Responsibility
July 7th 2010 09:26
Responsibility is a concept that seems quite straightforward. If you looked in a dictionary, you’d find a selection of definitions, such as: liable to be called to account / being the primary cause. People like these two as it means someone can be blamed if they are considered to be responsible for something. The legal system likes these two a lot don’t you think. And as for insurance companies? I rest my case.
Another is: of good credit or position / evidently trustworthy. Most people would like to think ‘This is me’. I am a sound and sensible adult person. I am trustworthy. But am I also honest, reliable and able to keep a confidence?
This last definition is one I think challenges us all: morally accountable for one’s actions. It is kind of similar to the first but bringing morality into the notion of responsibility takes us to a bigger dimension. It takes the concept of responsibility to a higher level.
Why does a dictionary give readers a bunch of optional meanings? Shouldn’t there just be one simple meaning and be done with it? How long is a piece of string?
I learned about responsibility in a number of ways, many of them painful. Being strapped in school if I was caught doing the unacceptable thing and since I was responsible, I got the punishment. Did it modify my behaviour? To a degree, as I usually stopped the behaviour, but the punishment rarely changed the attitude.
Similar things happened at home. Unacceptable behaviour led to appropriate punishment. Our religion was more of a Thou Shalt Not, than, It’s not a good idea because if you do, this is likely to happen and there are alternatives. I left school and home at 17.
Then I learned the most basic rules of adult responsibility pretty fast. Money has to be earned. Rent has to be paid or you are out on your rear. Electricity bills have to be paid or you’re darn cold, can’t cook your food and there’s only so much hanging around the library to keep warm that a person can take. And grumpy librarians giving you that Are you borrowing that book? stare makes a person feel uncomfortable.
So does being responsible just mean looking after yourself and not expecting someone else to do it for you? Since no man is an island, wrote John Donne, how does this connect with being a part of society? Are we also responsible for each other? Now it gets tricky.
Suppose everyone in a given society looked after themselves, accepted responsibility for themselves, would there be a need for people to look after others at all, after the person reaches a certain age and does not need parental care of course? What about the aged, infirm, disabled and so forth?
This now becomes an ethical question of societal responsibility for one human being, or a group of human beings, towards other human beings.
You may have heard of Richard Maybury who created the term juris naturalism; you can Google him if you are interested. He suggested that there are only 2 rules we need to adhere to which are: Do all you have agreed to do. Do not encroach on other persons or their property.
When I was a classroom teacher, I used to have these 2 rules on my wall. It led to many interesting philosophical and ethical discussions. My argument was very simple to my students. The first was true as they had agreed to follow school rules as soon as they became a student there. The second was to do with respect and responsibility, 2 basic human values we all had to work towards within the walls of my classroom, myself included.
I believe that I am responsible for everything that my life is. It has been at times a difficult road, definitely a very interesting journey, often a lot of fun, and when I discovered this basic truth, all seemed to fall into place. Hindsight, from a higher viewpoint, showed where my decisions had led to certain directions, where some doors opened and other closed.
Continuing from this higher viewpoint, I do not believe that anyone had to or needs to die to save me. I have the facility within me to be all I can be as Soul and as a human being in this lifetime. I have an inner guide who is constantly there, not interfering, blaming or punishing. He walks with me, not necessarily leading me but occasionally giving suggestions. This can be through the dream state, the waking up at 2am and knowing you have to write something down right there and then. Or other ways that I try to be alert to. I can choose to take this advice or not, and take the consequences. It’s all down to cause and effect, that basic spiritual and physical law. I choose to take responsibility for myself.
I don’t wander blithely through life ignoring everyone else who may need support from me in any way. It happens. That ethical question of societal responsibility pertains as much to me as to anyone else. I make regular donations to a charity of my choice. I do some volunteer work. I may even help old ladies across the street, as long as they want to cross.
Being responsible, and behaving responsibly, is often a matter of choice, that we need to be taught and perhaps need to teach to others.
Another is: of good credit or position / evidently trustworthy. Most people would like to think ‘This is me’. I am a sound and sensible adult person. I am trustworthy. But am I also honest, reliable and able to keep a confidence?
This last definition is one I think challenges us all: morally accountable for one’s actions. It is kind of similar to the first but bringing morality into the notion of responsibility takes us to a bigger dimension. It takes the concept of responsibility to a higher level.
Why does a dictionary give readers a bunch of optional meanings? Shouldn’t there just be one simple meaning and be done with it? How long is a piece of string?
I learned about responsibility in a number of ways, many of them painful. Being strapped in school if I was caught doing the unacceptable thing and since I was responsible, I got the punishment. Did it modify my behaviour? To a degree, as I usually stopped the behaviour, but the punishment rarely changed the attitude.
Similar things happened at home. Unacceptable behaviour led to appropriate punishment. Our religion was more of a Thou Shalt Not, than, It’s not a good idea because if you do, this is likely to happen and there are alternatives. I left school and home at 17.
Then I learned the most basic rules of adult responsibility pretty fast. Money has to be earned. Rent has to be paid or you are out on your rear. Electricity bills have to be paid or you’re darn cold, can’t cook your food and there’s only so much hanging around the library to keep warm that a person can take. And grumpy librarians giving you that Are you borrowing that book? stare makes a person feel uncomfortable.
So does being responsible just mean looking after yourself and not expecting someone else to do it for you? Since no man is an island, wrote John Donne, how does this connect with being a part of society? Are we also responsible for each other? Now it gets tricky.
Suppose everyone in a given society looked after themselves, accepted responsibility for themselves, would there be a need for people to look after others at all, after the person reaches a certain age and does not need parental care of course? What about the aged, infirm, disabled and so forth?
This now becomes an ethical question of societal responsibility for one human being, or a group of human beings, towards other human beings.
You may have heard of Richard Maybury who created the term juris naturalism; you can Google him if you are interested. He suggested that there are only 2 rules we need to adhere to which are: Do all you have agreed to do. Do not encroach on other persons or their property.
When I was a classroom teacher, I used to have these 2 rules on my wall. It led to many interesting philosophical and ethical discussions. My argument was very simple to my students. The first was true as they had agreed to follow school rules as soon as they became a student there. The second was to do with respect and responsibility, 2 basic human values we all had to work towards within the walls of my classroom, myself included.
I believe that I am responsible for everything that my life is. It has been at times a difficult road, definitely a very interesting journey, often a lot of fun, and when I discovered this basic truth, all seemed to fall into place. Hindsight, from a higher viewpoint, showed where my decisions had led to certain directions, where some doors opened and other closed.
Continuing from this higher viewpoint, I do not believe that anyone had to or needs to die to save me. I have the facility within me to be all I can be as Soul and as a human being in this lifetime. I have an inner guide who is constantly there, not interfering, blaming or punishing. He walks with me, not necessarily leading me but occasionally giving suggestions. This can be through the dream state, the waking up at 2am and knowing you have to write something down right there and then. Or other ways that I try to be alert to. I can choose to take this advice or not, and take the consequences. It’s all down to cause and effect, that basic spiritual and physical law. I choose to take responsibility for myself.
I don’t wander blithely through life ignoring everyone else who may need support from me in any way. It happens. That ethical question of societal responsibility pertains as much to me as to anyone else. I make regular donations to a charity of my choice. I do some volunteer work. I may even help old ladies across the street, as long as they want to cross.
Being responsible, and behaving responsibly, is often a matter of choice, that we need to be taught and perhaps need to teach to others.
| 184 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
