by Dr. Menno Aden, Essen /Ruhr
Point of Departure
Besides the medical effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, which are not to be discussed here, the pandemic has the social and political effect of isolating people from each other and, the longer the epidemic lasts, making them strangers to each other. In the economy, supply chains are interrupted because the people involved are not interacting personally, which, despite digital communication channels, is still the basis of economic transactions based on trust. In social life, there is no longer an exchange of economic goods and thoughts, and at the extreme end, the human being dies separated from his closest confidant in an isolated room and he is buried, again outside any community.
My reflections want to bring out that strong community is the prerequisite of a meaningful human life, and that the dissolution of social bonds is actually the greatest evil that can affect man.
- Common good
I Common good and individual good
Individuals have certain interests which serve their own good or which they believe do. In addition, there are interests that serve the community in which he lives. The basic example is based on an individual who is not depending on anyone. He can afford everything, he can consume the whole of nature for himself. He has everything only the fact that there are fellow human beings interferes with his complete happiness.
This individual man is only willing to share his unrestricted freedom with his fellow men out of a certain compulsion, only because the dangers of nature, wild animals in the jungle, distant enemies force him to do so. The theoretical opposition between self-interest and the common good is thus based, as it were, on two or more individuals who only join forces under the compulsion of circumstances, thereby helping each other, but who would otherwise have liked to remained alone to indulge their self-interest.
But that is not how it is!
People have always lived in society. The Robinson example, the novel character who was cast away alone on an island and settled there, is one of the most horrible imaginings a novelist could have come up with. Robinson never existed and if – he was definitely one of the most unhappy persons on earth. Human society, a system in which people aligned their interests, has existed as long as there have been people. It is therefore absurd to regard self-interest and the common good as opposites.
Since the pursuit of one’s own interests only ever takes place in human society, self-interest only presents itself as a part of common interest of the society.The individual desires health, so does society. The individual may want to gain prestige among his fellow human beings, society (in the form of the state, for example) has the same interest. We are proud to belong to a respected state and we suffer if it does not stand in the world’s esteem as we would like it to. The state and the society in which we live is an extension of individual selves.
What an individual desires is basically also the object of the collective desires of the community. The enjoyment of what is personally aspired to and acquired can only succeed to some extent in society. Nothing is more unbearable than an environment in which no one disturbs us or takes notice of us in the long run. Luxury only becomes beautiful when others see that we have it. In Goethe’s Faust, Margarethe finds a treasure box that the devil Mephisto had put in the cupboard. Both she and her neighbour Frau Marthe have as first thought how to let the jewellery „be seen by people once in a while time„. Even the most ruthless egoist needs the community so that his egoism has a „meaning“.
The relationship of the individual to society is a fundamental problem of all the humanitiy. The tension between the individual and the community, the tension between the goal of the individual and the community as a whole, exists in all other disciplines as well, for example in theology: Who is nearer to GOD? The pious hermit in the woods? Or the believing man in a believing community? Ultimately, the importance and dignity of the hermit derives only from the fact that he sets an example of faith for the community.
The problem that lawyers, politicians and sociologists are discussing is not the contradiction between individuality and public spirit, but the question of the correct demarcation between privacy and community.
The first conference of the European Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation:
Covid-19 in the EU: the degradation of social cohesion and stability
II The common good and the meaning of life
The fact that human beings are mortal is a constant question about the meaning of everything we do. As one sociologist puts it:
Every human society is ultimately a covenant of people in the face of death.
This is means probably the following: No one finds the meaning of life alone, just by himself! Perhaps not even a saint! The most important aspect of human society, therefore, is the provision of assured protection against meaninglessness. I quote from a textbook on sociology:
To live in the social world is to live in an orderly and meaningful way. Society is the guardian of order and meaning not only objectively, but also subjectively by virtue of its institutional structures, insofar as it structures individual consciousness. The most important aspect of social life is probably protection from the terror of impending meaninglessness. In other words, the most important function of society is to set a binding meaning.
To seek the benefit of society is therefore, in its very essence, to participate in the production of meaning in life, and indeed in the meaning of life that the individual seeks for himself. Insofar as the good of the individual can ultimately only be found in the fact that he sees a meaning for his personal life, the properly understood common good thus coincides with the good of the individual.
III The common good and self-interest as material conditions
Of course, the question of a meaningful life can be discussed on a philosophical and religious level. But in normal life we are confronted with the normal daily questions, and we certainly cannot solve them alone, but only in community and cooperation with our fellow citizens or, thinking globally, with our fellow human beings. Employment, salary, , housing, job security and so on. The free-market system is suspected by many of giving free rein to self-interest over the common good in a particular way. Keywords like „elbow society“ are used to describe certain social phenomena such as egotism. The debate between communism and capitalism, already believed to be dead, is gradually reappearing on the political stage in a slightly different guise.
On the one hand, it cannot be denied that in in Western society in general, individual groups try to gain advantages over others which are harmful to the community. I do not want to enter into the political debate and therefore avoid to give examples. Group egoism is often denounced, and often rightly so. Perhaps it is not so much egoistic group interests that are being pursued. Perhaps it is rather the loss of the overarching objective that leads certain groups to over- promote their objectives think of conservationists vegetarians , peace activits etc.
A look at history shows us that, in Germany at any rate, there has never been as much willingness to give and share as there is today. In Luther’s time. i.e. 1500, to take just one arbitrary example, it would have been completely absurd to call for a donation to financially support the poor in plague-stricken Turkey! The famous earthquake of Lisbon in 1735, which Goethe reported on as a child and which Voltaire used in his story Candide, shook the whole of Europe, but – as far as we know – did not lead to any aid measures in favour of the Portuguese.
Contrary to popular opinion, I would like to claim that our society today in Europe and all Western countries is becoming more and more philanthropic.
When historians point out that our time, which we call post-modernity, is comparable to late antiquity (i.e. the time between 100 and 500 AD), I would like to extend this comparison to the fact that in late antiquity, too, a continuous tendency towards humanisation of the entire life of individuals and states can be observed. International solidarity in the event of natural disasters and wars is certainly also a consequence of modern communication and transport links. She has many reasons. But one thing is certain: We know today better than ever before in history that the individual human being depends on his fellow human beings and that we, each of us, can achieve nothing without community and cooperation.
VI Situation after COVID-19 pandemic and Conclusion
My reflections want to bring out that strong community is the prerequisite of a meaningful human life, and that the dissolution of social bonds is actually the g Actually, I was only saying things that should be taken for granted. I said things that everyone knows. Sometimes, however, it is important to express things that are taken for granted and to remind us of what it would be like if they suddenly no longer existed.
The pandemic has shown us in Europe and around the what it is like if each of us were on our own again –no cooperation , no supply chains, no meeting friends, no theater visits, no public concerts and sports events! Etc. We have to f work hard to repair all the damage the lockdowns and protective measures have caused to our social life and society as a whole. Especially the situation of handcapped groups and children. The social distancing and economic crack-down on individuals situation will have a long-term impact. Reduced trust in our governments and social tensions will support the division of society enormously if economic and social leaders and politicians do not find quick answers to build up new trust into the future potential of our societies.
It follows that for future cases of a regional or perhaps even worldwide pandemic, we must take better precautions to ensure that people do not become strangers to one another. How such precautions can be designed should be left to discussion.
23. February 2022.