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1. ?Learning and living a life of caring involves all other
values?
?The concept of ?caring? is developed by disclosing its relationships
to other significant concepts like ?trust,? ?honesty,? and ?humility,?
and it also grows by coming to terms with seeming exceptions.?
Milton Mayeroff,
?On Caring? (page 14)
September 8, 1999 newsletter
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2.?Caring is the heart of ethics.?
?Caring is the heart of ethics. It is scarcely possible to be truly
ethical and not genuinely concerned with the welfare of others...
People who consider themselves ethical and yet lack a caring attitude
towards individuals tend to treat others as instruments of their
will. They rarely feel an obligation to be honest, loyal, or fair
or respectful except insofar as it is prudent for them to do so?
Michael Josephson, Josephson Institute of Ethics
August 8 newsletter
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3. ?Caring in context ... caring out of context?
When we see a list of values, whether a handful, a half a dozen
or more, caring is listed separately and at the same time considered
to be included as part of the others. For example, the full realization
of ?being respectful? includes having a caring inclination towards
another as part of it. I thought it would be an interesting teaching
tool to try to look at each value in two ways - first devoid of
caring and then with caring as part of it. When I do this I see
that with caring removed, these values become simply ?actions.?
In the longer term these actions become core values when the ?feeling?
aspect of caring is included in the dynamic. Then indeed - ?acting
fair? becomes ?being fair.? There are times that an action (let?s
say the willingness to listen) can spur a loving feeling (getting
to like the person we are listening to). Eventually this cycle brings
us to a way of being that has caring imbued in our actions and ?joyfully?
- action and affection become inseparable.
Marty Kirschen
October 20, 1999 newsletter
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4. An afterthought
It appears to me that caring is contained in other individual values.
Take the example of showing a willingness or wanting to act with
respect towards someone. Caring is also a process where other values
come together. When I respond responsibly, look at a situation honestly
and respectfully, help someone examine the issues fairly ... all
these character values can come into use in one caring transaction.
For this reason, I believe it would be useful to "not"
place caring in a list of character values - however - have caring
be part of the overall concept name ... such as being a person of
"caring character" or having "ethics of caring."
Only be seeing caring to both serve other values and be the binding
element that brings them all together do I believe that important
clarifications and usefulness will take place.
I do realize that many values may have connections, just as caring
does. Certainly being honest requires us to look at situations fairly.
It seems however that these are varied sections - while caring is
involved with the entire tapestry.
A final observation along these lines ... caring is not just something
soft and warm. When we understand the full gamut of caring we can
see it is also very much about building and maintaining competence
in the many academic and life skills our students need. It is for
this reason as well that I believe that we should examine many concepts
that are being used ... social and emotional learning, emotional
intelligence, conflict resolution, positive psychology, peace making,
etc ... and examine them in the context of caring. Afterall ...
whether we start in a place of peace, pain or conflict ... in all
cases we are trying to move towards and maintain a place of wellness.
Your observations are most welcome and desired.
Marty Kirschen
September 17, 2000
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