Moderate Communitarianism and the Idea of Political Morality in African Democratic Practice

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Published: Sep 30, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33392/diam.1245
Keywords:
moderate communitarianism political morality personhood human rights corruption

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Hasskei M. Majeed
Department of Philosophy & Classics
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1409-1295

Abstract

This paper explores how moderate communitarianism could bring about a greater sense of political morality in the practice of democracy in contemporary Africa. Moderate communitarianism is a thesis traceable to Kwame Gyekye, the Akan philosopher. This thesis is a moderation of the infl uence of the community in the Akan, an African social structure. In ensuring good political morality in the Akan, and therefore the African community, Gyekye proposes moral revolution over the enforcement of the law. I perform two main tasks in this article: (i) I reinforce the view that in a democratic framework (such as the framework within which many African states now fi nd themselves), moderate communitarianism offers lessons on political morality, and (ii) I challenge the notion that moral revolution has greater prospects for bringing about political morality than law enforcement.

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How to Cite
Majeed, Hasskei M. 2018. “Moderate Communitarianism and the Idea of Political Morality in African Democratic Practice”. Diametros 16 (61):51-71. https://doi.org/10.33392/diam.1245.
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No. 61 (2019)
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Author Biography

Hasskei M. Majeed, Department of Philosophy & Classics

Hasskei M. MajeedDepartment of Philosophy & ClassicsP.O. Box LG 211University of Ghana Legon, GhanaE-mail: mmajeed@ug.edu.gh
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