Meaning of Justice in African Philosophy (Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, 28)

The purpose of Philosophy and Politics -Critical Explorations is to publish high quality volumes that reflect original research pursued at the juncture of philosophy and politics. Over the past 20 years new important areas of inquiry at the crossroads of philosophy and politics have undergone impressive developments or have emerged anew. Among these, new approaches to human rights, transitional justice, religion and politics and especially the challenges of a post-secular society, global justice, public reason, global constitutionalism, multiple democracies, political liberalism and deliberative democracy can be included. Philosophy and Politics -Critical Explorations addresses each and any of these interrelated yet distinct fields as valuable manuscripts and proposal become available, with the aim of both being the forum where single breakthrough studies in one specific subject can be published and at the same time the areas of overlap and the intersecting themes across the various areas can be composed in the coherent image of a highly dynamic disciplinary continent. Some of the studies published are bold theoretical explorations of one specific theme, and thus primarily addressed to specialists, whereas others are suitable for a broader readership and possibly for wide adoption in graduate courses. The series includes monographs focusing on a specific topic, as well as collections of articles covering a theme or collections of articles by one author. Contributions to this series come from scholars on every continent and from a variety of scholarly orientations. Preface References Acknowledgement Contents List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: General Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Meaning 1.3 General Meaning of Justice 1.3.1 Justice Means Virtue 1.3.2 Justice as Principle/s or Conditions of Right Action 1.4 African Political Philosophy 1.5 Conclusion References Chapter 2: Semantic Theory of Justice in the Chichewa Language 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Use-Theoretical Meaning of Justice 2.2.1 Word Meaning 2.2.2 Literal Utterances 2.2.3 Figurative Utterances 2.3 Formal Theoretical Abstractions 2.4 Conclusion References Chapter 3: Communitarian Theory of Justice 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Community as Determinant of Meaning 3.3 Meaning of Right and Wrong Human Actions 3.4 Meaning of Justice in Communitarian Philosophy 3.5 Meaning and the Relational Framework 3.6 Conclusion References Chapter 4: Vitalogical Theory of Justice 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Life as a Framework for Meaning 4.3 Vitalogical Ethics 4.4 Meaning of Justice in Vitalogy 4.5 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Divine Gift Theory of Justice 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The African Divine Gift Theory 5.3 Divine Gift Ethical Theory 5.4 Divine Gift Theory of Justice 5.5 Conclusion References Chapter 6: Ubuntu Human Nature-Based Theory of Justice 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Human Nature and the Universal `Ubuntu ́ 6.3 Ubuntu Ethical Theory 6.4 Ubuntu Theory of Justice 6.5 Conclusion References Chapter 7: African Rights Theory of Justice 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Rights in the Traditional African Setting 7.3 Duties in the African Traditional Setting 7.4 Meaning of Justice Within Rights and Duties 7.5 Conclusion References Chapter 8: Conclusion References Index The book examines the meaning of justice in African political philosophy, building on the use-theoretical approach. Currently, most of the philosophical works in this context advocate for a communal interpretation of the meaning of justice, such as the 'relational theory of justice' and 'Ubuntu justice as fairness.' The author argues that this foundation of justice in the community undermines the self, which is a major problem with these theories. As an attempt to go beyond communitarianism in African thought, the book recognizes other philosophical frameworks for elaborating the meaning of justice in ordinary people's experience, such as vitalism, theism, ubuntuism, and semantic framework. The author opts for a reconstructed ubuntu-based theory of the meaning of justice that reflects the traditional African experience and recuperates 'valuing self-existence' and 'valuing other-existence' as its foundations. The book further identifies the centrality of rights in defining justice intraditional African communities.