LJU4801 Assignment 2
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2025 - DUE
September 2025
[Document subtitle]
[School]
[Course title]
, LJU4801 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE September 2025
Course
Legal Philosophy (LJU4801)
Institution
University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Book
An Introduction to African Legal Philosophy
LJU4801 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE September 2025; 100%
TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and explanations.
. African Legal Philosophy (ALP) as a central philosophy for us as Africans. Like all philosophies it
is still developing and evolving, but it is an important part of the decolonisation of Africa to be
actively involved in this development. It is a philosophy that is older than you might think (as we
demonstrated in the previous learning unit). For example, the Christian philosopher St
Augustine was born in 354 CE in Algeria and we also know of the philosopher Amo who was
born in Ghana in 1703. The ideas that shaped African thinking were predominately oral
traditions; the written tradition is of fairly recent origin. The written tradition of African legal
philosophy is even more recent. The reason for this is, of course, colonisation. In most of Africa
the customary law systems and courts were replaced with those of the colonisers and African
lawyers and academics were trained in the laws of these European countries. That meant that
neither the African legal system nor the accompanying philosophy was developed. Therefore, a
lot of what we now regard as ALP is deduced from general African philosophy where there 134
LJU4801/1 135 is a longer tradition. It is also true that there are very few sources on ALP from
South African scholars and, for the most part, we rely on writers from further afi eld. It is hoped
that this learning unit will inspire our students to become part of the development of a truly
South African legal philosophy. Carefully consider the following quotation: Members of the
Makwanyane court found the death penalty repugnant because retribution and group catharsis
as the bases for punishment are inconsistent with an uBuntu-based jurisprudence of
reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic solidarity. As importantly, their findings
should be understood as broadly representative of South African views regarding the moral
underpinnings of the basic law. The presence of uBuntu as a guiding norm in the interpretation
of our basic law is essential for the legitimation of our legal system.1 Read the case of S v
Makwanyane (uploaded onto myUnisa under the Additional Resources tab). Extensively explain
why the judgment can be seen as embodying an African legal philosophical approach. In
working through this learning unit, please keep in mind that Africa is a very big continent! Just
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2025 - DUE
September 2025
[Document subtitle]
[School]
[Course title]
, LJU4801 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE September 2025
Course
Legal Philosophy (LJU4801)
Institution
University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Book
An Introduction to African Legal Philosophy
LJU4801 Assignment 2 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 - DUE September 2025; 100%
TRUSTED Complete, trusted solutions and explanations.
. African Legal Philosophy (ALP) as a central philosophy for us as Africans. Like all philosophies it
is still developing and evolving, but it is an important part of the decolonisation of Africa to be
actively involved in this development. It is a philosophy that is older than you might think (as we
demonstrated in the previous learning unit). For example, the Christian philosopher St
Augustine was born in 354 CE in Algeria and we also know of the philosopher Amo who was
born in Ghana in 1703. The ideas that shaped African thinking were predominately oral
traditions; the written tradition is of fairly recent origin. The written tradition of African legal
philosophy is even more recent. The reason for this is, of course, colonisation. In most of Africa
the customary law systems and courts were replaced with those of the colonisers and African
lawyers and academics were trained in the laws of these European countries. That meant that
neither the African legal system nor the accompanying philosophy was developed. Therefore, a
lot of what we now regard as ALP is deduced from general African philosophy where there 134
LJU4801/1 135 is a longer tradition. It is also true that there are very few sources on ALP from
South African scholars and, for the most part, we rely on writers from further afi eld. It is hoped
that this learning unit will inspire our students to become part of the development of a truly
South African legal philosophy. Carefully consider the following quotation: Members of the
Makwanyane court found the death penalty repugnant because retribution and group catharsis
as the bases for punishment are inconsistent with an uBuntu-based jurisprudence of
reconciliation, restorative justice, and democratic solidarity. As importantly, their findings
should be understood as broadly representative of South African views regarding the moral
underpinnings of the basic law. The presence of uBuntu as a guiding norm in the interpretation
of our basic law is essential for the legitimation of our legal system.1 Read the case of S v
Makwanyane (uploaded onto myUnisa under the Additional Resources tab). Extensively explain
why the judgment can be seen as embodying an African legal philosophical approach. In
working through this learning unit, please keep in mind that Africa is a very big continent! Just
