Moral Philosophy in Selected African Languages and Proverbs

This chapter looks at different African proverbs underpinning moral philosophy. We have tried to interpret them by first giving their literal meanings, deeper meanings, then philosophy behind these proverbs, especially those referring to moral philosophy. We also discovered that African moral philosophy may not be quite different from any other people’s moral philosophy. However, the central African philosophical worldview distinguishes their moral philosophy from others. In this book, the African philosophical worldview has been the consideration that humans are individuals who are strongly related to one another and to their environment. In this worldview, the individual is equally important as the society within which they live. Because of this, moral judgements are made on the basis of these individual and corporate demands. This chapter underpins some of the moral principles in this philosophy: balance between private and communally owned properties; crime affects both individual perpetrators and the community within which it is committed, plus the environment; enmity within human communities is only circumstantial, while enmity with outside members of one’s human community is substantial and more dangerous; individual interests are superior to communal interests, contrary to common belief that in Africa communal interests always supersede individual interests; moral personalities are products of both individuals’ and community’s aspirations and education.