The present volume is the second in the series of Ugandan philosophical studies in which therofessors of the Philosophy Department of Makerere University have worked as a team to study the issues of the social life of their peoples and to explore pathways for the future. The present volume studies this issue of social reconstruction at the deep level of the exercise of creative freedom by the people as a whole.

Part I begins with the chapter A.T. Dalfovo which shifts the focus from the government to the people as responsible for their life and capable of assessing and responding to their needs. This situates the issue as one of the creative and responsible freedom of the people. It reflects as well the contemporary world wide shift of paradigms of power from that descending from the state above to that ascending from the smaller local groups, often termed civil society.

But can the people bear this responsibility? G. Tusabe expresses concern that the disaggregative forces of small group identities might deconstruct, rather than reconstruct, society. In view of this he cites the need for the regulative role of the state.

Part II identifies the issue of the direction of social life, whether by smaller or larger societies, as a matter of ethics. This, however, must be more than a matter of utility or pragmatic manipulation of social life. It is rather the proper exercise of the freedom of a people as they take responsibility for directing their lives. This must not be left to chaotic and arbitrary choice, but must reflect the way a people over centuries has shaped their values and developed the corresponding virtues to constitute a manner of life. This constitutes its culture as its way of cultivating its life. This is studied progressively in the Chapters of Professor J.K. Kigongo, A.R. Byaruhanga and E. Wamala.

Part III brings the volume to the present crucial issue on which the reconstruction or deconstruction of Central Africa may depend, namely, that of the relation between the cultures as they shape the identities of peoples. Are these essentially conflictual, or can they be understood as positively related? The most recent history of central Africa has found this to be a threatening — even deadly — issue. The Chapters of S.A. Mwanahewa, B.R. Archangel and G.F. McLean move progressively from despair to hope in this regard.

The first identifies the contours of the problem; the second sees identities as conflictual but still in need of each other; the third proceeds rather from the view of the whole as the context for the understanding of each so that other peoples and cultures are not alien, but needed partners whose welfare is a matters of shared concern. Social reconstruction in the region will depend upon the achievement of such a vision.