RESPONSIBILITY IDEAS IN EXISTENTIALISM AND ITS MEANING IN EDUCATING MORALITY FOR THE VIETNAMESE YOUTH CURRENTLY

ABSTRACT

The human factor is still considered a major driving force for growth at all stages of a country’s development. Morality is a foundation and a noble characteristic that determines people’s attitudes toward their community and society. Nowadays, analyzing previous philosophers’ ethical views to get lessons and implications plays a vital part in moral education. Being a philosophical school that focuses exclusively on humanity and personality, existentialism emphasizes people’s morality and attitude in contemporary society. This article evaluates the category of obligation as one of two fundamental categories of ethics in existentialism. It distinguishes two meanings of building morality for Vietnamese youth today, namely, building youth’s life and building their obligations in modern society thanks to pointing out its strengths and limitations.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Человеческий фактор по-прежнему считается главной движущей силой роста на всех этапах развития страны. Мораль – это основная и внушительная характеристика, которая определяет отношение людей к своему сообществу и социуму в целом. В настоящее время анализ этических взглядов предшествующих философов, с целью извлечения уроков и выводов, играет жизненно важную роль в нравственном воспитании. Будучи философской школой, которая фокусируется исключительно на человечестве и личности, экзистенциализм подчеркивает мораль и отношение людей в современном обществе. В этой статье оценивается категория обязательства как одна из двух фундаментальных категорий этики в экзистенциализме. В нем различаются два значения формирования морали для современной вьетнамской молодежи, а именно: построение жизни молодежи и формирование их обязательств в современном обществе благодаря указанию на его сильные стороны и ограничения.

Keywords: responsibility, existentialism, Vietnam, contemporary society

Ключевые слова: ответственность, экзистенциализм, Вьетнам, современное общество.

Introduction

Vietnam has recognized that the young is the country’s mainstay and the determining factor in the country’s success or failure at all stages of growth. Youth is considered one of the factors deciding the country’s progress or failure in terms of industrialization and modernization, international integration, and building socialism. Ho Chi Minh said, “Young people are the future owners of the country... the country is prosperous or poor, and weak or powerful, which thanks to a large part of the contribution of the young” to emphasize the importance of young people. He wrote in his testament that “Cultivating the revolutionary generation for the next generation is a significant and vital task” [9, p. 612] to express his spirit and concerns. Nowadays, the expansion of the downside of the market economy, international economic integration, the trends of ideas, and foreign cultures have significantly affected the thought, emotion, and responsibilities of the young generation towards the construction and defense of the Fatherland in a new period. Therefore, training and cultivating the young to meet the country’s requirements in the new period have strategic significance. In addition to developing talent, developing morality is essential for the young’s will and interests not to be against the interests of the nation. Under current conditions, many young people have distorted manifestations in their ideal of life and attitudes, so it is becoming increasingly important to develop their lifestyle and responsibility in modern society. Being a philosophical school that focuses exclusively on humanity and personality, existentialism emphasizes people’s morality and attitude in contemporary society. Therefore, it is a worthwhile undertaking to research the moral ideology of the existentialists to recognize the conspicuous principles that contribute to the growth of the Vietnamese young’s ethics.

The ideology of responsibility in existentialism

Firstly, besides Freedom, responsibility is one of the two most fundamental categories of existentialism. When studying ethics, traditional ethics often comes from pairs of basic categories of ethics such as good and evil, using them as a basis and starting point for studying other categories of ethics such as conscience, happiness, justice, dignity, and honor, etc. Existentialism does not deny those basic categories of morality. However, when studying morality, existentialists have paid more attention to the origin of good and evil, which is freedom. Freedom “is the value and the origin of all values” [3, p. 92]. Freedom is not an arbitrary choice because it is always associated with responsibility. Therefore, freedom and responsibility for freedom are two fundamental issues in the moral thought of existentialists. Existentialists view other types of ethics using these two essential categories as a foundation. It is based on the following two principal cornerstones.

