Abstract

For many indigenous peoples and the philosophies that have grown out of their worldviews, neither autonomy, utility, nor contract should be deemed foundational to ethics and politics. Instead, it is typical for philosophies from the Global South to hold that the aims of morality and government should be to harmonize with citizens, foster harmonious relationships between them, and promote such relationships between citizens and certain aspects of nature. This entry discusses the way harmony has figured into moral-political philosophies from three major traditions, namely, African ubuntu (humanness in Nguni languages), East Asian Confucianism, and South American buen vivir (good living in Spanish). Although harmony is at the core of all three philosophies, it is conceived in different ways, entailing different prescriptions about, e.g., which sorts of beings have rights and who should have political power.