IOSR Journal of Engineering (IOSRJEN) www.iosrjen.org ISSN (e): 2250-3021, ISSN (p): 2278-8719 Vol. 04, Issue 01 (January. 2014), ||V4|| PP 26-29 International organization of Scientific Research 26 | P a g e The Dimensions of ‘Hunhu/Ubuntu’(Humanism in the African Sense): The Zimbabwean Conception Patrick Sibanda (Lecturer and Programme Coordinator in the Department of Disability Studies and Special Needs Education, Zimbabwe Open University) Abstract: - ‘Hunhu/Ubuntu‟ forms the foundation of the African conception of humanism. This paper conceptualizes „hunhu/ubuntu‟ as a traditional African philosophy which thrives on the vision of a perfect and virtuous individual. It traces the emergence of „hunhu/ubuntu‟ as a common ground of consciousness that all Africans or Bantu tribes in Zimbabwe share (Kamalu,1990). Hunhu/Ubuntu is conceptualized as a symbol of African identity. A brief critique of „hunhu/ubuntu‟ as a communal and not an autonomous world view of humanness is provided. The paper also argues a case to show that lack of standardization of the dictates and the formalization of enculturation processes of „hunhu/ubuntu‟ are the core causes of the perceived lack of „hunhu/ubuntu‟ among the youths in Zimbabwe today. The generational gap and limited formal engagements on the dictates of hunhu/ubuntu between the adults and the youths of today could be the other causes. On these bases, the paper recommends the development of a flexible vision of „hunhu/ubuntu‟ as a function of nationhood, globalization and changing times through formal systems such as deliberate citizenship education. Keywords: - Hunhu / Ubuntu (Humaness), Africanism I. INTRODUCTION Traditional African philosophy thrives on the vision of a perfect and virtuous individual – an individual who upholds the cultural values and norms of a true African society. The morality and ethics of African thought, thus, derives from the dualities between good and bad or between what is right and what is wrong. Central to such African ethics is the insistence that each individual‟s existence is interconnected with that of the community and the overall environment in which he/she lives. Notwithstanding the diversity of cultures, research points out that there is a common ground of consciousness that all Africans or Bantu tribes share (Kamalu,1990). This common consciousness, while variant in contextual modification, is the same for all African cultures and is the basis of African identity. In Zimbabwean African tradition, this consciousness is referred to as hunhu / ubuntu. The focus of this commentary is to give a critical contextual analysis of the concept of hunhu / ubuntu in relation to broader philosophical conceptions of humanness. The assumption here is that, „All the Bantu people share a common ideology of the concept of hunhu / ubuntu‟ (Samkange and Samkange, 1980). II. THE CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF HUNHU / UBUNTU In the Zimbabwean African sense, hunhu / ubuntu is what characterises a perfect human being. According to Nziramasanga (1999), hunhu / ubuntu is humanness in the fullest and noblest sense. Makuvaza (1996) in concurrence with Samkange and Samkange (1980) states that, there is a sense in which the word hunhu / unbuntu stands for much more than humanness. The word means more than the biological being. Samkange and Samkange (1980:89) implore that hunhu/ubuntu connotes, “The attention one human being gives to another : the kindness, courtesy, consideration and friendliness in the relationship between people, a code of behaviour, an attitude to others and to life....” Thus, a person with hunhu / ubuntu is one who upholds the African cultural standards, expectations, values and norms and keeps the African identity. This is a well rounded, respectable and respected human being (Nziramasanga, 1999). Black Americans regard the „soul‟ as the parallel of hunhu / ubuntu. According to Keesing (1976), African culture is a picture of the ideational world of an African people, regardless of their geographical location, and pivots around hunhu / ubuntu. According to Africanism, a whiteman, for instance, can only have hunhu / ubuntu, over and above his perpetual humanness, if and only if he measures up to African traditional expectations hence such expressions as: „Murungu uyu anehunhu / Umlungu lo ulobuntu‟(This white person is upright). As such, a white person without hunhu/ubuntu is not conceived as human in the African sense. Hunhuism / Ubuntuism is therefore centered around the belief in the goodness and perfectibility of man where emotion, reason and behaviour are regarded as surest guides of man to happier life (July, 2004 :135). From this point of view, hunhu/ubuntu is reminiscent to the humanistic theories propounded by the likes of Karl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. These theories believe in the goodness and perfectibility of humanity.