Kindness to another begins with personal inner life

In the modern and contemporary era we see how the meaning of kindness More properly understood by the ancients as loyalty to oneself, moral self-determination based on empathy. increase of personal area (for example in the search for personal gain in the economic sphere), exploring horizons of as much interdisciplinary (observing the opinion of the other). Through kindness understood in this way, the dichotomy between “identifying the other” and “recognizing oneself in the other” takes shape.

Mercy in the Philosophers of the Modern Age

There is some mention of important moments of the modern era. spinoza In’Policy (1677) defines “empathy” as “love for those who have done good to another”, indicating that “we feel good towards those who have done something as good as us”. (Spinoza, PolicyEdited by R.

Cantoni and F. Ferragnani, UTET, Turin 2005, third part, Proposal XXII, Scolio, p. 210).

But the most illuminating point for this discussion can be found, where he shows that “if one has done something that is conceived to create happiness in others, he may be at one with the idea of ​​self as a cause.” will be affected by happiness; that is, he will perceive himself with joy” (ibid., Proposition XXX, p. 216). We see all this happening in a symbolic way in the practice of “courtesy” (HumanityWhich in Latin also means benevolence, education and civilization).

Joy, associated with the attitude of “courtesy”, “increases and supports man’s power to act” (ibid., Proposition XXXVII, Performance, p. 222), thus the practice of virtue in search of its usefulness. enhances, that is, in an effort to “protect his existence” under the guidance of cause and through the dominion of passion (ibid., part four, pp.

283 and 285). Manners, or modesty, explains Spinoza, “consist in the desire to do the things that men like and not what they dislike” (ibid., Third Part, XLIII, p. 259). As a consequence, the individual guided by reason is free in society, “where he lives according to a general order, in solitude where he obeys only himself” (ibid., Part Four, Proposition LXXIII, pp.

329-330).

if we move towards eighteenth centuryWe cannot ignore the great contribution of the Scottish philosopher Adam Blacksmithdisplayed in theory of moral feelings (1759). In this seminal work of the father of economics Politics Modern, Mercy (kindnesswhere is he kind type, also defines caste) is counted among the social passions, which are particularly pleasurable and facilitated by “doubling sympathy” (in the original version). written record it is read double sympathy): generosity, humanity, compassion, mutual friendship and respect, “benevolence” (goodness) For sympathy Smith means the ability to identify and put oneself in another’s place and understand their feelings so that they can receive praise.

Therefore, social norms cannot push towards the model of solidarity and social integration.

In these cases we participate in the satisfaction of the person who experiences such social passion and subjectivity (A. Smith,). theory of moral feelings, edited by E. Lecaldano, Burr, Milan 1995, p. 131). The people whom nature points to us as the objects of our special charity are precisely those who have already shown charity towards us. It is not surprising that nature has created men for “mutual kindness” ,mutual kindness), so essential to their happiness, that each person becomes a special object of mercy to those to whom he has been kind (kind) (ibid, p.

446).

always written record Smith also uses the term (which is more frequent). goodness, goodnessTo show that “no philanthropist ever completely loses the fruits of his benevolence.” kindness is the parent of kindness (cf. IVI, p. 447). Thus, the grace and foreboding which, when there is no envy, we naturally attribute greatness (greatness), they grow when we combine wisdom and virtue with it (ibid., p. 448).

Our “inner man” (here Smith sees the stoic Marcus Aurelius), the reason that guides our conduct when we are kind and benevolent to others, regards ourselves as “honorable and love for the great, for the great. reveal love”. The dignity and superiority of our nature” (ibid., p.

295). Smith also accepts, as a macrocosmic projection of kindness, a “universal benevolence”, when “our benevolence is not confined to any limits, but may extend to embrace vastness of the universe“(said, p. 462).

Nietzsche’s version

situation in the postmodern era Nietzsche This proves to be very indicative, especially if re-read in the light of his teacher Schopenhauer’s “ethics of compassion”, which he criticizes. In aphorisms 49 (titled “philanthropy”), wohlvolen) of the first section human also human [फ्रंड्लिचदूसरों के साथ संबंधों में, आंखों की वह मुस्कान, वे हाथ मिलाना, वह सहमति जिसके साथ लगभग हर इंसान आमतौर पर पहना जाता है।

प्रत्येक शिक्षक, नीत्शे उसी सूत्र में आगे बढ़ता है, प्रत्येक अधिकारी इस घटक को अपने कर्तव्य में जोड़ता है; यह मानवता की निरंतर सक्रियता है, वे इसके प्रकाश की तरंगों को कहने के लिए हैं, जिसमें सब कुछ विकसित होता है; […], Goodness, cordiality, courtesy of the heart, are the currents that flow from the altruistic instinct in perpetuity, and have contributed more powerfully to the building of civilization than the more well-known expressions called compassion, kindness, and self-denial. But it is customary to take them into account small, and there really isn’t much altruism about them. There Joint Any of these small doses is impressive, their overall strength being one of the greatest” (F.

