| I am less interested in the difficulty of untangling motivation than in the general idea that we care about others as well as ourselves. Sometimes we are enthusiastic about acknowledging their due, or succoring their need, and sometimes we are grudging, but in each case we recognize that we are upholding the dignity of the individual, and thus "objectivizing" our value as well as theirs, that is, treating claims of value and respect as universal, so that we give recognition even as we ask for it. I am content, for the moment, to lay aside whether it is in fact objective. Right at the moment, I merely want to suggest that we, as social creatures, have an interest in articulating rules to govern social intercourse, and that this is the most fundamental rule that we can generate. |
