South African Journal of Philosophy 39 (2): 194-207 (2020)
Authors |
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Abstract |
This article proffers a personhood-based conception of a meaningful life. I look
into the ethical structure of the salient idea of personhood in African philosophy
to develop an account of a meaningful life. In my view, the ethics of personhood is
constituted by three components, namely (1) the fact of being human, which informs
(2) a view of moral status qua the capacity for moral virtue, and (3) which specifies
the final good of achieving or developing a morally virtuous character. In light of
the ethics of personhood, I will propose the view that a meaningful life is a function
of achieving moral excellence or perfection. The moral perfection proposed here, to
embody a meaningful life, is of a deontological and satisficing kind. The achievement
of satisfactory levels of moral excellence, within sociopolitical and moral limits,
captures the essence of a meaningful life. I conclude the article by considering
objections against the view proposed here.
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Keywords | Personhood A Meaningful life Dignity Moral status Deontology African philosophy |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1080/02580136.2020.1774980 |
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References found in this work BETA
Toward an African Moral Theory.Thaddeus Metz - 2007 - Journal of Political Philosophy 15 (3):321–341.
An African Theory of Moral Status: A Relational Alternative to Individualism and Holism.Thaddeus Metz - 2012 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 15 (3):387-402.
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