The recordings:
Tuesday 30th November
Wednesday 1st December
Thursday 2nd December
Friday 3rd December
The text versions:
Day 1 – Consequences
The other day I got on the train at Southampton Airport on my way to London and found myself sitting next to a rather nice pair of woolly gloves that a previous passenger had obviously left on the train. I tried them on and they fitted beautifully, and even had a cosy fleece lining on the inside.
If I had been intending to get off the train at Winchester I would have probably thought “what a stroke of luck”, put them in my pocket and enjoyed having warm hands. However, since I was staying on the train quite a lot longer than the ten minutes it take to get to Winchester, I got to thinking why I automatically found it acceptable to just keep a pair of gloves that obviously were not mine.
Perhaps one of the most common ways we make decisions about what is right and what is wrong, is by thinking through the consequences of our actions. In this case the previous owner was unlikely to come looking for their gloves, I wouldn’t exactly get arrested for taking them off the train, no one else would know where I had got them, they were probably only worth £20, and my current pair of gloves had a hole in them and I hadn’t found the time to buy a new pair yet.
But, although all these considerations were quite valid, did they form a good basis for a decision? Are the consequences of our actions all that matter or are there other principles we should be paying attention to? Is it OK to do something merely because I think I can get away with it, or should my sense of right and wrong rest on something deeper?
Day 2 – Principles
In my day job I work as a scientist involved in medical research. Although I don’t get paid quite as much as I might like, an important part of this job for me, is the feeling that I am doing something worthwhile that will probably help other people in the long term.
A particularly critical part of any medical research project is the first time a new medicine is given to humans. This sort of experiment normally happens between five and ten years into a project, and although we have a great deal of information about the new medicine at this point - it’s only when it is finally tested on a person that we get to find out if it causes more good than harm.
As you can probably imagine such experiments are performed very carefully and with close attention paid not only to the medical science aspect, but also to the ethics. Indeed we have to ask ourselves four key ethical questions before proceeding: firstly, are we trying to do good, secondly are we causing any harm, thirdly are we respecting the autonomy (that’s the free choice) of our willing participants, and fourthly are we acting fairly and respecting equality?
Prior to doing medical research I hadn’t really heard about these four principles, but the more I have had to consider them professionally the more I have found them applicable to other areas of my life as well. Time and again, when facing a decision about how to act I find myself asking these four questions - am I trying to do good, am I trying to avoid harm, am I respecting other people and am I acting fairly?
Day 3 – Virtues
What do you think when you hear the words “virtue and vices”? Perhaps some ancient churchy type thing, maybe a Victorian understanding of right and wrong, put surely not something that is applicable to the South Coast of England in the 21st century – are they?
I do think that it is a bit of a shame that words like virtue and vice have drifted out of our everyday vocabulary as they both concern issues that all of us talk (and often gossip) with our friends about almost all the time. “That was so dishonest” we might say or “she’s such a loving mother”, or “he’s so forgiving” or “she’s a hard worker”. You see virtues are simply positive character traits, such as patience, kindness, humility, charity, diligence, hard working or loving. Similarly vices include pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy or laziness.
The ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was one of the first to come up with this idea of virtues and vices. He was concerned with the question “how is the best way to live?” Instead of focusing on what a person did, he thought it was important to focus on who a person was. His argument was that even in the most difficult or complicated situations, a virtuous person would always do the “right thing” simply because they practiced the virtues on an everyday basis. In other words virtues cannot be switched on or off depending on the situation – they are a constant part of our character and we need to practice them in order to have them!
Day 4 – an ethic of care
Just about two years ago I became a father. Although I obviously knew lots of people with children who tried to warn me what I was getting myself into, I don’t think any amount of psychological preparation could quite prepare me for what was in store once we got our little bundle of joy home from the hospital! I certainly now know what people mean when they say a child gives you the highest highs, but also the lowest lows.
One of my friends, a biologist without children, tells me on the mornings when I struggle into work bleary eyed with calpol and dribble stains on my shirt, that I have evolved to be manipulated by my son in order to pass genes on into the future. He tells me I do not have a choice in the matter, this is just the way biology works. But, although I love biology, and think that biological explanations can be very powerful, I think it’s slightly wide of the mark to say parenting is just about being manipulated by your offspring: there is something incredibly powerful about caring for a child, meeting their needs and seeing them grow, that changes you as a person.
Our western culture seems to encourage people to be individuals, compete with others and use experience and education for self-development, however there are some things that can only be learned when we stop our own lives and start caring for those around us. OK a baby or toddler might be harder to ignore than an older person, friend or work colleague, however caring for others isn’t only about our own personal sacrifice – it changes who we are and how we think, often in a very positive way.
Our western culture seems to encourage people to be individuals, compete with others and use experience and education for self-development, however there are some things that can only be learned when we stop our own lives and start caring for those around us. OK a baby or toddler might be harder to ignore than an older person, friend or work colleague, however caring for others isn’t only about our own personal sacrifice – it changes who we are and how we think, often in a very positive way.
