ars heroica

by Schattenjager

It all started when I was in college. I had finished my english major early and I had enough time to take on another major. I decided on philosophy as it was pretty closely related to the major I just finished. I first took a philosophy course on the challenge of justice which postulated on the nature of society, rules and concepts of justice, pulling on such great social philosophers as Bentham, Hobbes, Locke and Kant. It really helped puncture the American bubble in which I had been living (the bubble where I was concerned mostly with only my self and immediate friends and what was going on in America without any concept that there was a whole world out there, not all of it nice and pretty and happy). Coming off of this, I took a philosophy course on writing about urban social issues. That course really changed my life.

As part of the course you needed to take a volunteer placement at a nonprofit in Boston with a ten hour per week commitment and then write about your experience in creative ways to be presented in classes each week. I worked at a non-profit helping indigent immigrants and refugees. I worked in the immigration department, helping filing paperwork with the government. I also tutored refugee students at a public high school in Boston, helping with English and any other homework they might have. While I was working there something just clicked. I realized that I really enjoyed helping others and volunteering some of my extra time that I would otherwise be using to party or play video games to use what talent I had to help others. I loved it, it made me feel more alive.

I guess I just started to see a common element in all the people I came across. You can see some level of love or compassion in all people, even those who seem to be callous or mean. I think a great example of the best and worst in people is the character development in the movie Crash. Some of the greatest people at the beginning did the worst things and some of the worst people at the beginning did some of the most heroic things. The capability of human beings to love, be compassionate, be empathic, to sacrifice, are all amazing to me (though we must always keep in mind our ability to do the worst as well). In seeing these feelings and actions being displayed in the people I worked with and for, I found that I believed in the world again, that it was worth giving of myself to help others to protect those virtues and those other people who valued those virtues and lived them. I felt that if enough people decided to live those virtues and other people got to see that people really did care and wanted the world to be better, it would be (if only little by little).

Coming from that belief and my resolve to help others, I don’t have much concern with what others think. If they agree, I am happy and will share my drive to help others with them. If they do not agree, I do not attack them for having separate views. I might explain why I believe the way I do and let it be at that. It is not my purpose to try to change other peoples minds. I will do my part to help others. If people like what I do they might do likewise. I do not expect people to change because someone tells them to or because someone tells them they are not living the right way. People must change of their own accord. Their views will not effect my resolve to help others.