Ubuntu /ùbúntú/ (oo-BOON-too): The essence of being human.
According to Desmond Tutu, this philosophy “speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with Ubuntu is…open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, and does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them.”
The Ubuntu philosophy has also found its way into South African politics. It was explained in the White Paper, legislation for social welfare published in August 1997: “Each individual’s humanity is ideally expressed through his or her relationship with others and theirs in turn through a recognition of the individual’s humanity. Ubuntu means that people are people through other people. It also acknowledges both the rights and the responsibilities of every citizen in promoting individual and societal well-being.”
For more information, click here or here. You should also check out these books by Desmond Tutu.
