Responsibility and Blame

[Ilya Shambat]

We have any number of people claiming that ascribing external causes is failing to take responsibility for oneself. My response to that is that responsibility presupposes knowledge, and what we have here is failure of knowledge. Sometimes the problem is with oneself; sometimes the problem is with something or someone else.

I used to have a problem of being physically weak. I solved it by doing tons of exercise and taking classes in martial arts. This was a problem with me, and I solved it.

Here is something that is not the problem with me. I was planning an academic career. However when I was at university the academia was being defunded, and prospects for an academic career were scant. I was thwarted in a legitimate aspiration. That’s not a problem with me. That’s a problem with people who defunded the academia.

True responsibility is thus not taking responsibility for problems caused by others. It is about knowing what problems are with yourself and what problems are with something else. And then it becomes possible to correctly address both.

In my case, there were problems both with me and not with me. I do the right thing by solving the problem of being physically weak. I do not do myself or anyone else any favours by taking blame for the Reagan Republicans defunding the academia. I do favours by addressing these problems and their actual cause. That way the problem actually stands a chance of being solved, both for one’s own benefit and that of others. Whereas if I blame myself for the problem, the problem is not addressed and does not get solved; and that therefore is the less responsible and less righteous course of action to take.

With global warming, federal debt and any number of other problems, they require our attention. Focusing on them is not being irresponsible, it is in fact the definition of being responsible. It is solving the real problems that we have. Focusing on improving yourself will not make these problems go away. They need to be seen for what they are, and they need to be addressed for what they are. Failing to do so is not responsibility and it is not enlightenment. It is carelessness, short-sightedness and lack of ethics.

In most cases there is a need both for improving oneself and for improving external conditions. The two do not contradict with one another. I can work on myself and do my part toward solving the problems of the world. The first makes me a better person. The second improves what I have to give.

So we have people in psychology wanting people to take responsibility for everything that happens to them. This prevents real problems from being solved. Once again, sometimes the problem is with oneself; sometimes the problem is with something else. The two need to be seen correctly, and they need to be correctly addressed.

This, then, becomes the true definition of responsibility.