“A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.”
Chinua Achebe
How do we make decisions that can create reasonable and defensible answers to ethical questions? Do we fall back on our nature? On who the world has told us we should be? Do we revert to the greater good? Moral Foundations Theory holds that moral decision making is a first draft of the moral mind influenced by cultural learning, driven by intuition over reasoning, and pluralistic. Big words to say — it likely comes from within us and people rely on multiple moral foundations because there are many different social challenges.
Despite its recognition of the importance of context and cultural learning, the Moral Foundations theory was derived with reference to work in the US, as well as some supporting studies in India and Brazil. It has now been studied fairly extensively in North America and Europe, with some additional work in Latin America and South Asia. We’re working to fill the gap in understanding how this theory can be properly, contextually applied in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. While the theory posits five moral foundations, our work has shown that, in this context, it is necessary to include a 6th pillar which we called Community.
Establishing community as a pillar for moral decision making in East Africa
To demonstrate how the Community foundation is thought of in the traditional African context, let me use the medium that is most commonly used to transmit lessons on morality in Africa: story telling. Here is a story from Nigeria:
The authors of Moral Foundations theory identify five moral foundations that each person and culture draws on to a greater or lesser extent, namely: Moral Foundations can be expounded as follows:
- Care/Harm: This foundation is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.
- Fairness/Cheating: This foundation is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy.
- Loyalty/Betrayal: This foundation is related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.”
- Authority/Subversion: This foundation was shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. It underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.
- Purity/Degradation: This foundation was shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. It underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions), Moral Foundations (2022).
Our sixth pillar, Community, was decided on for inclusion into the study because this virtue captures a key element of morality in Africa, which is the “fulfillment of obligation to kinsmen and neighbors and living in amity with them”. It has been recognized by several scholars as being the “foundation of moral responsibilities and obligations” in Africa, Edwards, Carolyn (1975). In the story above, for example, the old woman is punished for undermining societal harmony and cohesion for her personal gain, despite being in need. Beyond her punishment, the impact of her actions are felt by the community to date with the absence of the moon from the earth as well as diminished light during moon phases, serving as a lasting message for all to see.
Storytelling is a key way that moral values are transmitted in traditional African society. Many of us still have vivid memories of our elderly family members telling us stories about how zebra got its stripes, the adventures of Anansi the spider and the legend of Abunuwasi, each with an important moral behind it. It is through these stories that children are taught the character they ought to build.
Kwame Gyekye identifies that ethics in many African cultures is character-based, with one’s character determining one’s ability to act in accordance with moral principles and rules of the society. One’s good or bad character is acquired through repeated actions which form habits. Implied in the process of character formation, is the assumption that one’s morality can therefore be changed or reformed through repeated behavior which becomes habitual,Gyekye, K. (2011).
To emphasize this point, many African languages do not have a word or expression for ‘morality’ or ‘ethics’, but instead use the term for ‘character’. The Acholi of northern Uganda would describe a man of good character as “ngat ma kite atir or ngat ma cwinge leng”, with 2 terms (“kit” and “cwing”) expressing moral character, with “kit” expressing an inner quality of a person, the innermost part of person’s character much deeper than simply acts of a person. Similarly, “cwiny” is the innermost part of a person from which true goodness or badness springs, Lajul, W. (no date).
In addition, while African societies are deeply religious, scholars like Kwame Gyekye argue that what is considered morally right or wrong is not determined by what has been commanded by or pleases God, but what is good is constituted by the actions considered by the society as beneficial because of their consequences for human welfare, Gyekye, K. (2011)
Our research also identified that ethnic groups in Kenya rely on a variety of virtues to make moral decisions, which vary between ethnic groups, and vary significantly from the ones identified by the MFT authors. For instance, among the Kikuyu in Kenya, the five virtues identified include: honesty (‘wihokeku’), generosity (‘utaana’), justice (‘kihooto’), temperance (‘wikindiria’) and courage (‘ucamba’). Kinoti, Hannah W, (1983). Among the Chagga of Tanzania, these virtues include unity (‘mbuubwi imwi’), justice (‘unyootsu’), dignity (‘uendelyi mcha’) and respect (‘uwendelii’). Among the Maragoli in both Kenya and Uganda, these include courtesy, compassion, justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude, humility and chastity, Akaranga, Stephen B. (1996).
Sanctioning members for violating moral norms was a key role of the ethnic group. Using the example of the Maragoli ethnic group, several mechanisms were used, ranging from taboos, (which are found in rites of passage, agricultural practices, usage of tools, weapons and in house related activities) to curses (which reinforced justice, respect of each other and property), Akaranga, Stephen B. (1996). Sanctioning can be one of the ways that people are kept close to their ethnic groups. Wrongdoing in many African contexts, where people share the same basic standards is seen as “displeasing the community”. Moral behavior is therefore driven by not wanting to offend people that one lives with and holds in high esteem. The role of the people in sanctioning the actions of the moon and the old woman is key in the story, highlighting the self-governing nature of traditional African societies.
What does the Community pillar look like to you? What stories have you heard that encapsulate it? Send an email to Salim.Kombo@busaracenter.org to tell us your experience with this, or to find out more about our ongoing work contextualizing the Moral Foundations Theory.
