NIMFA
C. CATBAGAN
Divine
Word College of Laoag
The key to the mysteries
of human nature is to be found in society.
Anonymous
Abstract
No one can discount the role of
society in the development of every human being, because as soon as an
individual is born, he or she becomes automatically part of the society. Every
person’s thinking and lifestyle reflects the society which furnishes the person
with the conditions of existence and development which he or she needs. The
human person cannot achieve his fullness alone, but only through receiving
certain goods in various forms essential to him from society. Although many
would counter that the individual person does not
dissolve into society, rather he or she retains his unique and independent
individuality and makes his contribution to the social whole. In other words, “just as society itself
shapes human beings, so human beings shape society”. Such contention
clearly depicts the important role of society in a person’s life and the
person’s innate ability to perceive and give meaning to his or her own life himself
or herself , which serves as the focal
point of the discussions in this paper.
Keywords
Society,
person, life, perspectives, influence,
role, challenge, original person
Introduction
“The
human person is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the object of
every social organization”. Such
statement captures the essence of the relationship between society and the life
of a person. Similarly, according to a pleasant simile from a source written by
an author who chose not to be identified, “society
carries the individual as a river carries a boat”, which could really be
true but as per further elaboration, it is indeed in certain instances, and not
exactly the case because “an individual does not float with the river, rather, he or she is the turbulently
flowing river itself”. It can
therefore be implied that the events of a person’s social life do not come about by
themselves, instead they are made, just as stated by the same source, “historical
events are not charted in advance by superhuman forces, but rather they are
made by people”. It is within these perspectives, that society’s influence
over a person’s life can be viewed although generalization cannot be made
solely from these ramifications (Spirkin, A. n.d.) The society molds the person which can be manifested in
the claim of some philosophers that, the key to the mysteries of human nature is to be found in society, which implies that what a person is and would
become, depends a lot on what the
society could offer and how well it is lived by the person. Hence, it can also
be stated that every human being is a person’s embodiment of social relations,
a product of the existing social system.
Undoubtedly, a person bears the clear imprint of the life of society as
a whole, but as to the extent to which is manifested vary from person to
person.
The Meaning of Life from Different
Perspectives
Even when
looking at the same object, people may not always notice the same thing, as
everyone has his or her own way of looking at things, occurrences or
events. This commonplace observation can
be interpreted that every person possesses something that is strictly his or
her own, one that sets him or her apart from others. In other words, “people are not alike, and
will never be alike, considering the fact that every human being is indeed a
unique individual. One could be a
“look-alike” of someone else, as identical twins do, but there will always be
distinguishing marks that enables one to pinpoint who is and who is not. This contention
provides the premise that people tend to view life in varied ways upon which
individual perspectives are developed.
Viewing
life from different perspectives is like placing oneself in different settings
or different milieu. This reality can be traced to man’s gift of wisdom, a gift
which enables two people to look at the same thing, the same scenario from
entirely different angles revealing that every person can claim that there is
something in him or her that is entirely
his or her own. It is this uniqueness
or person’s individuality that brings dynamism in a society.
As what an old wise monk claims, “one of
the key secrets of life is to change oneself and the world changes around you,” in other words, changing one’s focus about
life would change life itself. Hence, whether the world can be more exciting or
become so simple for someone, it would really be up to her or him. One’s whole
personal world can be turned upside down and inside out and look at things differently
from others. Life therefore can take on
countless meanings and implications for every person. For most people, life
is perceived as some sort of a linear process. Something is started, it is done and ultimately finished. Thus, it
can be so disastrous if the universe did not really work as expected. If for instance, the universe worked in
parallel instead of series, or if everything would happen at the same time, it
would really be extremely difficult to handle,
more so when one fails to create a perception of what he or she would
like reality to be.
Stephen Hopson, who despite
being deaf since birth, became a motivational speaker, author, pilot and an
award-winning stockbroker, pointed out many different means of looking at life
from different perspectives. He said
that one way is by believing that “it's not what happens to you but how you
perceive it that determines how you will deal with the situation”. Another perspective, is holding on to the
thought that “behind every difficult person you meet, there's a lesson to be
learned”, and thirdly, is to say, “what can I learn from this ?, instead of
saying, “why is this happening to me ?” (http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Hopson
).
