Ùbúntú | Traditional African Philosophy

Something I Learned This Week

Credit: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

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Ubuntu is not a biblical concept but an ancient African one. Nevertheless it falls back on one simple thing: that humans have been created for togetherness, and what drives us apart is greed, lust for power, and a sense of exclusion, but those are aberrations.

Allan Boesak

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I came across the word ùbúntú recently and wanted to learn a bit more, as well as share it with my readers.

It’s a noun (pronounced oo-boon-too) and refers to the traditional African philosophy meaning “humanity towards others.”

Rooted in the Nguni word for “being human,” it rejects individualism and is instead based on the idea that people are only people through others. The Nguni people are a linguistic, cultural group that lives mainly in South Africa.

Ùbúntú is summarized with the Nguni phrase:

I am because you are, you are because we are.

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The five core principles of this tradition are:

1. Survival

2. Spirit of solidarity

3. Compassion

4. Respect

5. Dignity

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This happy < two-minute video shows how Nguni children live the ùbúntú concept.

This word represents what I feel is missing in our world. Too many people are focused on me without regard for we.

Who else thinks our world could use a lot more ùbúntú?

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