The Critique of Bioethical Principlism in Contrast to an African Approach to Bioethics

“This excellent volume enriches the study of bioethics by critically assessing the principles of bioethics and by articulating African insights and contributions, which are relational and holistic, foster social justice and solidarity, and are environmentally concerned. Readers will appreciate the engagement with philosophical and theological scholarship, in Africa and beyond. The book’s culturally situated approach to bioethics will contribute to addressing some of the ongoing bioethical challenges that plague our world today.”


—Andrea Vicini, SJ, professor of bioethics, Boston College





“Jude Buyondo’s voice bursts onto the scene with energy and a gift for synthesis. The text cuts through vapid appeals to the ‘global’ by demonstrating the power of Black African voices for complementing bioethics poised to alter clinical action. The bibliography alone is worth the price of entry for Anglo-American audiences, but even more delightful is the playful intellectual parrying in the venerable tradition of critical scholarship—highly recommended.”


—Cyrus P. Olsen III, associate professor of theology/religious studies, University of Scranton





“Jude Buyondo searches for a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to bioethics in a unique modus that responds to different lacunae presented both in Western principlism and the African approach to bioethics. His systematic way of thought does not take any approach as superior but rather brings the Western and African approaches to bioethics into a possible integral link. Buyondo opens our eyes to pursue this vital connection if we are to conceive a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to bioethics.”


—Richard Rwiza, faculty of theology, Catholic University of Eastern Africa





“This is an extraordinary contribution to intercultural dialogue on bioethics. Jude Buyondo refrains from separating African ethics from Western ethics by claiming its ‘Africanness.’ The author argues that bioethical principles are common ground but, in order to be fruitfully applied in Africa, need to be interpreted in the light of the African view of the connectedness of all life. What is more, such an interpretation allows African ontologically founded solidarity to complement and permeate Western bioethical principles.”


—Sigrid Müller, faculty of Catholic theology, University of Vienna