Similarly, a person can have a
different way of looking at life when he or she “trusts that everything in life
is temporary and that going through different cycles is part of the process. In
other words, “Life will get better if one just have enough faith to get through
a situation not happening according to his or her own wish. As many would
believe that every individual has a blueprint for his or her life, that there
is such a thing as destiny and it is up to an individual to discover what it
is. Although this can be contested by those who believe in an ultimate power
which directs everything in this world, even a person’s own life, thus no one
can really have a control of what and how events would take their course.
The
power of visualization cannot be ignored in defining life. Every person has the
ability to visualize what he would wish to have or do in life, hence, can be
painted in a canvas according to the colors and images created and reflecting
one’s very own feelings and aspirations,
which are truly one’s own creation. For others, life is
subscribing to the premise that without adversities or challenges, a person
will never get to know what a person is truly made of. This perspective of life
is anchored on the belief that it is through toughest times that one learns
that he or she is capable of accomplishing something, thereby acquiring
strength and confidence in the process. Individuals who draw strength from
difficulties, failures and weaknesses manifest this view of life.
Another
perspective is that of believing that life is a “perpetual training ground”,
preparing everyone of what is to come. Experiences, both good and bad, are all
meant to train one to be ready to face whatever forthcoming challenges and
eventualities. Thus one should never to refrain from learning from whatever
experience one gets into.
Similarly
a common perspective of life states that
“everything that happens in one’s life and everyone that one meets in this life
is for a PURPOSE”. This is the view of individuals who say that there are no
“accidents” in this life, rather,
everything is meant to happen and why they happen is for a reason. In like
manner, that there is always a reason and purpose for everything that one does. Corollary to this perspective is the contention
that everyone does matter, that by just being oneself, an individual could make
a difference in small and large ways. It
can therefore be deduced that making the most of life is more of believing in
one’s own capabilities or refusing to make comparisons and understanding that
one can be as good as another for everyone is at different stages in their
lives. Again this is in view of the fact
that every person is unique with special qualities, talents and skills, thus
there is and will never be one like the other.
The Role of Society in the Life of a Person
The role of society in a person’s life is well
pointed out in Durkheim’s Theory, which
conceives of an individual person as being born into an ongoing social system
independent of the individual and determines his behavior or model of thinking
which characterizes a given society.
Each person therefore becomes a product of the society. Said theory is described as a deterministic
theory (Travis, 2001).
Moreover, Jacques Maritain as
cited by Schall (1998), avers that, the
human person cannot achieve his fullness alone, but only through receiving
certain goods essential to him from society, thus, a person’s life is shaped by society itself. Indeed, society
is part and parcel of a person’s life as expressed in the sociological
deduction that the person, by virtue of
his dignity, as well as of his needs, requires to be a member of a society.
Social psychologists point out that the wealth and complexity of
the individual's social content are conditioned by the diversity of his links
with society. This is why the level of
individual development is an indicator of the level of development of society,
and vice versa. But they also claim that the individual does not dissolve into
society, rather, he or she retains his unique and independent individuality and
makes his contribution to the social whole, which implies that just as society
itself shapes human beings, so human beings shape society.
The quote, I know that the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man to
direct his steps. (Jeremiah 10:23), clearly implies the need for any person
to be connected, or associated whether directly or indirectly to a society
defined by a system of laws drawing the line between what is right and what is
wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable to all.
According to an online information hub,
there are four major roles of society, that of social responsibility, religious
responsibility, financial responsibility and political responsibility. Clearly,
the affairs of a person are not formed and regulated only by himself or herself
but rather subject to certain social standards which are established through well-defined process. This is so because as a person enters into
the society, he becomes a part of a whole and like the rest forming the social
whole, depends on the complements provided for him to be able to become fully
integrated into the system so to speak. Social life therefore imposes upon a
person’s life constraints and sacrifices if necessary for him to be truly
serving the part he is made to assume in the society. In other words, being
inferior to the social whole, a person must serve the common cause of the
society (Mida, 2009).
