UNCC100 MODULE 2:

I AM BECAUSE WE ARE - INDIVIDUAL AND

SOCIETY

Introduction
Ubuntu
Ubuntu: Explored Further
Individuals and society

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MODULE 2: I AM BECAUSE WE ARE - INDIVIDUAL
AND SOCIETY
Activities and materials in this module will help you to meet:

Learning Outcome 1: Describe coherently in writing the principles of Catholic Social Thought (CST), and
through a personal written commentary on each one, explain that the concepts of 'self' and 'community' are
interrelated.

Learning Outcome 2: Analyse and evaluate the principles of CST in order to write an argument that shows
how issues relating to the dignity of the human person and the realisation of the common good may be
addressed by you in your professional practice (ie. the degree program you are studying) now and in the
future.

Graduate Attribute 1: demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity
Graduate Attribute 2: recognise your responsibility to the common good, the environment and society
Graduate Attribute 4: think critically and reflectively
Graduate Attribute 7: work both autonomously and collaboratively
Graduate Attribute 8: locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information
Graduate Attribute 9: demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and
visual media

WARNING
Topics considered in UNCC LEO materials and in class discussions may be disturbing for some students.

If you are affected, please contact your Campus Leader and/or the University Counselling Service.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this site may include voices or images of people who
have passed away. It may also contain links to sites that may use images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people now deceased.

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2.1 UBUNTU
In Module 1, you were introduced to the idea of the "good life and the golden rule", and to a series of
principles designed to promote that flourishing. UNCC100 is designed to focus particularly on one of those
themes: "The Common Good". This topic will be discussed in great depth in Module 5.

The African (Bantu) word Ubuntu was referred to. It speaks of the essence of being human: "I am what I am
because of who we all are".

2.1.1 WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY ABOUT UBUNTU?

Video: What is UBUNTU? by Cedric De La Harpe (watch here or read the transcript)

ACTIVITY 1
The resource below will help you to gain a basic understanding of the concept of Ubuntu.

Before you read, go to this guide and use the questions to help you unpick the texts below as you
read.

Make key critical notes as you read the resource.

Read D'Olimpio, L, "Happy days: virtue isn’t just for sanctimonious do-gooders"

Read Boudreau, Jen. "Ubuntu- "I am what I am because of who we all are"

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2.2 UBUNTU: EXPLORED FURTHER
2.2.1 FURTHER REFLECTION ON THE UBUNTU
"You cannot be human on your own"

The video below discusses human uniqueness and the African spirit of Ubuntu (watch here or read the
transcript).

Ubuntu - I am who I am, because of who we all are

View Ubuntu - I am who I am, because of who we all are by Emma Fitzgerald (watch or read the transcript).

2.2.2 REFLECTING ON UBUNTU AND THE GOLDEN RULE

In the previous module we learned about the Golden Rule and the ways that societies try to flourish. But
what is even more important is the relationship between individuals and society in which they live.

How can individual activity contribute to a flourishing society, and conversely how does a flourishing society
support the activities of the individual? What role does the 'Common Good' have to play in this?

ACTIVITY 2
The resource below will help you to gain a basic understanding of the concept of reciprocity.

Calo, Z. R. (2015), Catholic Social Thought and Human Rights. American Journal of Economics and
Sociology, 74: 93–112. doi: 10.1111/ajes.12088

How can individual activity contribute to a flourishing society?

Conversely how does a flourishing society support the activities of the individual?

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2.3 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND
SOCIETY
2.3.1 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COMMON GOOD

AN EXAMPLE: ACCESS TO CLEAN WATER

High-speed photograph of a showerhead dispensing water

Used under (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia commons.

Access to clean water is a 'common good'. All living things need water to survive: people, plants, animals.
Governments are therefore charged with the duty to provide clean water to their citizens. They do this by
building dams and reservoirs or through other means. At times these are then handed over to private
companies who have a responsibility to maintain the infrastructure and ensure that the water is delivered to
people's homes.

Ubuntu describes being human by relationships with each other. In recent times of extended drought,
Australians have come to realise that water is a very precious commodity. When the amount of available
water dwindled drastically, state governments were forced to introduce restrictions on the use of water in
the interests of the common good. Individuals and businesses have had a duty to follow those restrictions.
People who have ignored restrictions and continued to hose driveways or water lawns have failed in their
duty to act for the common good. What effect can such activities have?

2.3.2 CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT AND THE INDIVIDUAL

In Catholic social thought, the person is social. The very nature of human beings is that they are communal
creatures. They live and grow in community. They cannot survive without it. Therefore, the dignity of the
person makes sense only in the context of the person's relationships to others in the community. Human
dignity can only be realised and protected in the context of relationships with the wider society.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", has an individual dimension, but it also requires a
broader social commitment to the 'Common Good'. Everyone has an obligation to contribute to the good of
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the whole society, to the common good. For, if we are serious about our commitment to the dignity of the
human person, we must be serious about humanising the social systems in which the person lives.

2.3.3 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

Image of Aristotle - Copy of Lysippus (Jastrow (2006))

[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

NOTABLE QUOTES
"Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either
beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who
either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of
society, is either a beast or a god. " - Aristotle

"Every one for himself, and Providence for us all - as the elephant said when he danced among the chickens."
Charles Reade

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2.3.4 INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
The critical relationship between The individual and society (watch here or read the transcript).

ACTIVITY 3

Questions for reflection

1. What do you understand Ubuntu to mean?

2. What effect would not acting in the common good have?
3. How is "I am what I am because of who we all are" aligned to the common good?

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