Ubuntu and the body : a perspective from theological anthropology as embodied sensing

This article resulted from research done for my PhD thesis, ‘Theology in the flesh: Exploring the corporeal turn from a southern African perspective’. This joint degree was awarded by the University of Pretoria and the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, with Prof. Dr J.C. Müller and Prof. Dr E.A.J.G. van der Borght as supervisors.The author asks whether the notion of ubuntu truly exists within contemporary South African society and how the experiencing of South Africans’ embodiment can be connected to ubuntu – especially amongst black people. The notion of ubuntu is briefly explored within law and theology. The author has recently proposed a model for a contemporary theological anthropology as ‘embodied sensing’ which functions within the intimate relationship of the lived body, experiencing in a concrete life-world, language, and the ‘more than’. It is from this perspective that the notion of ubuntu is explored.http://www.ve.org.zaam201