Nietzsche, human, also human, Little Adelphi Library, Milan 1979, p. 55).

Nietzsche clearly shows that kindness, if understood as a “noble” form of altruism (besides simple compassion), depends precisely on the “victorious yes to the self” about which he largely speaks genealogy of morality, (Little Adelphi Library, Milan 1984, p. 26). In addition, the attitude of etiquette is the opposite of resentmentbecause the great man, Nietzsche still sees in genealogyHe is merciful and above all even towards his enemies, because “he cannot tolerate an enemy other than one who has nothing to despise and Too much Instead of being honored” (ibid, p.

29).

Bergson’s Lifelong Learning of the Spirit

French philosopher Henry on July 30, 1885 bergson (Nobel Prize for Literature in 1927), gives a speech dedicated to the distribution of the year-end prizes at the High School in Clermont-Ferrand PoliticsAs for “mercy”, which in some degree becomes synonymous with “good education”.

Bergson reveals that kindness is not only a mirror of civility (an attitude of respect towards others in the name of equality, always limited within each individual’s position in society), but something even deeper: it is a continuing education of the soulTo make man like a work of art, thus to distinguish him among souls A Sympathy Mobile et Legere,

Indeed the moral superiority of those who exercise the faculty, “if necessary, give up the habits they have contracted or even the natural dispositions which they themselves have managed to develop.” , the ability to put oneself in the shoes of others, to take an interest in one’s occupations, to think for oneself, to re-live one’s life, in a word to forget about oneself” (H. Bergson, good educationIn education, culture, school, Edited by MT Rousseau, Armando, Rome 2000, p. 63).

There moral superiority Simply noted, it refers, as its direct correlation, to that extraordinary education, which “determines certain qualities of the heart and many of the qualities of the soul, which are fundamentally rooted in the absolute freedom of the intellect”. (ibid, p.

64). “Educated” kindness, so we can define it in Bergsonian terms, which invests emotion, courtesy, heart, gives us an “ideal republic” (ibid., p. 66), “the true city of the soul”. presents in. “Where liberty would be the emancipation of the mind, equality would be a common quality of thought and fraternity a delicate sympathy for the sufferings of sensitivity”. If we find something that tells about it, “it would be nostalgic study”, “classical study” (ibidem,

Here, mind you, it’s not about Politise Artificial de Esprit That which is given by the ordinary frequency of the world, “but that which naturally arises from the agreement and sharing of the intellect” (ibid., p.

67). Aristotle, recalls in Bergson’s conclusion, showed how in a republic all citizens were friends of science and philosophical speculation, they would “be friends of each other” (ibid., pp. 67–68). Therefore, the discussion may be less bitter where it moves between pure thoughts, as intolerance is “only a certain inability to separate thought from action” (ibid., p. 68). Kindness, if understood as such, is not a luxury, concludes Bergson, but “An Elegance of Virtue” ,ibidem,ibidem,

From a practical point of view, we can say that kindness represents the necessary dose of Humanity Functional to accept the point of view of another, between the act of “putting oneself in one’s place”, “recognizing” and “identifying oneself”.

In this regard, the American practical philosopher and psychologist George Herbert lawnIn Mind, Self and Society (1934), explained that both processes are included in social processJust as by identifying with her “sympathetically” about each other (Mead had Smith in mind), taking her point of view “to the given social position and her role in it” and thus making that position clear. responds explicitly as he does or is clearly going to do” (GH

mead, Mind, Self and Society, R. Edited by Tetucci, Giunti, Florence 2010, pp. 376-377).

On this basis, “the attitude we recognize as an attitude of empathy in adults stems from this same ability to assume the role of another with whom a person is socially engaged” (ibid., pp. 449-450). And so, Mead concluded, “we reserve the term ’empathy’ for actions and attitudes based on kindness that are the fundamental link in the lives of every human group” (ibid, p. 450).