I recently saw Kerry O’Brien interview Clive James. It got me thinking. (If, like me, you grew up as a fan of the TV series “The Space Family Robinson”, you probably have images in your head, right now, of Robbie the robot hysterically shouting “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger”.) Thinking is always a risky business.
A few points stood out for me from this deeply personal and moving conversation.
Firstly, was the question of the existence of evil. James referred to Stuart Hempshire who was a 20th Century philosopher. During the Second World War Hempshire was an officer in British Intelligence and had been involved in the interrogation of Nazis during the Nuremberg trials. In that role he interviewed Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the Head of the SS. Prior to this time, Hempshire had been a proponent of the view that there was no such thing as evil. As a result of his experiences he changed his position and was a strong advocate that evil exists in the world.
The other thing I found interesting was that James had been involved in multiple relationships with women. He said he saw himself as the universal lover. He implied (but didn’t state it openly) that this was an issue in his marriage and that even though he and his wife, of 45 years, were still married they no longer lived together and had not done so for many years.
I’m in no position to criticise anyone for their life arrangements but, as I mentioned above, his comments got me thinking (a fact I suspect Clive James would be very pleased to hear).
Are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
We hear a lot, these days, about values but not very much about virtues. People spend a lot of time and money on understanding their values and this is important. But, I’m wondering if we’re missing something important in this questioning of EVERYTHING.
If you do a Google search on “Values” you get 543,000,000 results. “Virtues” returns only 5,640,000 results and takes slightly longer to do it. (BTW if you want a worksheet to help you get clear about your values click here to email me and I’ll send you one.)
According to Wikipedia the definitions are:
Value:
A personal value is absolute or relative and ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based.
Some values are physiologically determined and are normally considered objective, such as a desire to avoid physical pain or to seek pleasure. Other values are considered subjective, vary across individuals and cultures, and are in many ways aligned with belief and belief systems. Types of values include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, social values, and aesthetic values. It is debated whether some values that are not clearly physiologically determined, such as altruism, are intrinsic, and whether some, such as acquisitiveness, should be classified as vices or virtues. Values have been studied in various disciplines: anthropology, behavioral economics, business ethics, corporate governance, moral philosophy, political sciences, social psychology, sociology and theology to name a few.
Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what “ought” to be. “Equal rights for all”, “Excellence deserves admiration”, and “People should be treated with respect and dignity” are representative of values. Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior.
Virtue:
Virtue (Latin: virtus, Greek: ἀρετή “arete”) is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness. The opposite of virtue is vice.
Interestingly, virtues have a moral and somewhat objective imperative while values are much more subjective. In my recent Cosmic Compass post, The Why of Gen Y I pointed out that the new paradigm is “the role of society is to support the individual in their self actualisation”. While it’s important to appreciate that everyone is there to look after you, there’s also the responsibility that, as a member of society, you’re responsible for everyone else.
We’re very focussed on looking after number one, and to some extent this is important. However, have we become so focussed on ourselves that we’ve lost the connection to others, which ultimately is what keeps us alive and sane.
One of the expressions of this is our tendency to medicalise or physiologise normal states. When someone is depressed we medicate them, analyse their genetic code, investigate family lineage and hereditary in an attempt to “fix” or justify them. Maybe we need to understand that they’re having a very normal reaction to stressful situations. There’s an old expression; “to be normal in a psychotic society is to be psychotic”. I wonder if we’re working so hard to “normalise” people that we’re creating zombies – people who have been emotionally botoxed.
One example I’m quite passionate about is the question of euthanasia. I know, this is an incredibly emotive issue and so won’t get into a lot of discussion about it. However, I’m concerned that by legalising it we blur behavioural boundaries which we shouldn’t do. Interestingly, in the Clive James interview mentioned above, he commented he wouldn’t do anything to speed the process of death even though he is battling two terminal illnesses; leukaemia and emphysema.
The concern I have is that by moving the line of what is acceptable, it automatically moves others. I’ve already heard the comment “we allow abortion so why shouldn’t we have euthanasia?” What will we allow if we make murder (which is what euthanasia ultimately is) legal?
In a values based world everyone can decide what is right and ethical for them. This may be the correct way to go. However, sometimes I wonder if we’re replacing virtues with values and is that really the best way to go?