The Human Good
THE HUMAN GOOD
- Cl. Mario D’Couto sdb
As it has been observed that the human person is perhaps the most complicated being on this earth, to give a precise and exact definition of what the human good actually is would be a rather tedious task. Hence, according to Bernard Lonergan, he would define the human good by combining the various components of reality into one unified entity. These include skills, feelings, values, beliefs, co-operation, progress and decline. We shall now look at each of them in detail,
(i) Skills:
With regards to skills, Bernard Lonergan takes the ideas from Jean Piaget. Piaget analyzed the acquisition of skill into two elements: assimilation and adjustment. Assimilation refers to that phenomenon wherein we use our past knowledge in order to make sense of the present (learning) while adjustment is the phenomenon where one learns by trial and error. Besides these two, there is a third element – mediation. Operations are said to be immediate when their objects are present. Hence, seeing is immediate to what is being seen, hearing to what is being heard; touch to what is being touched. But by imagination and language symbols, we operate in a compound manner; immediately with respect to the image, word, symbol; mediated with respect to what is represented or signified. In this fashion we come to operate not only with respect to the present and actual but also with respect to the absent, the past, the future, the merely possible or ideal or normative fantastic. It is in this context that we can also say that when children play, they are living in a world mediated by their own meanings.
(ii) Feelings:
It was once said by Hegel that the human person is a bundle of feelings and how true it is. When we have no one to talk to, we feel lonely; when we have not eaten, we feel hungry; when we feel tired, we want to rest. All of us have feelings. Feelings are spontaneous and they do not lie under the command of decision (will) as do the motion of our hands. But, once they have arisen, they may be reinforced by advertence and approval while they can also be curtailed by disapproval and distortion. Such reinforcement and curtailment not only will encourage some feelings and discourage others but also will modify one’s spontaneous scale of preferences. Ex: When I am in my room, I have the choice to sleep or to study. Even if I may feel sleepy, it is important that I study since it is more important than for me to sleep (scale of preferences).
(iii) Notion of value:
Value is a transcendental notion. It is what is intended in questions for deliberation, just as the intelligible is what is intended in questions for intelligence and just as truth and being are what are intended in questions for reflection. A transcendental notion is the dynamism of conscious intentionality. It promotes the subject from lower to higher levels of consciousness, from the experiential to the intellectual, from the intellectual to the rational, from rational to the existential. Besides, promoting the subject to full consciousness and directing him to his goals, they also provide the criteria that reveal whether the goals are being reached. Thus, the drive to understand is satisfied when understanding is reached but is dissatisfied with every incomplete attainment and so it is the source of further questions. In simple words, when we say “to transcend” it means to go beyond. Now when we speak of value as a transcendental notion, it implies the ability to will. This aspect of willing is possible because of our consciousness. Because of our consciousness, we are free individuals. it is also because iof this that we are able to own our actions and this becomes an evaluation to see whether we have achieved our goals or not.
(iv) Judgments of value:
We have just seen what the notion of value is. Whether a judgment is true or false would depend on the authenticity of the subject. A judgment of value (Ex: A beautiful painting, he is a good boy) differs from a judgment of fact (Ex: Water boils at 100 degree Celsius, all planets revolve around the sun) in content but not in structure. This is because of the distinction between criterion and meaning. In both, the criterion is the self-transcendence of the subject while the meaning is or claims to be independent of the subject. The judgments of fact state or purport to state what is or is not so while judgments of value state or purport to state what is or is not truly good or really better. Thus, the judgment of value comprises of three things: (i) there is knowledge of reality and especially of human reality (ii) there are intentional responses to values (iii) there is the initial thrust towards moral self- transcendence constituted by the judgment of value itself. Among the three points, the point that stands out of these three is the third point i.e. there is the initial thrust towards moral self-transcendence constituted by the judgment of value itself. For as we have seen above, that the authenticity of the judgment would depend on the authenticity of the subject. A judgment of value, therefore, would also entail not being biased or carried away by one’s emotions while judging.
(v) Beliefs:
All of us have our own beliefs. Our beliefs, besides being personal, are also a result of where we come from. It is historical. Hence, our beliefs would entail our background, upbringing, likes/dislikes and so on. Given this fact, we can therefore deduce that there are billions of beliefs around the world. Another understanding of this aspect of belief is that, when we assent to truths of fact and of value, rarely do we depend exclusively on our immanently generated knowledge, for such knowledge stands not by itself in some separate compartment but in symbiotic fusion with a far larger context of beliefs. Ex: formation of the equation “E=MC2”, designing a map, progress of humanity. Human knowledge is thus not some individual possession but rather a common fund, from which each may draw by believing, to which each may contribute in the measure that he performs his cognitional operations properly and reports their results accurately. A man does not learn without the use of his own sense, his own mind, his own heart, yet not exclusively by these. He learns from others, not solely by repeating the operations they have performed but, for the most part, by taking their word for the results. Through communication and belief there are generated common sense, common knowledge, common science, common values and a common climate of opinion.
