I Am Because We Are: Bantu Ontology and African Philosophy

Steps

1. 1
   Reading· ~12 min

   Philosophy Did Not Begin in Greece

   The case for African philosophy as a serious philosophical tradition, the history of its suppression, and what Bantu ontology actually claims about the nature of reality.

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2. Reading· ~11 min

   Ubuntu, Relational Ontology, and the Critique of Western Individualism

   What Ubuntu ontology claims philosophically, how it has been developed by African philosophers, and what it challenges in Western thought.

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3. Reading· ~9 min

   African Philosophy and the Question of Its Own Identity

   The internal debates within African philosophy about what it is, who speaks for it, and how it should relate to Western philosophical traditions.

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4. Text Explore· ~8 min

   Ubuntu Ontology and Its Philosophical Stakes

   Examine the core claims of Ubuntu ontology and the debates within African philosophy.

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5. Argument Map· ~10 min

   Ubuntu, Vital Force, and the Philosophy of Community

   Map Bantu ontology, Ubuntu philosophy, and the major debates within African philosophy.

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6. Dialogue· ~10 min

   Dialogue: Is Ubuntu Communitarianism or Collectivism?

   The sharpest internal debate in African philosophy, and what it implies for human rights and individual freedom.

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7. Reflection· ~8 min

   Reflection: Relationality and Your Own Formation

   Ubuntu's ontological claims are most powerful when you apply them to your own situation with philosophical honesty.

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