Abstract
A shame-oriented versus a guilt-oriented conscience: An explanation of the conflict between African and Western cultures?Not only mutual intercultural enrichment but also intercultural misunderstanding, frustration and even conflict are daily realities in the ten year old “new” South Africa. Thus it is important not merely to acknowledge that the cultures of Africa and the West are different, but it is of even greater importance to understand why they differ. This article deals with a model taking two kinds of conscience as starting point of an analysis. A good conscience according to the West requires justice (obedience to norms), while a bad conscience is the result of guilt (transgression of norms). Guilt requires restitution and retribution. By contrast, a good conscience according to African reasoning is the result of honour and acceptance by one’s community as a outcome of one’s compliance with its ideals. A bad conscience results from one’s failure to comply with one’s responsibility towards one’s fellowmen. In such a case the offender experiences shame – the consequence of exclusion and rejection. Reconciliation and reinclusion in society is of utmost importance.
Because the aim of this article is to provide theoretical insight and practical guidance, it starts with a number of practical problems experienced in everyday life in the encounter between African and Western culture. This is followed by a brief overview of seven existing models describing the differences between the two cultures. Subsequently the typology of “shame versus guilt” is described and evaluated in the light of Scripture. The concluding section is an effort to solve, in the light of this new approach to the two cultures, the practical, day-to-day problems mentioned at the beginning.
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