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Articles by Thaddeus Metz
A duty to oneself - Thaddeus metz
African philosophical values of harmony and vitality have much to offer our thinking about what we owe to ourselves by Thaddeus Metz + BIO Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo by Chantal Pinzi/Panos Pictures is research professor of philosophy at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. His most recent books include A Relational Moral Theory: African Ethics in and Beyond the Continent (2022) and What Makes Life Meaningful? A Debate (2024), co-authored with Joshua W Seachris.
Advancing global economic justice in the face of race: Mwipikeni’s critique of Metz’s reformist normative economics
Advanced search South African Journal of Philosophy Latest Articles Submit an article Journal homepage References Citations Metrics Reprints & Permissions Read this article /doi/epdf/10.1080/02580136.2025.2582109?needAccess=true Abstract In a recent article in this journal, Peter Mwipikeni argues that Thaddeus Metz’s appeal to an African relational ethic to suggest reforms that would promote global economic justice is misguided.
Advancing global economic justice in the face of race: Mwipikeni’s critique of Metz’s reformist normative economics
Carman M.2023. “ "Harmony, disruption, and affective injustice: Metz and the capacity for harmonious relationship" .” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-022-10362-0 . Lougheed K.2024. “ "African liveliness as a secular moral theory: Problems and prospects" .” The Monist 107(3): 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onae010 . Lougheed K.2025. A Moral Theory of Liveliness: A Secular Interpretation of African Life Force. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dignity In Interdependence, Revisiting Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Framing Of Ubuntu
Rickey Smiley Morning Show Featured Video CLOSE Source: RODGER BOSCH / Getty Archbishop Emeritus Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s 90th birthday on Oct. 7 is a good occasion to reflect on the man’s contributions to South African society and global thought. I do so as a philosopher and in the light of ubuntu, the southern African (specifically, Nguni) word for humanness that is often used to encapsulate sub-Saharan moral ideals.
Dignity In Interdependence, Revisiting Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Framing Of Ubuntu
Source: RODGER BOSCH / Getty Archbishop Emeritus Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s 90th birthday on Oct. 7 is a good occasion to reflect on the man’s contributions to South African society and global thought. I do so as a philosopher and in the light of ubuntu, the southern African (specifically, Nguni) word for humanness that is often used to encapsulate sub-Saharan moral ideals. An ubuntu ethic is often expressed with the maxim, A person is a person through other persons.
What the myth of Sisyphus reveals about daily life under in COVID times
by Thaddeus Metz, University of Johannesburg Albert Camus was a 20th century French Algerian thinker who won the Nobel Prize for his literary works. These days it is his novel The Plague that has naturally been receiving attention. In this essay I instead consider what Camus' philosophical classic, The Myth of Sisyphus, reveals about the status of our lives with COVID-19.
Thaddeus Metz, Ubuntu as a Moral Theory and Human Rights in South Africa - PhilPapers
Authors Abstract There are three major reasons that ideas associated with ubuntu are often deemed to be an inappropriate basis for a public morality. One is that they are too vague, a second is that they fail to acknowledge the value of individual freedom, and a third is that they a fit traditional, small-scale culture more than a modern, industrial society. In this article, I provide a philosophical interpretation of ubuntu that is not vulnerable to these three objections.
Losing, and regaining, meaning in the era of coronavirus
InThe Myth of Sisyphus, Camus addresses a cluster of philosophical questions about how to appraise our lives, including whether life is worth living, how life is absurd and what could make life meaningful. Camus answers these questions by reflecting on the image ofSisyphus, a mythic figure fromancient Greece. Sisyphus had treated some of the gods disrespectfully, and so Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, punished him by having him roll a heavy stone up a large hill for eternity.
Africa: Why Sisyphus Comes to Mind in My Daily Struggles Against Coronavirus
Albert Camus was a 20th century French Algerian thinker who won the Nobel Prize for his literary works. These days it is his novel The Plague that has naturally been receiving attention. In this essay I instead consider what Camus' philosophical classic, The Myth of Sisyphus, reveals about the status of our lives with COVID-19.
Why Sisyphus comes to mind in my daily struggles against coronavirus
Albert Camus was a 20th century French Algerian thinker who won the Nobel Prize for his literary works. These days it is his novel The Plague that has naturally been receiving attention. In this essay I instead consider what Camus’ philosophical classic, The Myth of Sisyphus, reveals about the status of our lives with COVID-19.
Why Sisyphus comes to mind in my daily struggles against coronavirus
Listen to article Albert Camus was a 20th century French Algerian thinker who won the Nobel Prize for his literary works. These days it is his novel The Plague that has naturally been receiving attention . In this essay I instead consider what Camus' philosophical classic, The Myth of Sisyphus , reveals about the status of our lives with COVID-19 .
