How Grace, Forgiveness, and Charity Can Be Reinvigorated Through Promoting Objective Reasoning

Abstract

Grace, forgiveness, and charity are near unto death in the narcissistic culture that we now inhabit and though narcissists think that engaging in a constant battle to ensure that me and mine are always the top dogs is the best of all life strategies, Twenge & Campbell, in their 2013 book The Narcissism Epidemic, argue that ultimately, it leads to chronic anxiety, depression, and the war of all against all. And though they flirt with the idea of perhaps rescuing religious thought—after all, Christianity and Confucianism both teach that you should treat others as you would like to be treated, a dictum that clearly counters the narcissistic ethos (p. 246) — we suggest that ramping up young people’s capacity to think objectively in the practical arena is the preferable approach.

Many will be deeply suspicious of this suggestion due to the assumption that the more rational we become, the less emotional, and importantly, the less empathetic we will be. Such an assumption is faulty since objectivity in the practical arena does not leave behind one’s sensuous nature but rather creates a sieve via which the rougher elements of your sensuous nature are filtered out, allowing your “finer” intentions to direct your actions.

Using the works of Frankfurt, Taylor and Frankl, a case will be made that, though essential for moving towards truth, objective reasoning is also critical for nurturing the characteristics of grace, forgiveness, and charity. Along the way, we will reflect on the danger of trying to take the short cut of directly promoting objective reason’s main contender, i.e., empathy.

Ultimately, it will be argued that, in the name of a kinder gentler world, i.e., in the name of promoting grace, forgiveness, and charity, educators ought to nurture the propensity to engage in objective practical reasoning by consistently inviting students to participate in facilitated communal inquiry (the pedagogical touchstone of Philosophy for Children) so that they can experience first-hand the glory of an objective vision as it emerges in the give and take of respectful dialogue on issues that are otherwise highly contentious and divisive.