This book throws a spotlight on the under-explored African perspective on the mercurial concept of human dignity. To do so, it employs two strategies. In the first instance, it considers African theories of human dignity: (1) vitality; (2) community; (3) Personhood. Secondly, it explores the plausibility of these theories by applying them to select applied ethics themes, specifically: animal ethics, disability ethics and euthanasia. The aim of this book is not to argue for the plausibility of these African theories, but to familiarize the global audience of philosophy, ethics and related disciplines (legal studies, sociology, bioethics and so on) with a neglected African perspective on this vital concept. The books is aimed at scholars of philosophy interested in non-European and specifically African perspective.

Motsamai Molefe holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy, where he specializes in African philosophy, African and Western Ethics, Applied Ethics, African and Western Social and Political philosophy. He is currently a senior researcher at the Centre for Leadership in Ethics in Africa [CLEA] at the University of Fort Hare. He is the author of four books: [1] An African Philosophy of Personhood, Morality and Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019; [2] African Personhood and Applied Ethics, NISC, 2020 and [3] An African Ethics of Personhood and Bioethics: A Reflection on Abortion and Euthanasia, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Partiality and Impartiality in African Philosophy, Lexington, 2021. Recently, co-edited Towards an African Political Philosophy of Needs, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. He is a fellow of the prestigious Ubuntu Dialogues (2021) hosted by Stellenbosch University and Michigan University. He is an advisory board member of The Global Philosophy of Religion Project.