Particularity in morality and its relation to community

In P. H. Coetzee & A. P. J. Roux (eds.), Philosophy from Africa: a text with readings. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. pp. 273-286 (2003)
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Abstract

In this paper I attempt to show how the African philosopher - Kwasi Wiredu - constructs an ethnic perspectival model of ethics from the structure of kinship relations found among the Akans of Ghana. The specifics of this structure generate a notion of particularity in morals, which is carried from its origins in civic society, through a process of contested dialogue, into civil society where it is validated as norm-setter in an actual public forum of debate. The dynamics of this forum ensures that the renewal of tradition remains an ongoing process and that a participatory ethos remains ascendant. I hope that my interpretation and reconstruction of Wiredu is correct. I have not attempted to cover the entire picture of Akan ethics, but only that part of it which deals with members of Akan society, and not strangers.

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Pieter Coetzee
Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel

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