Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 2012 Interpreting the Culture of Ubuntu: The Contribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics Leonard T. Chuwa Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Chuwa, L. (2012). Interpreting the Culture of Ubuntu: The onC tribution of a Representative Indigenous African Ethics to Global Bioethics (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/408 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS A Dissertation Submitted to the Center for Healthcare Ethics McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M. A. December, 2012 Copyright by Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. 2012 INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. Approved ______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Gerard Magill, Ph.D. Henk ten Have, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Healthcare Ethics Director, Center for Healthcare Ethics The Vernon F. Gallagher Chair of the Professor of Healthcare Ethics Integration of Science, Theology, (Committee member) Philosophy and Law (Dissertation Director) ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Aaron L. Mackler, Ph.D. James Swindal, Ph.D. Associate Professor Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate Department of Theology School of Liberal Arts (Committee Member) (Committee Member) iii ABSTRACT INTERPRETING THE CULTURE OF UBUNTU: THE CONTRIBUTION OF A REPRESENTATIVE INDIGENOUS AFRICAN ETHICS TO GLOBAL BIOETHICS By Leonard Tumaini Chuwa, A.J., M.A. December, 2012 Dissertation Supervised by Professor Gerard Magill, PhD Ubuntu is a worldview and a way of life shared by most Africans south of Sahara. Basically Ubuntu underlines the often unrecognized role of relatedness and dependence of human individuality to other humans and the cosmos. The importance of relatedness to humanity is summarized by the two maxims of Ubuntu. The first is: a human being is human because of other human beings. The second maxim is an elaboration of the first. It goes; a human being is human because of the otherness of other human beings. John Mbiti combines those two maxims into, ―I am because we are, and we are because I am.‖ Ubuntu worldview can provide insights about relationships with communities and the world that contribute to the meaning of Global Bioethics. Ubuntu can be described as involving several distinct yet related components that can be explored in relation to major strands of discourse in contemporary Bioethics. The iv first component of Ubuntu deals with the tension between individual and universal rights. The second component of Ubuntu deals with concerns about the cosmic and global context of life. The third component of Ubuntu deals with the role of solidarity that unites individuals and communities. Ubuntu has a lot in common with current discourse in bioethics. It can facilitate global bioethics. It can inspire the on-going dialogue about human dignity, human rights and the ethics that surround it. It can inspire and be inspired by global environmental concerns that threaten the biosphere and human life. Ubuntu can critique the formal bioethical principles of autonomy, justice, beneficence and non- maleficence. Above all, Ubuntu can create a basis for dialogue and mutually enlightening discourse between global bioethics and indigenous cultures. Such a dialogue helps make advancements in bioethics relevant to local indigenous cultures, thereby facilitating the acceptability and praxis of global bioethical principles. v DEDICATION To the heroes of Ubuntu who worked so hard to formalize Ubuntu: Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Léopold Sédar Senghor Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I extend my deepest gratitude to my dissertation director, Professor Gerald Magill. Although Professor Magill is both Professor of Health Care Ethics and The Vernon F. Gallagher Chair for the Integration of Science, Theology, Philosophy and Law, he has patiently guided, challenged and inspired me into exploration of this wonderful and exciting venture. I have benefited most from his remarkable expertise and experience. I extend my thanks also to Professor Henk ten Have, director of the Center. Professor ten Have who is not only a medical doctor but also an ethicist is an unquestionable resource in matters pertaining to global bioethics. I benefited from Dr. ten Have‘s invaluable advice, critique, lectures and speeches. I extend my thanks to Professor Aaron Leonard Mackler, associate professor of theology and healthcare ethics. Professor Mackler is not only an authority in Jewish Law and Bioethics; he is an author whose works have influenced my exploration of Ubuntu, owing to the fact that there are a lot of resemblances between Ubuntu and the Jewish Law. I deeply thank Glory Smith, administrator and academic adviser at the Center for Health Care Ethics for her encouragement and academic advice. I extend the same thanks to Linda Rendulic, assistant to the dean in the McAnulty School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University for her constant counsel and support throughout my course work period at Duquesne University. I would like to thank the leadership and members my religious community, The Religious Missionary Congregation of the Apostles of Jesus for their constant support, fraternal care and encouragement throughout my academic life. vii Thanks to thank Fr. Edward Bryce, Pastor of St. Bede‘s Catholic Church, for his human and material support for me throughout my graduate schooling at Duquesne University. Without Fr. Bryce‘s kindness my journey to this point would be very hard, if not impossible. Special thanks to Duquesne University for provision of scholarship and innumerable support. Thanks to Rev. Dr. John Boettcher for his expertise in Sacred Scriptures, formatting and proofreading skills from which I profoundly benefited. I thank as well Sr. Andrea Zbigien and Linda Ruescher for proofreading my work. Thanks to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland and John Carroll Jesuit University for their support and friendship during my pursuit of M.A studies which laid the foundation for the doctoral studies at Duquesne. Lastly, thanks to my parents and siblings for the sacrifice they have always made due to my love of academics and research work. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iv DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction: The Culture of Ubuntu ................................................................. 1 1. Exploration of Ubuntu..................................................................................................... 2 a. Meaning of Ubuntu ....................................................................................................... 2 b. Ubuntu is Anthropocentric, Theocentric and Cosmocentric ........................................ 3 (i) Interdependence ..................................................................................................... 4 (ii) Need for Otherness ................................................................................................ 6 (iii) Ubuntu and Unity ................................................................................................... 9 c. Ubuntu Ethics of Immortality ..................................................................................... 11 (i) Personal Immortality ............................................................................................ 11 (ii) The Importance of Marriage and Procreation ...................................................... 13 (iii) Ubuntu Theory of Moral Development ............................................................... 15 2. Relevance of Ubuntu Worldview .................................................................................. 20 a. Ubuntu Existential-Relational Epistemology ............................................................. 21 b. Ubuntu Relational and Holistic Perspective on Human Disease ................................ 24 c. Ubuntu Communitarian Healthcare Ethics ................................................................. 27 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 29 Chapter Two: Ubuntu Ethics .................................................................................................. 36 1. Tension between Individual and Universal Rights ......................................................