Tag: Ethics

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14. A Fusion of the Confucian and Ubuntu Ethical Traditions

A Fusion of the Confucian and Ubuntu Ethical Traditions

Introduction

In a world increasingly defined by cultural and ethical diversity, how do we create a cohesive and practical moral framework? This question is deeply personal for me, as I have grappled with cognitive dissonance arising from my upbringing in a Western culture heavily influenced by Christian values such as care, altruism, and compassion. While spiritually uplifting, these values often felt disconnected from the practicalities of improving society.

Through my exploration, I found two traditions, Confucianism and Ubuntu, that framed these values as transactional and interdependent, emphasising their role in fostering societal harmony and mutual benefit. Yet, neither fully addressed the complexities of Western society or the pressing challenge of leaders who exploit power for personal gain, disrupting collective well-being.

This article examines Confucianism and Ubuntu as distinct but complementary ethical systems, highlights the challenges posed by dark leadership, and proposes a fusion of these traditions into a practical framework. This ethical code aims to balance individual rights, values regarding relationships, societal responsibilities, and collective well-being, offering a roadmap for a more harmonious society.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an African philosophical concept originating from the Bantu-speaking peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. The term “Ubuntu” is often translated as “humanity” or “humaneness,” encapsulated in the phrase Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, meaning “A person is a person through other people.”

Rooted in communal societies, Ubuntu emphasises interconnectedness, mutual aid, and collective well-being. It shaped how people resolved conflicts, managed resources, and interacted socially. Colonialism disrupted these principles, introducing hierarchy and individualism. Yet Ubuntu endured, particularly during the liberation struggles in South Africa. Leaders like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu invoked Ubuntu to promote reconciliation and justice, guiding initiatives like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Ubuntu teaches that humanity is built through relationships. A person’s identity and well-being are tied to their community. Celebrations and shared meals highlight collective joy, while communal farming and child-rearing ensure no one is left behind.

Compassion and kindness are central to Ubuntu. Helping others and sharing resources strengthen the community and reflect shared humanity. The philosophy upholds dignity and fairness, ensuring every voice is heard and respected.

Ubuntu prioritises healing over punishment, advocating forgiveness to restore harmony. This principle was vital in South Africa’s post-apartheid reconciliation process. Ubuntu also emphasises harmony with nature, advocating for sustainable living to benefit future generations.

Today, Ubuntu’s values of connection, mutual aid, and collective well-being offer a counterbalance to individualism and provide solutions to challenges like social inequality, environmental sustainability, and cultural fragmentation.

Confucianism

Confucianism is a philosophical and ethical system rooted in the teachings of Confucius (Kong Fuzi), a Chinese philosopher who lived during the politically unstable Spring and Autumn Period (551–479 BCE). Confucius sought to restore order by emphasising moral conduct, proper governance, and harmonious relationships.

His teachings, recorded in the Analects, form the foundation of Confucian thought. Over millennia, Confucianism evolved, shaping Chinese culture and much of East Asia. Institutionalised during the Han Dynasty, it influenced education, governance, and societal organisation. Despite challenges during modernisation and political upheavals, Confucianism has resurged in recent decades as a source of moral philosophy and cultural identity.

The core teachings of Confucianism revolve around harmonious relationships, often described as the “Five Key Relationships”:

  1. Ruler and subject.
  2. Parent and child.
  3. Husband and wife.
  4. Older sibling and younger sibling.
  5. Friend and friend.

These relationships are hierarchical but reciprocal, with mutual responsibilities. Filial piety (xiao), or honouring one’s parents and ancestors, is central to Confucianism, reflecting gratitude and ensuring family harmony.

Confucius emphasised cultivating virtues to live a good life and contribute to society, such as:

  • Compassion and putting others first.
  • Respecting traditions and social customs to maintain order.
  • Acting morally, even when it is challenging.
  • Pursuing lifelong learning and self-improvement.

Confucius also advocated for ethical leadership. A virtuous leader inspires others through fairness and wisdom, fostering harmony. His version of the Golden Rule, “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself”, promotes empathy and consideration in interactions.

Confucianism’s focus on relationships, ethical leadership, and moral cultivation offers insights into strengthening family ties, promoting just governance, and encouraging personal growth for societal betterment.

Dark Leadership

Approximately 13% of the population is estimated to exhibit dark personality traits such as narcissism, psychopathy, or Machiavellianism. These traits are not pathologies but rather personality characteristics within the range of normal behaviour. However, individuals with these traits often have reduced moral standards and heightened self-interest, making them more likely to rise to positions of power. Unfortunately, this means many leaders in society exhibit such traits.

People are often reluctant to challenge those in power due to fear of reprisal. Responses vary: some support these leaders for personal gain, others seek refuge elsewhere, but the most common reaction is denial. Many refuse to acknowledge the presence of dark leaders until their actions cause significant harm, such as war or societal collapse.