The role of society in a person’s life
therefore constitutes the totality of a person, his being a part at the same
time an individual whole because such individuality is ultimately transformed
into an essential component which society derives to provide for the common
good of its members.
The Challenge to be an Original Person
As quoted from an article, ”being an original person
can be an eccentric person”. But what does it really mean to be an original
person ? People act according to their comfort pocket, so any social
interactions is completely original, therefore one will not be talking of one
or two million twins that imitate thoughts and behaviors as one strives to move
on with their lives.
Just as every person would
want to feel and be special, and not become the same monotonous
"thing" as everybody else, he or she would assert a uniqueness making
him or her stand out and be an entirely different person setting him apart from
others, becoming his real self instead of becoming the person because of the
influence of conditions from the world outside the domain of his or her own
self.
Deciding
to be what he or she thinks he or she is can be considered engaged in a
pointless pursuit of being an original person, something that may not become a
reality considering his or her imperfections despite being endowed with the
primordial rights which could be invoked and must be respected by society.
Sadly though, such rights coupled with the gifts of intellect, logical
reason, will and freedom, breaking up
from the social to have a claim of oneself may prove to be a gargantuan task but
really impossible to realize because man has been constituted first as a
person, an original creation of God
gifted with the individuality setting him or her apart from the rest, before
being part of the human society.
Possibility to Live Without
Society
For a bigger number of people,
the concept of living without society is regarded as an absurd concept since,
Aristotle, the great Greek thinker, as cited by Sherzai (2012), pointed out, human beings are by nature social animals.
Man lives in a society and within a society where he is bound to be in the
so-called chains of relations and dependencies, tied with social
responsibilities. Thus, many argue that
it is indeed impossible to live without society which would mean without a code
of laws and order. However, this can be
disputed by those who say that man can live without a code of values and norms
which governs human society, and that even if man so decides to severe his or
her ties with an established institution, like for instance not having any
religion, he or she would maintain some
standard of value.
In
his book, “The Social Contract”, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presented the
contention, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." It is
almost unavoidable to live in a society without social interactions and to have
established relations. Every necessity, from a very tiny one to the largest
one, is attained through the support of the society, which denotes that living
without society is and will never be a possibility (eBooks@Adelaidehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/).
However, many human beings do
not feel this dependence over the society as universal and there are those who,
intentionally or unintentionally, strive to leave alone, isolated from social
life, detached from the society and choose to have a life
outside of it instead. Thereby, he or
she loses social interactions and as a result suffers what is known as social
isolation which refers to a complete or near-complete lack of contact
with society (Sherzai, 2012).
Conclusion
Admittedly, the influence of society is
so vast and essential such that a person’s thinking and lifestyle reflects that
society where he or she belongs and this influence is important not only to
man’s development, but also to a nation and more so to the entire world.
Persons provide the foundation upon which a society would function well and
survive, thus every society must have as its members, persons who will act, almost
automatically, in the way that particular society requires. Thus, it is
man’s person which enters into society;
and it is by reason of such
individuality that the person is in society as a part where transformation and
becoming take its course.
References
Hopson, Stephen. 20 Ways of Looking at Life From a
Different Perspective, retrieved November
6, 2011 from http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Hopson
http://payingattentiontothesky.com/2010/04/01/the-human-person-and-society-%E2%80%93-jacques-maritain/The
Jacques Maritain Center, University of Notre Dame.
Mida,
Andro (2009). Role
of Society - The Key Roles Society Should Play For Social Stability
Sherzai, Dilawai (2012). Can Men Live
Without Society? Retrieved from http://outlookafghanistan.net/topics.php?post_id=5361
Spirkin
A. (n.d.) Dialectical Materialism: On the Human Being and Being Human @ http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/spirkin/works/dialectical- materialism/ch05-
Travis, M. (2001)
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ttpbst/me/writing/durkheim.htm retrieved October 26, 2011.
Rosseau,
Jean Jacques. A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1106/000Title.html
Rosseau, Jean-Jacques. The Social Contract @eBooks@Adelaide http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/au/
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