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Attribute #56 Ubuntu / African Communal Ontology
Mogobe Ramose, John Mbiti, Desmond Tutu, Placide Tempels
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Cyclical
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Multi-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Non-local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Relational
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Non-local
Observer · Time Instance Multiple
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Both
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Reversible
Information · Ontological Status Relational
Information · Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous
Observer Analysis (Full Text)
Ubuntu / African Communal Ontology The observer is fundamentally communal — "I am because we are" (umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu). The individual exists only through relationships with others, ancestors, and the living community. The observer extends across multiple temporal dimensions through the presence of ancestors who remain active participants in communal life, but is spatially situated within a particular community and place. Knowledge is immediate and relational — it arises through participation in communal life, not through solitary reflection — yet it accumulates across generations through oral tradition, ritual, and the living wisdom of elders. The observer is both embodied and spiritually connected to the ancestral realm. Agency is collective and active: the community, not the isolated individual, is the primary knower and actor. The observer is irreducibly plural.