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After writing about global balance last month, today I would like to write about responsibility. What is responibility? A concept „that plays a central role in our everyday lives, but also in law, economics and politics“[1].

How can the concept be approached in a simple and structured way?

For example, by asking questions: How can responsibility be described and defined? What are the preconditions for its perception? Who is the carrier of responsibility? What is responsibility for? (In other words, the question of the scope and content of responsibility.) To whom does one have to justify oneself? …

I try to answer as briefly as possible based on the reading of various texts on the topic of responsibility in the context of my PPE studies (especially by Nida-Rümelin, Hans Jonas and Schönherr-Mann) and my professional experience:

Description/definition: I consciously assume responsibility, if I can cite reasons for my actions.

Requirement: Rationality, freedom and the ability to weigh reasons[2].

Carrier: „Autonomous“ individual => i.e. you and me😉.

Subject: For the relationship with fellows and nature? For child education? For global peace or achieving the 1.5 degree target? For nutrition, for consumption? For professional tasks? => In general, a distinction can be made between the factual and local scope of responsibility: The factual scope includes actions, beliefs and attitudes, the local scope in the broadest sense the „spaceship earth“[3].

Content: Duties and assumption of the latent risk of breach of duty and fault.

To whom does one justify? To oneself, family, fellows, nature, faith, conscience? => Here there is a plurality of possibilities.

The most important question is: How do I live up to my responsibility and what are suitable measures/maxims of action to achieve the goal? But first, some more questions:

Where do I feel responsibility / learn something the hard way?

As a father, when I worry about what could happen if my six-year-old slips while climbing on the bed and I therefore make an effort to clear all sharp objects from the potential fall radius if possible. …

As an engineer, when I consider what hazards might result from the buildings I oversee for their users and the general public. …

As a citizen, by going to the polls and getting involved with my city (through volunteerism, etc.) …

…

Where do the challenges lie for me and how do I deal with them?

With globalization – in the sense of the disappearance of spatial and temporal boundaries – not only the human habitat is increasingly de-bounded[4], but also responsibility.

Philosophical insights suggest that as an individual – despite certain limitations – I also bear global responsibility.

„Whoever allows his life to be shaped by others nevertheless remains responsible, although he gives away his freedom or creative power.“ [(Schönherr-Mann 2010), p. 53]

The choice of principles of action is left to each person. For example, the worldwide advocacy of human rights and respect for human dignity can be simple principles of action.

I further like to orient myself to Stiglitz „think globally and act locally“ [see (Stiglitz 2006), p. 22] and Nida-Rümelin: „I am not obliged to do good, but I am obliged not to harm anyone.“ [(Nida-Rümelin 2011), p. 115] and try to convey this orientation to my son as well.

[1] Nida-Rümelin, J. (2011). Verantwortung. Stuttgart, Reclam, S. 11

[2] Vgl. Nida-Rümelin, J. (2011). Verantwortung. Stuttgart, Reclam, S. 8 „Als Wesen … sind wir rational, frei und verantwortlich.“ Anmerkung: Die Verantwortungszuschreibung beruht folglich auf Annahmen – einem Mindestmaß an Entscheidungsfreiheit und Rationalität – die durch die genetische Anlagen, Erfahrung und Erziehung – im nicht eindeutig quantifizierbaren Maße beeinflusst werden. [Vgl. Myers, D. (2005). Psychologie. Heidelberg, Springer Medizin. S. 104 und Precht, R. D. (2008). Wer bin ich und wenn ja, wie viele? München, Goldmann. S. 323]

[3] Schönherr-Mann, H.-M. (2010). Die Macht der Verantwortung. Freiburg / München, Karl Alber. S. 19

[4] vgl. Klein, E. (2/2005). „Menschenrechte im Spiegel der Globalisierung.“ MRM – MenschenRechtsMagazin: 125-135. S. 125

In addition to my two blog posts about values in December/January, I would like to go into more detail about balance today. A value that is important to me personally – both on a global level (keyword „resource consumption“) – as well as on an individual level (keyword „life balance“) that deserves more attention.

Since I have already defined balance in one of these posts, I will not repeat it here, but refer to the corresponding value example blog post.

First, I’d like to tell you today where I first experienced and felt balance, then I’ll go into its meaning and conclude this blog post with thoughts on how to personally implement and communicate it to the next generation. The focus in this post is on the global perspective. Here goes😉

1. Where did I first personally experience/feel balance?

In my childhood and youth in the Scouts.

