Responsibility
Innocent or Guilty?
Is Responsibility a good thing?
Most of us would say, “Yes”.
Without responsible driving our highways would be unnavigable. Without responsible cities and citizens, civic life would be unliveable. And without responsible businesses, capitalism would be untenable.
In other words, if everyone were irresponsible, our world would disintegrate into chaos.
But what does it mean to be responsible?
For example, what does it mean to be a responsible driver?
A responsible driver would follow the highway code. They would obey the right of way, they would stop at pedestrian crossings, and they would drive sober.
In other words, they would follow a set of conventions.
In the case of driving, many of these conventions are written into law, but more generally being responsible is not the same is being legal or even being ethical. The guidelines are not written down. We just happen to know them.
But there is a darker side to responsibility.
We are often under pressure to be responsible. And if we are not responsible (even for reasons beyond our control), we feel, or are meant to feel guilty.
Sometimes this guilt is imposed from outside. And sometimes, guilt is internal.
For example, if we cross a double line while driving, we will get copped. And will be made to pay a fine. Bystanders might look at us disapprovingly, as might our friends and relatives, when we relate the tale.
These types of guilt are imposed externally.
And similarly, we might also feel intrinsically or internally guilty. Without anyone forcing us to be so.
I say darker because guilt causes pain. And while many might argue justly that this guilt helps make people responsible, and hence, it is a good thing, I’ve often wondered whether if it is avoidable.
Afterall, if we might avoid pain, at no other cost, why not?
But how?
What if we continue to be responsible, that is, we continue to try and follow the conventions that define responsibility, in the normal way; but if we falter, that is for some reason we break those conventions, we don’t feel intrinsically guilty?
How do we do that?
Simply, by not choosing to punish ourselves. Because, after all, isn’t that what guilt is? A sort of self-punishment?
I say “simply”, but I agree, that it is not simple. Because unlike punishing oneself physically, guilt is mental punishment. And mind control is much harder than body control.
That said, it is not impossible.
They say that we should strive to do things, not necessarily that earn us praise, but things that are “praise-worthy”. If we do things, purely because they earn us praise, or other goodies, then that action is merely a transaction.
For example, if we give to a charity merely because they will put our name on their building, then that is not charity. We merely purchased advertising for ourselves. Just as a business might buy space on a billboard in a prominent location in town.
I’m not saying that advertising is a bad thing. In fact, I’ve worked in advertising. And I know that it has many benefits. I’m only saying that Advertising is not Charity. And the two should not be confused.
What has all this to do with responsibility?
Well, being responsible because we fear guilt, is like being charitable, because we desire praise.
Guilt driven responsibility is transactional. And, at least to me, feels inferior to the breed of responsibility that I proposed earlier, that is a type of responsibility that doesn’t fear guilt.
Responsible behaviour, like charity and other praise-worthy acts, should be its own reward. Like virtue.
What should we call this type of responsibility? Innocent Responsibility? As opposed to Guilty Responsibility? I suppose it’s a good phrase as any.
What do you think?
