“A truly virtuous man would come to the aid of the most distant stranger as quickly as to his own friend. (but) If men were perfectly virtuous, they wouldn’t have friends.” – Montesquieu, a famous 18th century French judge, man of letters, and political philosopher, is quoted to have said.
That raises a fundamental dilemma: can one build and sustain reasonable friendships, or relationships in a broader sense, while being virtuous and righteous?
Righteousness, synonymous with being upright, just, fair, is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable in intent and action. Well-entrenched in fundamental and theological principles of all civilizations and religions, this is preached in various perspectives. Being righteous, a value which has seeped into social conscience, is to lead life by godly ordains, pleasing to God.
- Philosopher Immanuel Kant (in his Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals) advocates ‘categorical imperatives’ as the guide of morality of action; that is, autonomous actions which by themselves are right by a set of moral rules that one gives oneself.
- Such actions are not biased by “hypothetical imperatives” of probable outcomes. Kant’s morality theory professes duty, obligation and rule-based-ethics. This obviously is in stark contrast to consequentialism (results as main driver for action) and utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest numbers)..
- Pursuit of truth and endeavors to be right, oblivious of consequences, are intrinsically challenging vocations fraught with conflicting philosophies and arguments. Coupled with human relationships of a myriad hues, one is dealing with complexity and diversity of astronomical proportions.
Why do we compromise with righteousness? Insecurity, apprehension of losing relationships and friendships, to protect our fragile ego, habitual dependency on others, direct or indirect benefit accruals, fear of exposing our stupidity and incompetence, deprivation of entitlements, consequences of a misdeed being found out, or mere ignorance of what is right, and so on. .
In the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world that we live in, connections and networking are key to development and success, for self and for the global community. Can we build a new paradigm in relationships built on the foundation of righteousness and virtuosity, instead of convenient lies and compromises?.
Rational for disbanding the prevalent paradigm of relationships, and to adopt a new one based on morality and righteousness, can take inspiration from political philosopher Michael Sandel’s words: “estranging us from the familiar, by unsettling our settled assumptions, … once we begin to reflect on our circumstances, it’s never quite the same again….it is important to experience a little bit of unease, intellectually and philosophically, because this unease and tension enables critical reflection, political environment and moral life as well.”
After all, “Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it, right is right even if no one is doing it!” as Saint Augustine, the 4th century theologian and philosopher, had asserted.
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