
for?
• Is this not the spirit of Ubuntu?
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Consider the SA situation:
• According to the Green Paper on a National Health Insurance for
South Africa, “The 8.3% of GDP spent on health is split as 4.1% in the
private sector and 4.2 % in the public sector. The 4.1% spend covers
16.2 % of the population, (8.2 million people) who are largely on
medical schemes. The remaining 4.2% is spent on 84% of the
population.”
• In other words, 50% of what we spend on healthcare provides for
16% of the population, and 50% for the other 84% of the population
• Health care provision is skewed: those with the greatest need often
have the least access
• Is this fair? Is this the kind of society we want to live in? Is this
Ubuntu?
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Environmental Ethics as part of Bioethics
• Why is the issue of the integrity and health of the environment a
bioethical issue?
1.
By definition, bioethics includes environmental ethics
Bioethics: ‘The exploration of moral and ethical questions surrounding
life, health, science, medicine and the environment’
(North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research)
• Bio-ethics: bio, related to biology, about the ethics of living things
• A fundamental concern of environmental ethics is based on claim
that the ecological crisis is philosophical in nature:
• It is because western capitalism & industrial progress only sees
human interests as important – nature is there only for our use:
Anthropocentrism
Towards an African Moral Theory
2. There are aspects of medicine that impact directly on the
environment
• Medical waste products & disposal
• Energy use by hospitals, equipment, laundry & cleaning
• Biologically hazardous materials
• Management of infectious diseases & their causes
3. There is a close association between the social determinants of
health and the environment
• Social determinants of health: nutrition (food security), sanitation,
potable water, clean air
• Sound environmental management has a profound effect on human
health
Towards an African Moral Theory
4. Global Climate Change will increase the risk to human health
significantly
• Effects of GCC: changes in climate patterns; changes in distribution of
agricultural land; rising sea levels
• Concern about tipping points: changes in ocean currents; thawing of
permafrost; melting of glaciers and ice caps
• Concerns for human health: migration of people; food shortages;
spread of infectious diseases; water shortages; poor sanitation &
resulting disease burden; increasing poverty
• Is the science right? How right does it have to be for us to apply the
precautionary principle: if there is a strong risk of harm we should
take precautions to prevent the harm as we are able
• Environmental ethics is an integral part of bioethics
Towards an African Moral Theory
The contribution of African thought to environmental bioethics
• There are themes in African thought that suggest that not only are
we inter-dependent with other persons, we are also inter-dependent
with other aspects of nature
• Sometimes expressed in terms of our being just a part of nature,
rather than being separate from or superior to nature (Historical
Western anthropocentrism blamed for ecological crisis)
• ‘Within [the African] world-view the distinction between plants,
animals, and inanimate things, between the sacred and the profane,
matter and spirit, the communal and the individual, is a slim and
flexible one ‘ (Tangwa, 2004: 389).
• ‘The African is convinced that all things in the cosmos are
interconnected. All natural forces depend on each other, so that
human beings can live in harmony only in and with the whole of
nature’ (Bujo, 1998: 22-23).
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Murove describes ‘…an ethical outlook that suggests that human
well-being is indispensable from our dependence on and
interdependence with all that exists, and particularly with the
immediate environment on which all humanity depends’ (Murove,
2004: 195 - 196).
• Harvey Sindima describes an African cosmology that ‘…stresses the
bondedness, the interconnectedness, of all living beings’ (Sindima,
1990: 137).
• ‘The pre-colonial traditional African metaphysical outlook… impl[ies]
recognition and acceptance of interdependence and peaceful
coexistence between earth, plants, animals and humans’ (Tangwa,
2004: 389) .
Towards an African Moral Theory
• This sense of inter-dependence or inter-relatedness entails the same
kind of ethical obligation as the inter-connectedness between
humans: because our well-being is so tied up with that of others, we
need to be concerned the well-being of others
• We should promote harmonious relationships in nature. There should
be solidarity and identity with nature (as with other persons)
• We should treat other parts of nature with respect
• ‘There is community with nature since man is part of nature and is
expected to cooperate with it; and this sense of community with
nature is often expressed in terms of identity and kinship, friendliness
and respect’ (Opoku, 1993: 77).
• In ‘…the African understanding of nature… the human person …has
the task of showing respect for creation (Bujo, 1998: 214).
Towards an African Moral Theory
Moral Obligations towards future generations in African thought
• Many environmental issues are interesting precisely because they will
affect not just present generation, but also the future
• Is leaving a seriously dysfunctional planet to our descendants a moral
issue?
• Only if we have moral obligations to future generations
• But, if we do, then GCC is a very important moral issue
• Western philosophers have struggled with coherent account of how
we can have obligations to future persons:
• Future people don’t exist now, when the living are meant to have
burdens of responsibility for them. Can we have duties to nonexistent beings? Is it coherent to say future beings have rights?
Towards an African Moral Theory
– If we act for the benefit of future people, we change which people
will be born. How can we improve the lives of people who would
not exist but for our provision (or neglect)? (Contingent beings)
– We cannot know future people as individuals. …And yet, much
moral theory is based upon the principle of “respect for
autonomous individuals”
– Non-reciprocal and unidirectional relationship. Future persons
can’t reward or punish us for our actions.
– How do we know what will be good for future people?
• Extension of moral obligation to future persons raises new problems
for moral philosophy
• To some, the contingency & non-actuality of future persons virtually
excludes them from moral consideration
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Kwasi Wiredu
• “Of all the duties owed to the ancestors none is more imperious than
that of husbanding the resources of the land so as to leave it in good
shape for posterity. In this moral scheme the rights of the unborn
play such a cardinal role that any traditional African would be
nonplussed by the debate in Western philosophy as to the existence
of such rights. In upshot there is a two-sided concept of stewardship
in the management of the environment involving obligations to both
ancestors and descendants which motivates environmental
carefulness, all things being equal”.
• To past generations of ancestors Africans owe a duty of both respect
and gratitude (for their inheritance)
Towards an African Moral Theory
• Respect and gratitude to the ancestors is realised by continuing to
care for nature in the present, and emulating the example of previous
generations, by ensuring that the next generation also inherits an
environment “in good shape”
• “Within the Shona ethic of Ukama (relatedness), there is an ethical
concern for the well-being of those who will exist in the future. Also,
what is being enjoyed at the present was contributed to by the past”.
(Murove, 2004: 181).
• “One should always live and behave in a way that maximizes
harmonious existence in the present as well as in the future. In other
words, our human behavior at present that takes into account the
concerns of the future generations becomes an investment in the
future”. (Murove, 2004: 181).