Final answer:
Menkiti states that the community shapes the individual, and personhood is an achievement within the societal context. This view aligns with communitarian principles, emphasizing that personhood develops through community engagement and collective responsibility rather than being an inherent quality at birth.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Menkiti, the idea that the community is ontologically prior to the individual implies that becoming a person is an achievement rooted within a societal framework. The community provides the cultural and social constructs which shape individuals and their attainment of personhood. This is related to the view in communitarianism that values and the sense of self are products of one's society and not universal concepts. This counters individualistic philosophies like that of Rawls, who suggests a hypothetical scenario where personal facts are unknown. Instead, Menkiti and communitarians highlight the importance of the collective in defining personhood and recognize that personhood develops over time, through engagement with and recognition by the community.
In communitarianism, personhood is not an automatic status granted at birth, but rather a quality to be achieved through communal living, participation, and fulfilling certain responsibilities. This view challenges notions that focus solely on the rights of individuals, instead arguing that those rights are intertwined with social responsibilities.