A cross-cultural perspective on personhood

Abstract

Central African and Japanese outlooks on the person differ profoundly from one another. But they have in common a perspective on the human person shared by most non-Western societies and cultures: they emphasize the contextual, relational nature of personhood. This way of looking at the person, and our own individual-oriented and legalistic perspective on the person, carry different sets of meanings, fulfillments, and strains for the individuals and groups who live within these frameworks.