Scouting means everything but everyday life: here we sing, play, do handicrafts, cook… a variety of activities and topics, just try and do, everyone as they can.

And in the process grow, as a group, as an individual, above all mutually, because you learn from each other.

Girls & boys, fun & games, indoors & outdoors, give & take.

I didn’t know what balance meant at the time, it just felt good & right – „beautiful“ in my words at the time.

As a child I always wondered about the Swedish King Carl Gustav, a self-confessed Boy Scout, why as an adult he identifies with the Boy Scouts – in my words Scouts – is something exclusive to children in my world of thought at the time and when you grow up you stop doing that because then it’s other people’s turn….

The big picture, the scope – summarized in the Scout Promise, among other things.

Adherence to spiritual principles (with me at Christian principles, thus the honor gg. God, since I was member with the federation of Christian Pathfinders and Pathfinders, briefly VCP);

Honor towards one’s fellow human beings: Reverence for the dignity of man, advocacy of peace, protection of the environment, etc.

Honor towards oneself: Responsible for my own development, unfolding my personality, etc.

I was not aware of this at the time, I just felt that it felt good and was fun.

2. Where are our challenges?

I miss this intact, because tangibly coherent world of experienceable and lived values in everyday life. On the one hand, this is not surprising, one could argue, since in our pluralistic, liberal society, value plurality/neutrality should prevail. (Whereby the values conveyed to me in the Scouts, such as reverence for human dignity, are congruent with human rights and duties, which are supposed to form the basis of our global community).

On the other hand, the discrepancy between communicated and lived values strikes me in many places.

In politics (not even the European Parliament seems to be immune to corruption),

in numerous organizations and companies (in which employee-, company- and owner-orientation are not balanced, contrary to press releases to the contrary), but also

in private life (where, contrary to mutual promises, only lip service is paid to equality in relationships).

The world in 2023 is not in balance.

We live in a world where wealth is very unequally distributed (the richest percent of the population owns almost half of the wealth [i]), where there is a lot of violence,[ii] and nature is very polluted and exploited[iii] and only a minority of humanity lives in safety from physical and psychological violence, in an intact nature and financially secure existence.

3. To help build a world in balance!

Just because, at 46, I have in all likelihood already lived half my life and am not doing everything right in terms of sustainable living, I have not lost faith in a better world – for me, a world of justice and balance.

The Scout Promise may appeal to my conscience, but the methods I have learned are what help me – and can help us – to build a world of justice and balance. Because we have less of a knowledge problem than an implementation problem.

Meaningful methods that help us – and that I would like to teach my son – are for example

Learning by doing: No master has ever fallen from the sky; the best way to learn something new is to try it out! I want to instill in my son the desire to be a lifelong learner and encourage his curiosity, taking away his fear of perfectionism in the process… and set myself on the path to living more sustainably, aware that it is a continuous process of improvement („If many small people in many small places take many small steps, they will change the face of the world.“[iv])

Look at the boy – Consideration of age and ability to avoid being under/over-demanded don’t get stressed, I always remind myself of this when explaining/showing/giving something to my son.

Living close to nature – On trips and camps a conscious renunciation of comfort and convenience is practiced through simplicity and frugality along the lines of „The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for everyone’s greed“ Mahatma Gandhi. Teaching and modeling this to my son is anything but easy, especially since we live in the city. The easiest way was to visit a scout camp with him for two days, without a warm shower and with the items that fit into his backpack.

I myself am guided by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (the so-called SDGs), as their achievement contributes to my ideal of a world in justice (for me, synonymous with universal respect for human rights/duties) and balance.

Because I firmly believe that if everyone focuses on three SDGs (according to their individual strengths), we can succeed in this decade to make a significant contribution to a world in „justice and balance“ and still reach the 1.5degree target.

In the next blog post I would like to talk about the term „responsibility“, let me surprise you.

[i] Simple illustration for this (in German or French language): https://www.watson.ch/wissen/international/363235420-so-wuerde-die-welt-mit-100-einwohnern-aussehen

[ii] Impressive TED Talk about this: https://www.ted.com/talks/gary_haugen_the_hidden_reason_for_poverty_the_world_needs_to_address_now

[iii] For example see: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/over-consumption-worlds-richest-countries-destroying-childrens-environments-globally

[iv] https://www.globalmarshallplan.org/wenn-viele-kleine-leute-an-vielen-kleinen-orten-viele-kleine-schritte-tun-dann-werden-sie-das-gesicht-der-welt-veraendern/

A life in which I feel valuable – and everyone else can feel valuable.

