The Sense Of Responsibility According To Viktor Frankl

The sense of responsibility is the essence of civilization and respect for oneself and for others. Viktor Frankl, a famous Austrian psychiatrist and philosopher, reported since the 1980s that mankind was losing this important social competence.

We are increasingly forgetting that being responsible means understanding and applying the basic rules of the daily commitment to live life.

Winston Churchill argued that responsibility is the price of greatness. And it is true, all important offices and positions require a strong sense of maturity and moral and personal responsibility. However, this dimension goes much further and is closely linked to the concept of freedom.

Viktor Frankl himself witnessed a fact on which he reflected a lot during his years in the United States. During that time, when he was a lecturer, writer and teacher at Harvard and Stanford universities, he was often very critical of the prevailing (and still reigning) values ​​in American society and in various societies around the world.

We are talking about the sense of freedom, a concept that leads many to think that being free means being able to do what you want. Frankl believed that mankind was corrupting the essential concept of being free.

Neglecting the fact that this beautiful word must always go hand in hand with a sense of responsibility. Hand in hand.

Current society and a sense of responsibility

Not understanding that freedom has limits, principles and responsibilities presupposes, in essence, violating the rights of others. This is something that most of us understand well.However, individually or collectively, we move in the balance on that border, running the risk of harming others in the most unsuspected ways.

One example among all: our right to express ourselves, without hurting others with words. Everyone is free to choose their own destiny, to create their own reality with commitment, creativity and energy, but this does not mean that to achieve a goal you have to harm someone else. Nor is a nation, however powerful it may be, entitled to subjugate other peoples to obtain advantages.

The statue of responsibility

The misinterpretation of freedom has long been a matter of concern for Viktor Frankl. The work Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl’s Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work of psychologist Elaine Dundon highlights the depth.

He was so troubled by the leadership of American society in the 1980s and 1990s that he went so far as to propose something striking and evocative at the same time.

That is, considering that the Statue of Liberty exists in New York, on the east coast of the United States, he asked that another one be erected, on the west coast, but this time dedicated to responsibility. The project is still ongoing and is expected to be completed by 2023.

Learning to be responsible requires awareness

A sense of responsibility presupposes common sense, honesty and social commitment. In general, however, when this value is transmitted, it is done with an excess of individualism and even narcissism.

We are taught, for example, to be responsible for the things that belong to us, to avoid behaviors that can harm or endanger ourselves, but also to have respect for others.

In reality, however, none of these concepts is entirely consistent with the true sense of responsibility. Because being responsible does not only mean respecting others, but also promoting their well-being and having certain principles well understood.

Sense of responsibility, what does it really mean?

• Having a sense of responsibility is not just about always doing the right thing. Instead, it implies the inner need to act in the right way without others seeing or recognizing it.

• It presupposes a clear and firm stance towards the things that happen in the world itself and in the environment that surrounds us.

• Worrying about how our actions affect others.

• Making changes (however small) that contribute to improving the reality in which we live.

• Being willing to take risks to achieve certain goals and accepting the mistakes we can make.

• Don’t blame others for the bad things that can happen to us. We are responsible for ourselves, so we avoid putting our frustrations on the shoulders of others.

• Finally, it means being honest, believing in justice, being humble, compassionate and grateful.

To conclude, let’s keep these principles in mind. No value has as much social relevance as freedom, as being the architects of one’s own destiny, one’s voice and one’s choices.

However, we never forget to apply the right sense of responsibility to each of our actions. The whole world will win.