It is always interesting to look into the meanings
assigned to words because they often reveal certain aspects of a society’s
values. In our contemporary world, for example, the word “responsibility” has
become charged with meaning. Once understood as the state of being responsible
for one’s actions, it is now too often reduced to the notion of guilt, to the
point where all other meanings have been eliminated. The person responsible has
thus become the guilty party, as though responsibility and culpability are one
and the same.
This explains why we can no longer find out who is responsible and why we see a
collective denial of responsibility. In times like ours, it is rather difficult
to find those who are responsible. However, we cannot face the challenges of
today’s world without reviving the meaning of human responsibility.
An article by philosopher Laura Winckler published recently in the French
magazine “Acropolis” explains the etymology of the word “‘responsibility,’ which
comes from the Latin ‘responsum’ and ‘de respondere,’ meaning to vouch for, to
be aware of what we can be answerable for.” Responsible individuals are able to
assume their actions and face reality by taking on collective duties.
In a recent text, Quebec editorialist Michel Venne wrote, “The time has come for
responsible individuals. It is a demanding time. We are finding it a bit
difficult to enter into this new era. This is due in part to the fact that, to
assume responsibilities beyond our personal interests, we need to believe that
others will do the same. For this to happen, some kind of consensus must exist
around a shared ideal, a common mission, a unifying aim.”
Visions of the world founded on the laws of life, present in all traditional
philosophies, provide us with this shared ideal that humanity currently needs in
order to act in a coordinated manner. As philosopher Jorge Angel Livraga wrote,
“Our freedom comes not in abandoning obligations, but in assuming
responsibilities.”
