In a sense, this is more than a prompt, it is also a bit of a reading guide to help you, hopefully, get to the crux of the ideas presented here--try not to react to the premise of these ideas but to reflect on the philosophical implications.
1. Against Kindness
The authors' thesis (you may not agree but try to see this on a societal level, not from your individual perspective) is that, “[m]ost people appear to believe that deep down they (and other people) are mad, bad, and dangerous to know. . . our motives are utterly self-seeking, and that our sympathies are forms of self-protection” (4).
The authors suggest that although many of us live the kind life in “instinctive sympathetic identification with the vulnerabilities and attractions of others. . . but without a language in which to express this, or cultural support for it” (4)
(Again, remember, at times we have to over-generalize in order to be able to examine collective issues, and if we look at the state of our own country in the moment, there may be some evidence that supports these claims.)
One of the reasons, that the authors suggest, for our ambivalence about our instinct for kindness, has to do with our own vulnerability, not wanting to experience our own weaknesses: “Bearing other people’s vulnerability—which means sharing in it imaginatively and practically . . .––entails being able to bear one’s own” (11). In a sense, what we have in common is our vulnerability (an idea that Judith Butler will elaborate on in Precarious Life).
Thus, kindness has an internal tension—it brings us pleasure but it also reminds us of all that we fear about ourselves including change. (There is also an interesting discussion about whether kindness requires selflessness—hopefully we will discuss in class as this is important and a theme that will come up in C. Fred Alford’s book on whistleblowers.)
Think about these ideas in relationship to your service. Can you illustrate through an experience that you have had already or in relation to your own process of starting this commitment? Use other parts of the reading to make more connections and elaborate. Such as:
2. A Short History of Kindness
(To continue the discussion of selflessness vs selfishness) Two Enlightenment views of kindness: “For most of pre-modern history . . . kindness was seen as a solution to a problem: the problem of other people”(27). Kindness was seen as a bridge between separate entities in which the motive was more about surviving as an individual. The alternative view did not see people as separate entities but as interconnected (28). The authors illustrate this view with Adam Smith’s philosophy of “fellow feeling” and “imaginative projection of self into other” (29).
Continue to probe and unpack these ideas and use other parts of the history to explore and connect these ideas. If we are interdependent, is it selfish to be kind? And if we are interdependent, is it possible to be selfless? Maybe you can connect to your ideas above about your service experience.
Here is what I think
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In the first chapter I was very surprise to see who there were actually some people who were against being kind. It’s actually very sad to see that this virtue is slowly dying in humanity. I found interesting that the French psychoanalyst Lacan had said that that “we are taught to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” must be ironic because people hate themselves”. I found it to be funny and true. Because how can we be kind to other people if we are not kind to ourselves. Especially since we are always telling ourselves that we are not good enough that we don’t like ourselves we are not good enough. Maybe if we weren’t so harsh on ourselves we wouldn’t be so hard on our neighbor and for once try being kind. So if we begin by being kind to ourselves then maybe we can be more kind to society. Another point I found interesting is that humans are not meant to be kind to one another because we are selfish creatures. Yes I do believe that humans are naturally selfish. But that is why God or Jesus first began teaching to love our neighbor as we would ourselves. He knew that humans were selfish creatures that who had no love in their hearts or ever felt it from someone. He knew if people would begin to practice this virtue and the love would start to spread unto many people. In a way it’s a chain reaction. The reason so many people are selfish is because no one has ever been kind towards them or has shown love. Considering that instead of trying to be more selfish we should act more kind towards other people and share the love. Another reason why I think humans are sometimes so selfish is because it’s not our hearts or our souls that want to be selfish but the flesh. The human body only wants to care for itself and no one else. But that is why we should try and overcome what your flesh want and satisfy soul by being kind and gaining satisfaction from being kind and not selfish. And just to add a comment about something new I learned was that in the late 20th century when people wrote human beings they meant men. That was vary surprising that they did not include women as humans. This just makes me wonder if they simply just saw women as animals or objects.
Jennifer raises questions about selflessness and you, Diana, raise questions about selfishness. I guess we could try to think more deeply about the source of selfishness--I'm not sure that we can fully blame the flesh or our material selves. I guess because I'm not sure that we can really separate our embodiment from the soul. How would the soul express itself without the body? It's our flesh which makes us able to have the relationships that bring out that desire to protect ourselves, fend for ourselves and also to be connected and merged with others and the world.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I think you are on to something when you say that people who act selfishly might be those who haven't experienced kindness or love. So, maybe we can have compassion for people who behave badly--well, depending on what they do--but it is interesting to think about WHY people behave in selfish or unkind ways because it kind of takes the power out of it. Also, I tend to think that this behavior is less of a flesh issue and more of a ego issue.
I would like to comment on the other blogs posted here. It is amazing that such a small book brought out different views. It was wonderful reading what each one had to say and how it affected them. I am truly blessed to be in a class where individual thinking is praised and not put down.
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