Together in the world! Postfoundationalism re-discovered in Ubuntu

Abstract

This article investigates two questions: (1) What is the significance of a typical western philosophical concept like postfoundationalism for the African context? (2) Can Ubuntu be the key or the bridge between two seemingly distant philosophical worlds? I have been involved in two major research projects: firstly, the exploration of the postfoundationalist paradigm and the significance of it for practical theology; secondly, a study of Ubuntu and its value for human and social development in Africa. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is an ethnographic journey in which I revisit and reflect on those two projects and the link between them. The reflection focuses on four concepts: interdisciplinary practice, colonialism and whiteness, fiction and research, and holism.

Keywords

• postfoundationalism
• ubuntu
• western philosophical concept
• african context
• philosophical worlds