African Ethics PDF

African Ethics KWAME GYEKYE  Ethics of society embedded in people’s beliefs of what is wrong or right Also embedded in social relations As well as patterns of behavior that are considered to bring about co-operation, justice and fairness Ideas and beliefs of moral conduct are then analy...

African Ethics KWAME GYEKYE  Ethics of society embedded in people’s beliefs of what is wrong or right Also embedded in social relations As well as patterns of behavior that are considered to bring about co-operation, justice and fairness Ideas and beliefs of moral conduct are then analyzed by thinkers of society Just like the rest of African phil, ethics has evolved and it requires sustained reflective attention  African moral language, in this instance, is our point of departure In moral language, one finds moral ideas or thinking of the society Discussion will be on African ethics and its affiliates of duty (not rights) as well as the common good In addition humanistic nature of African ethics to be considered  On the terms ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ Ethics: technically used by philosophers to study morality Morality: set of social principles and norms that guide people’s conduct in society; beliefs on right and wrong/good or bad Though morality is subject matter of ethics normally used interchangeably Morality of a people remains what it has always been, and what individual philosophers do is to sharpen or extend or clarify the concept of morality While morality is context bound – moral philosophers believe that its considerations can extend to common humanity  While moral rules and principles may emerge from a particular society, they will always apply to all humanity (seen in the various maxims making morality or knowledge a virtue for any society) As thoughts of virtues of right and wrong remain unchanged in society, they begin to constitute the moral framework within which members of society function Though a distinction can be made between morality1 and morality2 With 1 referring to principles or beliefs that a group lives by and 2 refers to reflections by philosophers on 1 – they both refer to the same phenomenon; human conduct/behavior  Gyekye then notes what has been said of morality, eg Russell referring to Aristotle’s opinions on ethics as being of his day in Greece Gyekye admits that his presentation is on African moral language and conceptions of society and persons etc Posits that African refers to salient features or ideas of shared moral life Notes that though there is diversity in African life, there are sufficiently shared features among Africans – eg moral life is not based on revealed religion Holds Akan system as sufficiently reflective of African systems (from where he will pursue his discussion of African ethics – based on universalizable value of community)