Open AccessPersonhood in a Communitarian Context
Author(s) -
Barry Hallen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
africa thought and practice/thought and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2076-7714
pISSN - 0251-043X
DOI - 10.4314/tp.v7i2.2
Subject(s) - personhood , communitarianism , multiculturalism , liberalism , sociology , context (archaeology) , epistemology , ethnic group , environmental ethics , warrant , philosophy , law , political science , politics , anthropology , geography , archaeology , financial economics , economics
Theories regarding the nature and achievement of personhood in a communitarian context appear to differ in significant respects in the writings of several contemporary African philosophers. Ifeanyi Menkiti seems to regard ethnic differences as sufficient to warrant a national accommodation of multiculturalism with respect to moralities and attendant beliefs. Kwasi Wiredu argues that there is a substantive universal moral principle that undercuts such apparent and relatively superficial diversity. Communitarianism also seems to provide a better framework for explaining how a human being becomes a person than classical liberal theory as enunciated by someone like John Rawls. KeywordsCommunitarianism, liberalism, multiculturalism, personhood, Masolo, Menkiti, Rawls, Wiredu