The persistence of dark leaders in cooperative societies has multiple explanations. Some theories point to brain dysfunction or traumatic childhood experiences, while others attribute their success to their wealth, power, or charisma. Evolutionary perspectives suggest they thrive as defectors in systems reliant on cooperation, exploiting others without destabilising the system entirely.

These leaders rely on transactional relationships. Their power is sustained by followers who anticipate personal gains, such as wealth or influence. Followers with similar traits may support such leaders, hoping to benefit or even inherit their status. This dynamic can create a vicious cycle, perpetuating leadership that prioritises self-interest over collective well-being.

Recognising and addressing the influence of dark leaders is crucial. Education, awareness, and systemic changes are necessary to ensure leadership serves humanity rather than personal ambition.

Ethical Code

The following ethical code integrates the best elements of Confucianism and Ubuntu, addressing the challenges posed by dark leadership. Designed for Western contexts, it balances individual rights, relational values, structural responsibilities, and collective well-being.

Core Principles

  1. Relational Humanity: Treat all people with compassion, dignity, and respect, understanding that personal fulfilment is inseparable from communal well-being.
  2. Moral Leadership: Lead with integrity, fairness, and compassion. Prioritise the welfare of those you serve and inspire trust through ethical behaviour.
  3. Balance of Individual and Collective Good: Uphold individual rights while recognising responsibilities to the community. Foster solutions that benefit both individuals and society.
  4. Responsibility to Others: Strengthen relationships by fulfilling duties to family, friends, colleagues, and society. Value reciprocity and mutual aid.
  5. Education and Self-Cultivation: Pursue lifelong learning and foster moral development in others, emphasising respect, empathy, and responsibility.
  6. Harmony Through Justice and Fairness: Promote fairness and resolve conflicts constructively. Prioritise reconciliation and peace over retribution.
  7. Sustainability and Stewardship: Protect the environment for future generations. Act as stewards of nature, balancing resource use with ecological care.
  8. Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Heal relationships through forgiveness and mutual understanding. Take meaningful steps toward justice and harmony.
  9. Responsible Followership: Educate yourself to recognise harmful leaders. Withhold support from those who act against the common good and oppose harmful actions responsibly.

Practical Applications

  • Leadership: Leaders must act transparently and ethically, prioritising inclusivity and fairness.
  • Followership: Followers should recognise harmful leaders, withhold support, and oppose harmful actions responsibly.
  • Education: Teach moral values alongside academic excellence to foster responsibility and compassion.
  • Business: Companies should balance profitability with social responsibility and environmental sustainability.
  • Community: Build inclusive, supportive communities and promote civic engagement.
  • Personal Life: Align personal actions with shared values and invest in self-reflection and moral growth.

Conclusion

This ethical code respects Western individualism while introducing Ubuntu’s relational ethos and Confucianism’s structured responsibilities. By offering guidance across personal, professional, and civic spheres, it draws on universally relevant values like compassion, fairness, and sustainability. Ultimately, this framework empowers individuals and communities to navigate ethical challenges, fostering a more harmonious and just society.

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06. Emotions and Decision Making

Emotions and Decision Making

For the following discussion, I will define a “positive situation” as one in which a need is addressed by a latent, precarious, or entrenched satisfier, and contra-satisfiers are absent. A “negative situation”, on the other hand, is one in which a need is not addressed by a satisfier or there is a latent, precarious, or entrenched contra-satisfier.

If a need is important to us, then negative situations cause negative feelings, for example, dis-satisfaction, frustration, anxiety, and fear. Conversely, positive situations cause positive emotions, for example, satisfaction, pleasure, and exhilaration. However, the latter are only felt when positive situations are first attained, and they last for a limited time. To motivate our behaviour, we must have satisfiers to seek and contra-satisfiers to avoid. Without these we would be inactive. The short duration of positive emotions ensures, therefore, that we attend to other needs once more pressing ones have been satisfied and secured. We can, therefore, only feel fully satisfied for a relatively short time.

Positive emotions do however reinforce our desire to behave or act in a way that generates that emotion. Conversely, negative emotions make us less likely to do so.

Knowledge has a part to play in our emotional state. What we perceive to be positive or negative situations are based on unconscious attitudes and beliefs. Many of these attitudes and beliefs are gained from our society, peers, advertising, etc., and we may not be consciously aware of them.

The feedback loop which causes us to be conscious has a part to play in our decisions and behaviour. For example, our unconscious mind may conclude that saying something potentially hurtful to another person will satisfy our needs. If so, then before acting we may consciously attempt to predict that person’s reaction via empathy or our knowledge of them. This may have an emotional effect on us which might cause us to reject or modify our unconscious mind’s conclusion.

What we perceive as satisfiers or contra-satisfiers, and thus, what we perceive as positive or negative situations, has a bearing on our level of stress. Stress has an emotional component, which can be positive or negative, and a biological component. The emotional component is negative when we experience feelings of frustration, anxiety, or fear, in a negative situation. It is positive when, for example, we experience exhilaration on first acquiring a satisfier. The biological component of stress is arousal, or a heightening of the physical ability to seize opportunities and avoid threats. It will occur when a situation is significant.

