Analysing African Ethics

Chapter 3 spells out the analytic method used in Part II to evaluate theories of right action suggested by the African tradition. The central criteria invoked to ascertain whether a general moral principle counts as African and philosophically justified are the extent to which it entails and explains two classes of intuitions. One sort consists of particular moral judgements that are salient amongst sub-Saharan peoples or at least their philosophical exponents, for instance that reconciliation is the proper end of criminal justice and that consensus is apt in politics. The other sort comprises particular moral judgements widely accepted across the globe, especially as they figure into English-speaking philosophical discussions of morality, e.g., racial epithets are wrong. The (secular) moral theory that best entails and explains these two groups of intuitions is advanced as both African and justified in respect of a multicultural audience of moral philosophers.