Restoration of ubuntu as an autocentric virtue-phronesis theory

Abstract

The article argues for a comprehensive autocentric virtue-phronesis theory of ubuntu as a remedy to the theoretical flaws associated with the commonly accepted radical communitarianism-based ubuntu theory. It argues that ubuntu as a theory is highly criticised because of overemphasising the role of the community at the expense of the individual and practical reason, which are equally important in the African traditional societies. In order to accommodate these important elements, the autocentric virtue- phronesis theory is a shift from radical communitarianism to a more comprehensive African virtue theory that is rooted in (i) the reciprocal value of an individual and the community as they define the ultimate human good, (ii) virtues of character (self-regarding and other-regarding virtues), and (iii) virtues of the intellect, more specifically phronesis and its related instantiation in a phronimos.