Distributive Justice
This category needs an editor. We encourage you to help if you are qualified. Volunteer, or read more about what this involves. Subcategories: Rawls on Distributive Justice (349 | 179) Jobs in this area %perl> Material to categorize Evaluating the Legality of Age-Based Criteria in Health Care: From Nondiscrimination and Discretion to Distributive Justice.Govind Persad - 2019 - Boston College Law Review 60 (3):889-949.details The Presumption of Equality.Cynthia Stark - 2018 - Law.
Ce qu’enseigne la philosophie africaine sur le syndrome de culpabilité
Après avoir réchappé à une tragédie, comme un tsunami, certaines personnes disent ressentir de la culpabilité à l’idée d’avoir survécu tandis que des innocents ont péri à côté d’elles. De la même façon, des spécialistes sud-africains m’ont confié se sentir coupables d’avoir quitté leurs villages et « réussi » dans la société post-apartheid du pays, alors que leurs ex-voisins vivent toujours dans la pauvreté. Est-il justifié de ressentir de la culpabilité dans de telles circonstances ?
Africa: Why an African Perspective On Humanity Shows That Survivor's Guilt Makes Sense
analysis By Thaddeus MetzJohannesburg — Sometimes individuals who survive a tragedy, such as a tsunami, report feeling guilty that they lived while innocent people close to them perished. Similarly, I have had some black professionals in post-apartheid South Africa tell me they feel guilty for having left their townships or villages and "made it" while their former neighbours still live in poverty. Is it appropriate to feel guilty in these circumstances?
Why an African perspective on humanity shows that survivor's guilt makes sense
Sometimes individuals who survive a tragedy, such as a tsunami, report feeling guilty that they lived while innocent people close to them perished. Similarly, I have had some black professionals in post-apartheid South Africa tell me they feel guilty for having left their townships or villages and “made it” while their former neighbours still live in poverty. Is it appropriate to feel guilty in these circumstances?
South Africa: What Archbishop Tutu's Ubuntu Credo Teaches the World About Justice and Harmony
analysis By Thaddeus Metz, University of JohannesburgArchbishop Emeritus Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu's 86th birthday on October 7 is a good occasion to reflect on the man's contributions to South African society and global thought. I do so as a philosopher and in the light of ubuntu, the southern African (specifically, Nguni) word for humanness that is often used to encapsulate sub-Saharan moral ideals. An ubuntu ethic is often expressed with the maxim, A person is a person through other persons.
What Archbishop Tutu's ubuntu credo teaches the world about justice and harmony
Archbishop Emeritus Bishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s 90th birthday on October 7 is a good occasion to reflect on the man’s contributions to South African society and global thought. I do so as a philosopher and in the light of ubuntu, the southern African (specifically, Nguni) word for humanness that is often used to encapsulate sub-Saharan moral ideals. An ubuntu ethic is often expressed with the maxim, A person is a person through other persons. In plain English, this does not say much.
Why we welcome poetic justice and despair at poetic injustice
Recently it was reported that a hunter who had shot an elephant was crushed when it fell over dead on top of him.
Africa: What Is Wisdom, and Is It Unwise to Pursue It?
analysis By Thaddeus Metz, University of JohannesburgWhat is wisdom? Some would say that I am unwise for seeking to answer such a big question here. That is a useful point - to know what something is, it can help to get clear on what it's not. Let's start with that intuitive suggestion: it is unwise to try to answer the question of what wisdom is in the space of an article of 1000 words. Another example of a lack of wisdom: proclaiming oneself to be wise.
What is wisdom, and is it unwise to pursue it?
Some would say that I am unwise for seeking to answer such a big question here. That is a useful point – to know what something is, it can help to get clear on what it’s not. Let’s start with that intuitive suggestion: it is unwise to try to answer the question of what wisdom is in the space of an article of 1000 words. Another example of a lack of wisdom: proclaiming oneself to be wise.
Happiness and meaning in life
On the face of it, there are many situations in which doing something that makes us happier fails to make our lives more meaningful. Some recent examples from my life include: having taken a gloriously hot shower, watched several episodes of the HBO comedy series “Veep” while eating chocolate ice cream, and having worn a particularly smart looking suit.
Happiness and meaning in life: The sweet spot where they meet
On the face of it, there are many situations in which doing something that makes us happier fails to make our lives more meaningful. Some recent examples from my life include: having taken a gloriously hot shower, watched several episodes of the HBO comedy series “Veep” while eating chocolate ice cream, and having worn a particularly smart looking suit.
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