What we perceive as satisfiers and contra-satisfiers, and the value that we place on them, are important in valuing social institutions. Satisfiers and contra-satisfiers have a value to the individual, and the value that society places on its institutions is the aggregate of the value that each individual places on them. For example, the UK’s National Health Service has a very high social value because it is a satisfier of the existence and procreation needs of so many. This will be explored further when I discuss politics.

The value that we place on satisfiers and contra-satisfiers also has a bearing on what we hold to be good or bad, our morals, and ethics. For example, the aggregate impact of our behaviour on others, in terms of the satisfiers and contra-satisfiers that it invokes, forms the basis of utilitarianism. This will be explored further when I discuss ethics.

In the next article, I will describe how place a value on satisfiers and contra-satisfiers and in the following article how we use this to make our decisions.

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06. Why Consistency of Knowledge is Important

Why Consistency of Knowledge is Important

Consistency within Personal Schemata

Schemata, paradigms, and memes are essential references when we are motivated to act and, together with unsatisfied needs, govern our behaviour. When all the information we have access to is consistent, we can make quick and easy decisions. Inconsistencies on the other hand result in ambiguities, confusion, and uncertainty.

It is perfectly possible to hold information deemed to be “false” or “uncertain” if its probability is flagged accordingly. However, the less certain the information, the more cognitive processing needed to arrive at a decision, and the more delayed that decision will be. In the natural world, delaying a decision to act can reduce our chances of survival. Therefore, we tend to regard information as being either true or false.

The simple propositions “Peter likes Jane” and “Peter does not like Jane” contradict one another and are therefore inconsistent. To give another example, “Dogs have wings” is inconsistent with the image of dogs that most of us hold. Usually, however, inconsistencies are far more complex than these examples suggest, and complex reasoning is often needed to reveal them. They can also be detected by the unconscious mind, which gives us a sense that “there is something wrong”. However, the process involved in this is unknown.

Unresolved contradictions make us more vulnerable. They can lead to uncertainty, anxiety, stress, and, in the extreme, mental ill-health. Thus, internal consistency of the information we hold can be regarded as a basic need. In turn, this need drives us to understand the world in which we exist. It is, quite simply, a survival mechanism.

Consistency between Personal Schemata and Social Memes

Every society has a core social ethic. In large complex societies, this is often based on its main religion, albeit, in some cases, its historical religion. In the West we have the Christian Ethic, in China the Confucian Ethic, and in the Middle East obedience to the will of God. This core social ethic is not necessarily stated explicitly and can be intangible. However, it is the basis of our social norms and values, and we learn of it through them. This process establishes our External Ethical Schema, i.e., our understanding of why society holds some things to be good and others to be bad. Errors of interpretation do, of course, occur and for this reason our External Ethical Schema can differ from the actual social ethic.

We also develop an Internal Ethical Schema, i.e., our personal understanding of what is good, what is bad, and why. This is equivalent to our super-ego or conscience. However, it is not necessarily the same as our External Ethical Schema for the following reasons:

  1. Differences of opinion between oneself and society as to what is good or bad. We can find ourselves in situations where it is necessary to hold a particular belief to satisfy our basic needs even though this may be inconsistent with objective reality, for example, if we live in a dogmatic and authoritarian society.
  2. Differences in the way that individuals balance personal and social interests.
  3. Behavioural predispositions (see next article).
  4. Effort after Meaning when relearning the social ethic in later life, for example after migration or when changing jobs.

There can, therefore, be contradictions between the beliefs that we hold, and the beliefs acceptable to a group or society to which we belong. This too can cause stress, anxiety, and in extreme cases, mental illness, as we struggle to reconcile the need for internal consistency with those for social acceptance, positive regard, and even our existence needs.

Consistency between Social Memes

Simpler societies with relatively small populations tended to be local monocultures. One had three options: accept the prevailing values, norms and beliefs and be accepted by others; not accept them and be rejected; or hide one’s personal beliefs and struggle with the inconsistency.

In a more complex society, we can belong to several groups each of which establishes a different External Ethical Schema. In belonging to these groups, we adopt different roles, and the different schemata guide our behaviour. Inconsistencies between them can, of course, arise and it is notable that many occur in connection with employment. We have a range of strategies to deal with those inconsistencies but key among them is the development of a clear Internal Ethical Schema and following it. Further guidance can be found here:

https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/consistency-and-ethics/

In a more complex society, there is also wide variety of groups to which an individual may belong. People are attracted to groups they feel may satisfy their needs and this also applies to the need for inner consistency. Thus, people with a particular view will join others with the same or similar views and be able to hold that view whilst at the same time being socially accepted. In this way inconsistency is avoided. However, belonging to such a group does have the effect of reinforcing the beliefs that individuals share, and ideologies can, therefore, develop.