2 - The African philosophy of Ubuntu

The African philosophy of Ubuntu articulates a principle of a person being a person through other people or “I am because we are.” Not only is it a cosmic vision on how life emanates, in the meeting of the forces Bu and Ntu, it also promotes the idea of interdependence of all living beings, compassion and sharing. The specific life view of the African philosophy of Ubuntu is supported in different contexts in Africa under different names, in proverbs and through the grammar of languages. This idea also has implications for moral principles regarding healthcare and medicine, as seen from the traditional African point of view.
Ramose 1999/2005 (Chapter 5 Medicine through Ubuntu) articulates the principles of:
-significant payment of the healer only if the patient improves;
-meaning into illness and the ill or demented;
-the healer as a mediator between the supra-natural source (of illness) and the person;
-keeping the mentally afflicted within the community out of mutual care