Bildung as an educational paradigm is wildly influential. However, it does not exist without critiques. Bildung is an ideal that is founded on a very specific kind of German outlook, that proposes...Show moreBildung as an educational paradigm is wildly influential. However, it does not exist without critiques. Bildung is an ideal that is founded on a very specific kind of German outlook, that proposes a staunch look towards the sciences, humanities and the arts. It promotes the study of them as the highest ideal that will constitute a good moral person. A problem that comes with this stance, however, is the underlying tendency to study this historicised account of the world and to do that whilst not being in the world. What this paper sets out to do, is question these methodological pathologies of Bildung, after which the intercultural angle, allows Ubuntu to be used to revitalise Bildung. This revitalisation is done through the centrality of Ramose’s be-ing becoming, and the proverb Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu. These two notions allow Bildung to move beyond its pietist chains, and show how the methodological underpinning of Bildung can be reinterpreted as being outwards and in the world.Show less
The United Nations' foundational principles, delineated in the Charter of the United Nations, remain the driving political and ideological force in its decision-making, formation, and performance....Show moreThe United Nations' foundational principles, delineated in the Charter of the United Nations, remain the driving political and ideological force in its decision-making, formation, and performance. This research will show that, because the Organization is built on a liberal internationalist morality, it prioritizes liberal ethics to the detriment of a communal morality. Currently, the principles governing the institutions are mostly generalized principles of conduct aimed at fostering economic freedom and to maintain security – a morality mostly based on voluntarism, mutual gains, and negative freedom – but these principles do not speak of an intrinsic motivation towards an (additional) morality based on fellowship, solidarity, equality, and global well-being. A communal moral dimension is absent in the Charter, and this in turns prevents the United Nations from becoming a community instead of an aggregate of member-states. As I will showcase later following the Akan philosophy, such intrinsic motivation is internal to the practices of a community, and the universalisation of the liberal morality currently is insensitive to the international context of the United Nations. Since the Organization has thus yet to become a holistic community, it is unable to take up grand collective responsibility in their striving towards global well-being and development. Akan philosophy specifically and African communitarianism in general will be put forward as candidates to manifest this additional morality, one which will be able to facilitate the formation of a community, to strengthen the bond between member-states and United Nations, and to address social responsibility within a framework of relationality and interconnectedness. African communitarianism could help bridge the gap that currently exists between the theoretical appeal and the actual implementation of the Organization’s collective responsibility. A synthesis between liberal internationalist and African communitarian principles could fashion the United Nations as a community, one in which concepts of freedom and voluntarism would be coupled with values of solidarity and relationality, and where the individual member-states are motivated to adhere to their social responsibilities.Show less
