The External Dimension of the Ubuntu Concept

The article explores the concept of “Ubuntu.” This term is more familiar to the general public not as a philosophical concept but as the name of the open-source operating system developed by Mark Shuttleworth, a South African by origin. It was no accident that he used this term for his system, which was distributed free of charge, since in a number of South African languages, the word “ubuntu” means “humanness,” “humanity to others.” It is noted that although the term “ubuntu” has been interpreted differently, these interpretations are similar between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the first President of the democratic Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. The term itself began to spread in the country after the elimination of the apartheid regime. This process was initially slow, but over time, the word “ubuntu” began to be used in the names of both official documents and political associations. For example, in the preamble of the White Paper on South Africa’s foreign policy, it was noted that “South Africa is a multifaceted, multicultural, and multiracial country that embraces the concept of Ubuntu as a way of defining who we are and how we relate to others.” The so-called Ubuntu Liberation Movement, which promotes the philosophy of “contributionism,” and the Ubuntu political party, led by Mark Tellinger, have emerged in South Africa. Moreover, the term gradually spread beyond the borders of the country. And although the Ubuntu Party, which existed in South Africa in the 2010s, did not succeed in elections and ceased to exist, this term reappeared in the Netherlands in the name of a political party, which protests against racism and defends the rights of the black citizens of this country.