My Ethical Theory
In this the 21st century, we find ourselves governed by values, by which we run our daily lives. These are not values we have recently created. They have been passed down through the years. They have faced innovation, science, technology and business and adjusted to accommodate all these things. They have become something very different today but they have a past. If we go back to the 18th century, the age of enlightenment, we realize that even then the values that the society upheld were not a one-time fad but a result of years of reason, progress, discovery, politics, religion, governance and economics. A closer look at what now has become collective consciousness, may lead us to ask ourselves questions like “does this still work now?” It can therefore be concluded that we need to live differently in the 21st century.
I find myself in part disagreement with Taylor when he says we need to live differently in the 21st century (Taylor, 2010). Currently, we do live differently than we did before as human beings. I do appreciate that the people in the world are social beings who live in reaction to their surroundings. For example to be a happy person, then join the company of happy people. However, does the influence of such persons take away the reason for individual sadness? Consider this, if a persons’ reason for sadness is the death of a loved one, then his reaction to his immediate surrounding is grief. If he leaves this and chooses the company of happy people, who may not have experienced grief in their recent past, does this truly take away the reason for his grief? Perhaps a self-help book that will help him understand and deal with what he feels on the inside. Perhaps it will eradicate the need for escapism.
I do persist in the thought that the human nature has already changed to accommodate the future based on the past. Allow me to disprove another one of Taylors’ theories; that people are not generally capable to make long-term decisions and that they understand relative rather than absolute values. I believe that human beings have come to the understanding that life is not permanent and its frailty should be its value. For a person to pick a short-term option for a long-term one, it is because this person understands that he may not be here tomorrow and, as thus he should strive to enjoy what he can with contentment today. If he lives in pause-made, preparing for tomorrow, which he knows will never come, then he will reach the end of his days and realize he never lived (Cohen, 2006). I believe that people are learning to live in the present.
The same can be said for relative as opposed to absolute value. Never put anything past anyone and always remember anything can happen. In an age where innovation has proved this true, then everything that people choose to accept, as truth has to have a level of meaning that is so real it is almost tangible. For the longest time, learning was a process of accepting absolute facts as truth. Now, learning is about the understanding of things as they are and the application of it in real everyday life. A good example is math in accounting, and biology in medicine. I believe that people need to have a reason to do something or to believe in something. To achieve global empathy, an understanding of truths in relation to life must be fostered.
Taylor speaks of taking the human mind out of individualism. I believe that individualism or what I prefer to call selfishness has come about because of erosion of good old-fashioned kindness by capitalism. The desire to have more has taken over people, more so those with the means to make more happen. People live for themselves with the aim of temporary happiness. They have failed to realize that what makes them happy today will not do so tomorrow. Even worse is the effect of our actions on the next person. Was not there a time when good neighbors existed? When a community considered the greater good to be more than a function of governance? When children were nurtured and not abused? When hard work bore fruit? Selfishness is a modern day value that has replaced kindness. To change the human mindset now would be to go back in time. In my view, the past may just be a happy place.
Self-aware autonomy according to Taylor is the model that should be adopted for enlightenment in the 21st century (Taylor, 2010). What I feel is wrong is that this are the very things the society has ignored in an effort to better life. My evidence is based on the continual workings and intensity of crime that corresponds with the degradation of society’s moral fiber. So people in the society should go ahead and practice self-aware autonomy but perhaps it would have been easier to live by what our parents taught us. I do believe that no person should be condemned to a predestined destiny. I do however think that free will should be practiced within the context of an awareness of ourselves with regard to where we are and who surrounds us.
We need to practice a conscious understanding of the full effect of our thoughts, actions and deeds. Only then, can we be able to separate needs from appetites. In addition, we will have amazing potential go beyond individualism. Moreover, self-acceptance, which can be shown by sincere honesty, is also a way to greater global empathy (Cohen, 2006). The acceptance to bare oneself is considered as a mark of spirituality today than purposefulness and excellence. Doing this would help people to form relationships with their reactions as opposed to being captive to them. This way, we make less assumption that what is familiar is true or right and that what is strange is wrong or false. Perhaps even, crime and violence will reduce because of a better understanding of fellow human beings.
According to Taylor, there is hope and we can expand the reach of empathy. The human race has reduced in person-to-person violence. Globalization and the media have enabled people to be constantly aware of what is happening in the world, whether good or bad (Taylor, 2010). It is possible to realize the plight of other nations far from ours. We can even travel to any corner of the world just to experience another culture and know what it is like to be like others. The advent of social rights has changed attitudes to issues like race, women rights and sexuality. Possibly this is the relating of ourselves to our reaction as Taylor mentions. The knowledge that is different or strange is not necessarily the same as wrong and it can be viewed as being unique.
However, on the same note, anti-immigrant sentiment, levels of inequality and ethnic tension has grown. This may be a poor reflection on policy makers to balance globalization and universalism. They may have failed to come up with solutions that consider with empathy, the capacities of those most affected by change. I do agree with Taylor on this analysis of transition. It appears that globalization has both its merits and demerits. It also appears that the future generations are being born into a more difficult world than that of their parents. How do we keep the good and do away with the evil?
The pool from which governance draws global empathy needs to widen to accommodate the needs of the whole planet as opposed to short-term national goals. I think tanks and other various specialized groups have a lot to consider in deciding what constitutes the complex chain that will link the inter-personal, the communal and eventually the global. I agree with Taylor in that such groups have a tall order. To achieve the goal of global empathy, even the smallest details must be put into consideration. For example, should education carry greater weight than the development of empathic capacity? Is it healthy to conduct public disagreement as opposed to forcing ideals down people’s throats?
If the measure of global empathy were happiness, then we would be well on our way to self-actualization. There have been great achievements in health care and longevity of life, and the availability of opportunity. However, it is not. For the most part, I do not agree with Taylor on how we have gotten into this mess, but I do agree on how best we should move forward. In the consideration of science, trade and governance, there needs to be added humanism. I find that chasing after progress to make everyone happy, is like chasing after the wind. Perhaps we should chase after the things that do not always make us happy but that benefit us much more than would temporary happiness.
A normal life includes education, work, nurturing, and then a few sunset years before the grave. However, should this be the sentence of life? Without the kind of reasoning that sees beyond this, then we my not be able to define life by any other standards. We must look beyond our limitations and human pride, explore possibilities and allow ourselves to dream. I find that every effort put in place by governance and special groups, to try to merge all these issues and come up with a workable way for people to live harmoniously is an effort that is rightfully placed. It is however, a time intensive endeavor and the world does not have much of it to spare. The planets’ situation is desperate. There rises a silent cry for help from every corner of the planet. Perhaps we should pray for a miracle.
Nevertheless, even as we bow heads and bend knees, we must embrace the ugly truth of things as they are. We must have the boldness that exceeds the fear of facing the skeletons of our past and the seeming impossibilities of the future. Enlightenment in the 21st century should lead us to a place where the effort taken to get there is worth the while. However, we cannot simply will it into being. We each need to take an initiative and do what we can and what we must, while we can. This brings us to a point where we stop and ask how we can do this? Who else is thinking like me? Possibly, you may come across like-minded people. Generally, at the end of the day, this change starts with one person.
References:
Cohen, A., (2006). Good Old-Fashioned Virtues for a New World. EnlightenNext Magazine,31.
Taylor, M., (2010). 21st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2010/21st-century-enlightenment
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