Defining Personal
Responsibility
Personal responsibility is the duty one owes to one’s self
because it is in their greatest good. However, to avoid misunderstanding and
obscurity, ‘greatest good’ is not synonymous with what ‘I want or need’.
Instead, ‘greatest good’ is that which makes a person a great person; a ‘great
person’ is congruent with a ‘virtuous person’ (Kraut, 2012). Thus, the duty one
owes to one’s self is to act virtuous. Through this critical lens, personal
responsibly is undoubtedly an inherent part of the agency/structure binary
(Lulat, 2012). This definition and concept are extremely relevant to the
institution of online learning and the success of its students.
What is Virtuousness?
Virtuousness is our duty – our ultimate personal
responsibility – but what exactly is a virtue? A virtue is the right
characteristic response to a specific sphere of action or feeling (Kraut,
2012). The right characteristic response is determined by finding the ‘mean
between extremes’; for example, in a given situation that is located in the
sphere of fear and confidence, the mean or virtue is courage, while the excess
is rashness and the deficiency is cowardice – those are the extremes (Kraut,
2012). Finding the right virtue is great, but action is always required to
develop and uphold a person’s virtuousness; this establishes a very active and
‘positive rights’ system of ethics.
Agency versus Structure
Thus, in the agency/structure binary, acting virtuous
strikes a healthy balance. Essentially, agency represents internal influence in
decision making, whereas structure represents external influence in decision
making. In order to be virtuous or responsible humans, we must be internally
analytical and adaptable to the external constraints placed on us. This system
rejects both pure volition and pure fate. In every situation, there will be a
time or place when a person must depend upon themselves and another person to
act virtuously, or when a person must depend upon themselves alone in the face
of an opposition.
Students and Personal Responsibility
Thus, the importance of virtuousness or personal
responsibility in an academic setting is quite recognizable. In academia,
whether on-campus or online, requires a great deal of self-discipline in order
to act virtuous in the face of all structural oppositions such as coping with
student tuition in the face of a campus’ vulgar and tasteless spending or
dealing with the boastful or insensible professors. However, students must also
exhibit self-discipline and be virtuous in the face of their internal conflicts
such as procrastinating, remaining trustful and truthful, and displaying a good
temper and attitude.
The Force of Character is Cumulative
Finding the right virtue in the right situation and acting
to resolve that situation are only the initial steps to success. Since this
system always requires action in order to be responsible, being idle is
noncontributing and counterproductive to success. Essentially, a person is not
a courageous person if they only exhibited their ability to be courageous once,
no matter how great and heroic it may have seemed. A great example of this
concept has been showcased in recent news articles about a former Philadelphia
police officer, honored as an American hero by President Obama, is being held
on a $60 million bail after allegedly raping two women and assaulting another
(Cheng and Johnson, 2013).
Making Excellence a Habit
Thus, a courageous person is someone who is habitually
courageous –not letting any opportunity to act courageous slip through the
cracks. Another example more relevant in higher education, a master student is
someone who habitually and consistently completes assignments, contributes to
class discussions, and produces intriguing essays, not someone who tastelessly
contributes once a week and writes mundane, bare minimum quality essays. Thus,
personal responsibility is being habitually virtuous in the face of all
opposition.
Practicing virtue is not easy. Remember, virtuousness does
not bend to ‘wants’ or ‘needs’- only excellence. It takes a great deal of
self-discipline and self-awareness to develop virtue. However, this should not
be discouraging. According to Dr. M. Scott Peck, the most important
contributors to a successful life are self-discipline, an acceptance of
responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing conflicts (Peck, 1978). He
says that “Life is difficult”, but it was never meant to be easy. Essentially
we can capitalize his expertise in order to provide ourselves with a righteous
path to follow.
However, with the self-awareness to recognize where we are
now, where we are going, and how we are going to get there, Peck’s guidance is
ultimately stuck in a vacuum. To break through our ignorance and find
self-awareness, we must re-sensitize our body and mind. From Micheal J. Gelb’s
How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci (1998), readers are offered the Seven da
Vincian Principles - Curiosita, Dimostrazione, Sensazione, Sfumato,
Arte/Scienza, Corporalita, and Connessione – that cultivate a growing, balanced,
self-disiplined mind that is dedicated to truth. Quickly to summarize each
principle: Curiosita is an insatiably curious approach to life and an
unrelenting quest for continuous learning; Dimostrazione is the willingness to
learn from mistakes and test previously accepted beliefs; Sensazione is the
refinement of the six senses to highten our awareness; Sfumato is the
willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty; Arte/Scienza is the
balance between imagination and logic or ‘whole-brain’ thinking; Corporalita is
the refinement of the physical body, fitness, and health; Connessione is the
recognition of the interconnectedness of all things (Gelb, 1998).
Throughout Gelb’s book, he offers readers many exercises and
self-assessments that will ultimately aid in developing an increased awareness
of ourselves. For example, an exercise to refine our Dimostrazione that is
listed in his book is about learning from our ‘anti-role models’ by making a
list of three people who have made mistakes that you would like to avoid (Gelb,
1998). Another example is an exercise called ‘mind mapping’ that can help
balance our imaginative and logical thoughts – developing the Arte/Scienza
principle (Gelb, 1998). By practicing these kind of exercises, we are
increasing our self-awareness, self-disipline, and human potential for learning
and developing virtuousness.
Summary
Ultimately, personal responsibility is our duty to act
according to virtue. Acting virtuous in academia is very important for
resolving internal and external struggles that will inevitably challenge us
all. However, virtuousness must be exhibited habitually in order to be
maintained. Maintaining and developing virtue takes self-discipline and
self-awareness. These qualities can be understood using Dr. M. Scott Peck’s
four contributors to a successful life, and be refined to perfection using
Micheal J. Gelb’s Seven da Vincian Principles. Thus, the road to
self-responsibility lies in re-sensitizing our body and mind, continual
refinement and improvements of our abilities, and recognizing and acting on
what we ‘ought’ to do rather than what we ‘want’ or ‘need’ to do.
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