• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Ubuntu?

lewisnotmiller

Grand Hat
Staff member
Premium Member
What do people here think of Ubuntu?

And I mean the African philosophy, not the operating system

Ubuntu philosophy - Wikipedia

I like it

the word means "a person is a person through other people"

Which I think is true

The 2008 Boston Celtics constantly spoke about this in 2008 on their way to a championship.
My basketball nerdery leads me to thinking about that when I hear the word.
 

Samael_Khan

Goosebender
What do people here think of Ubuntu?

And I mean the African philosophy, not the operating system

Ubuntu philosophy - Wikipedia

I like it

the word means "a person is a person through other people"

Which I think is true

I have always understood it as a sense of community. But I don't know about it that much because it is a Zulu word, not a Xhosa one, and the majority of Zulu's live in KZN. But the African tribes do have a strong sense of community, although it can become dark at times. Community shouldn't be at the expense of the individual and when common prejudice spreads in a community, the nonconformist individuals are the ones who suffer.

The definition that you have found I disagree with. A person is a person despite what the community thinks. I am a strong individualist.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Aw shucks. I was all ready to sing the praises of the operating system.

The Wikipedia page is to me complex because I could read the philosophy in different ways. I liked this:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

I'm reminded of John Donne's poem:

Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
Makes sense to me.

It isn't that one can't be a person on their own. But typically, the more relevant a person is, the more they're mingling with others in some form(whether it be in person or through another means, like writing). If I say Bill Clinton, many people will know who I'm talking about and have some view. He became relevant through his association with many many people. If I say James Gaede, its likely very few will know who I'm talking about(he was my grandfather), as his social association was much smaller.
 
Top