Many situations make this possible. The Ukrainian soldier feels this feeling during national defense just as much as the German surgeon who helps seriously injured soldiers flown out from Ukraine to treat their wounds. Often we cannot choose the situations, for most Ukrainians the war was infinitely far away and the young men – among them many fathers – had completely different activities in which they could feel valuable.

I am grateful to be able to feel valuable outside of such extreme situations. My challenge is rather to find the right balance between and within the different roles (as a professional, as a father, as a citizen…).

I find good guidance in the „Theory of Well-Being“ by Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology. According to this theory, the goal of a successful life would be increasing flourishing through the reinforcement of positive feelings, commitment, meaning, positive relationships and success. After all, these five elements are essential to individual well-being.

And how does one do that? For Martin Seligman, the easiest way is to know one’s strengths (for example, through the Strengths Finder of his Institute at the University of Pennsylvania) and consciously use them. For a more in-depth look, I recommend Seligman’s book „Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being„.

I experience impressively how important friends are for personal well-being through my son’s answers: unforgettable his words in 2021 as a four-year-old to our question which vacation he liked best last year „The ship trip, because there I had a friend.“ If you are looking for impressive evidence of the importance of positive relationships/friendships, I recommend Robert Waldinger’s Ted Talk for his research findings.

What does Aristotle say about it and what does positive psychology say?

For Aristotle, the good life consists in the choice of a suitable form of life, in the development of virtues that enable the best behavior in certain types of situations, and in concrete actions corresponding to the virtues[1].

Aristotle distinguishes four forms of the life execution:

  1. the hedonistic (= pleasure) life

  2. the profit-oriented life

  3. the political-practical life

  4. the theoretical or philosophical life

Whereby for him only 3 and 4 make a good life possible and lead to a happy life, because for him happiness consists in the good life.

His teaching is in line with the findings of positive psychology[2], that a virtuous life according to personal strengths leads to well-being.

Therefore, I try to make my son aware of his talents at his young age so that he can develop them into strengths. I will go into more detail in the next block posts about insights from positive psychology and implementation strategies for „living well“ (included), and I want to stick to the meta-level in this one.

For me, good living means helping to build a world of justice and balance (two important values for me), because „good living“ is a continuous process. I particularly like the lines of Erich Kästner in this context „There is nothing good except: you do it.“

Life is everything except stagnation. Everyone knows it from their own four walls, everything has to be maintained and serviced.

[1] Thanks to Prof. Dr. Verena Mayer, who taught me this in the course of my PPE studies in the lecture „Introduction to Ethics“.

[2] Authentic-Happiness-Theory and the further development based on it to the „Well-Being-Theory“ by Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle

We humans are seekers for meaning – at least very many of us. We want to be able to explain our existence to ourselves. We want to see meaning in suffering, as well as in beauty. We want to be part of something „bigger“.

The search for meaning is about the „big picture,“ the overarching goal (vision) and/or the overarching task (mission).

In a nutshell, some thinkers see the meaning of life simply in „living“ or „living well.“ That would then be the overarching task/mission, while the overarching goal/vision for me, for example, is a world in justice and balance.

Both (goal/vision and task) are dependent on values (see blog posts on values). This explains why individual and cultural differences occur in the process. The meaningfulness of the goal can be tested in my eyes – following the categorical imperative of Emanuel Kant – quite well about the generalizability. „If all people followed this goal, would it contribute to collective well-being?“

Meaningful living is noticeable. People who have found for themselves the „meaning of life“ or, less pompously formulated, „meaning in life“ describe it as a feeling of resonance: no matter in which subarea they work, they „feel“ that they are working on the „big picture.“

My boy is not currently asking me any meaning questions, so this blog post does not yet contain any personal mediation examples. In the next blog post, I will look at the task aspect the „good life“ from two perspectives, one philosophical and one psychological.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that meaningful living is an element to individual well-being/flourishing according to Martin Seligmann’s Well-Being theory or Felicia Huppert and Timothy So’s Flourishing definition.

In the next blog post, I go deeper into the „good life.“