>Ubuntu can literally be translated as "I am what I am because of what we all are", ie., that individual meaning is bound up with collective meaning.
In philosophical terms, Gilbert Ryle would argue that "Self" and "Other" are in the same category, just as up/down, anxiety/contentment, life/death, black/white are are different instances of the same stuff.
If you're a zen Buddhist (or a fan of Alan Watts), you're already familiar with this idea as well. Self can only be understood in opposition to non-self, life in opposition to death, light in opposition to dark, etc.
A corollary: there isn't really an ontological difference between self and other (or life and death for that matter).
Historical Note / Tangent: Ryle uses the notion of category to do away with Cartesian dualism. It is very much the reason the mind/body problem is largely considered to be a pseudoproblem these days: mind and body, by virtue of the fact that they are defined in opposition to one another, are ontologically the same stuff -- they're in the same category.
Categories are created to distinguish between their members. If two things are in the same category, then they are by definition not the "same stuff". Otherwise they would be one thing.
In philosophical terms, Gilbert Ryle would argue that "Self" and "Other" are in the same category, just as up/down, anxiety/contentment, life/death, black/white are are different instances of the same stuff.
If you're a zen Buddhist (or a fan of Alan Watts), you're already familiar with this idea as well. Self can only be understood in opposition to non-self, life in opposition to death, light in opposition to dark, etc.
A corollary: there isn't really an ontological difference between self and other (or life and death for that matter).
Historical Note / Tangent: Ryle uses the notion of category to do away with Cartesian dualism. It is very much the reason the mind/body problem is largely considered to be a pseudoproblem these days: mind and body, by virtue of the fact that they are defined in opposition to one another, are ontologically the same stuff -- they're in the same category.