Show 231: Ubuntu, Humanism and South Africa

Audio Here!

A person is a person through other persons”. This rather humanistic concept articulated by the Zulu philosophy of “Ubuntu” is enjoying a renaissance in the 21st Century, serving as a fashionable touchstone for progressive ideals from African diplomacy to the Free Software movement. But what is Ubuntu, and how can its history and present use be instructive to humanists around the world? Eckson Khambule, a Phd candidate in the Programs in Anthropology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, joined Michael O’Neil to discuss.