(vi) Structure of human good:
The structure of human good is understood under two aspects: individual and social. When we speak of the human good in the individual sense, it includes capacity, operation, particular good and need. By operating in this fashion, one would be able to procure for himself or herself a particular good. Ex: When I am hungry, I eat. The third column (cooperation, institution, role and task constitutes the social structure of the human good. Examples of this would include family, society, the Church where each member understands and accepts the basis and mode of co-operation. The third row which comprises of plasticity, perfectibility, development, skill and the good of order refers to that phenomenon where the capacities of individuals (talent/skill) is put to the service of the community. In other words, each member does his or her part in contributing to the good of the institution, family, society and so on. With regards to the third row (which comprises of liberty, orientation, conversion, personal relations and terminal values), it could be said that liberty is nothing but the free will in the human person and this is what distinguishes him from other creatures. However, we don’t live in isolation but in a community and hence misunderstandings, hostile or opposed thinking could happen. It is therefore necessary to be converted and when one has converted himself or herself then he or she attains a terminal value. Terminal values are the values that are chosen, the instance of the particular good, a true good of order a true scale of preferences regarding values and satisfaction. They are authentic persons achieving self-transcendence by their good choices.
(vii) Progress and decline:
As individuals not only develop but suffer breakdown, so too do societies. Progress proceeds from originating value, from subjects being their true selves by observing the transcendental precepts: Be attentive, Be intelligent, Be reasonable and be responsible. Being attentive includes attention to human affairs; being intelligent includes a grasp of hitherto unnoticed or unrealized possibilities; being reasonable includes the rejection of what probably would not work but also the acknowledgement of what probably would; being responsible includes basing one’s decisions and choices on an unbiased evaluation of short-term and long-term costs and benefits oneself, to one’s group and other groups. Now, while this maybe the claim from one side, it should also be noted that precepts can be violated. Evaluation may be biased by an egoistic disregard of others, by a loyalty to one’s own group matched by hostility to other groups, by concentrating on short-term benefits and overlooking long-term costs. Egoists do not turn into altruists overnight and hostile groups do not easily forget their grievances, drop their resentments or overcome their fears and suspicions. Hence, to counterfeit the problem, it would be necessary to note that a religion that promotes self-transcendence to the point, not merely of justice, but of self-sacrificing love, which would have a redemptive role in human society inasmuch as such love can undo the mischief of decline and restore the cumulative process of progress.
The art of listening:
This reflection is taken from an article written by Eugene Hemrich and it is found in a magazine called “The Priest”. Basically, through this article, Hemrich tries to highlight the importance of the quality of listening especially for pastoral ministry. As priests, we do a lot of communication; we teach, preach and counsel. True, indeed, this is very much an important part of our ministry though we should also note that communication involves listening. Infact, communication takes place when there is a sender and a receiver. However, communication is not just a passage of information from the sender to the receiver but it also involves a feedback from the receiver to the sender. In this reflection, I would like to lay stress on the aspect of listening as I believe that as a priest, it is not enough to speak but he should also be a good listener.
Vince Lombardi once said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us”. Taking time to rejuvenate our energy is part of good listening. Listening should not only be at the centre of priestly leadership, it must also be prized for keeping our priesthood healthy and faithful. Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing with our ears is absolutely necessary for listening, but hearing with consideration, care and interest is the essence of listening with the heart, portraying our image of leaning towards the speaker with undivided attention.
A priest by name Fr. Pennington narrates one of his experiences when he was conducting a priest retreat. During the retreat one of the priests told him that he was planning to leave the priesthood. Fr. Pennington pleaded with him to practice a particular spiritual exercise before he made a final decision. This is what he told him, “Each time you enter your room, go to the Bible, read a passage and then listen to its message”. After many months, Fr. Pennington happened to meet the priest. He enquired of the priest as to how he was doing. He replied, “I am still in the priesthood, thanks to you”.
St. Benedict uses the word currite (run), when encouraging us to listen to God’s word. Our ears are filled with all types of sounds that crowd our mind and deprive it of contemplation. in the above story, the concept of immediately going to the Bible connotes running in the sense of urgency. Most of our priestly ministry consists in being on the run. The virtue of good listening would ask, “How often do we run t the Word of God to listen to it? Among all our urgencies, how much of an urgency do we feel in perfecting spiritual listening?”
When we speak of the art of listening, what exactly is envisioned is that just as musicians are forever trying to improve their artistic touch, so too devoted students of listening are forever looking to improve their unique human listening touch. Listening skills should never be taken for granted nor allowed to be mechanical. Good listening requires giving ourselves to others with no strings attached, implying that we perch ourselves on the shoulder of the person who is speaking to us.