The first is that existentialism places a high value on the meaning of life and the meaning of each person’s life, considering it the most important philosophical topic. Existentialism is a school that focuses exclusively on the human problem. It first appeared when Western culture was in a profound theological crisis and the interior life of humans was neglected, molded, and tainted. It explores the nature of life and human life in depth, concentrating on the spiritual life and freeing it to give people true freedom. Existentialism cares about people in a vivid, concrete, and realistic way with all the concerns, broken-heartedness, and jubilation associated with the personal life. Existentialism rejects science and the law of causality serving as the proper model for explaining human existence. Instead, it promotes the individual (or ego), distinguishes the individual from the community, cares about the actual person and the problems that anyone must pose, such as life, death, fear, guiltiness, love, responsibility, individual freedom, loneliness, creativity, and anxiety, etc. It considers them as the most important issues of philosophy.

The second is that responsibility is one of the two basic categories of existentialist ethics and is the groundwork of moral thought. Other ranges of ethics such as good, evil, conscience, anxiety, and death are explained and analyzed based on these two aspects. If the idea of good and evil is the central category and the starting point of standard ethics, existentialism believes that life should align toward the greater good. To have the real greater good, humans must always aim for freedom. Freedom is creative freedom, so “changing the value means changing creative people” [5, p. 122]. Human creativity is the one that is not mechanically stereotyped according to the presets. It must go beyond “the crowd” and the “populace” to be itself. Only the creator can see the full value of good and evil and “only the creator can create the good and the evil of all” [5, p. 370]. When people intentionally resist freedom, they are engaging in self-deception and artificially live in their minds. They will move away from good to evil, calamity, and things that need to be disqualified in society. Unlike any other animal, humans are the only kind of existence that has an interior life and personality. As a result, physical and economic emancipation would not be enough to liberate them from slavery because they will lose their spiritual freedom and be constrained in terms of interior. Existentialist has centered on human actions and behaviors, derived from the empirical demand and necessity of truth to free people from spiritual corruption. Therefore, the range of “responsibility” is one of the two most momentous things, the two basic aspects of morality, central to existentialist ethics, and a starting point for examining other categories of ethics.

Secondly, responsibility is responsibility for freedom. It’s essential to perceive that the genesis of responsibility is freedom. In all aspects of human activity, freedom is understood as human ability and does not depend on will. The existentialist philosophers’ conception of freedom is limited to that sense. In particular, in situations where spiritual enslavement becomes widespread and people become aware of their slavery, the question of freedom becomes even more urgent. Freedom is the most sacred value and prerequisite for the existence of a factual person. If we want to understand responsibility, we must comprehend the nature of freedom. Although existentialist philosophers have different views, in general, they all agree on prime contents.

The first is that freedom is a human characteristic. For existentialists, freedom is the distinguishing point between humanity and the nature of things. They criticize rational philosophers’ views for failing to differentiate between humans and things and believing that the essence of humans appears first, followed by survival. Existentialist philosophers believe that things exist without freedom, so they cannot create themselves. Its nature is available so it comes first. Things and people are not the same. Since existence precedes nature, humans are nothing. They have the power to choose and build their essence because they have freedom. According to Marcel, freedom, and destiny “are two points that distinguish people from things and allow them to achieve a different life than those who live in a state of things” [13,  p. 281]. As a result, there is not shared human nature. Each person’s nature is determined by themselves in each circumstance, condition, and stage of life. Their moral mission is to exercise dignity, to live freely, and to be responsible for them. Human nature stems from creativity and freedom. Only if being originated from those, can it explain the difference of existentialist ethics.

The second is that freedom is an existential value of human beings. Since being born, humans are nothing. They cannot avoid choice, even when they decide not to choose, it is also a choice. Freedom is the absolute beginning. Therefore, after being given birth, they have “been sentenced to freedom”. People feel as though they were“sentenced” because they were thrown into the world, abandoned, and lost. “Freedom” is when they become aware of themselves and are responsible for their existential choice. They have the freedom to choose, such as choosing their behavior, their attitudes, and meaning in life. “I created life according to my will” [11, p.152], but the first choice is the choice of humanity known as existentialism. “Being is a substance and a privilege of man – “being – humans” because only humans can freely choose the way and attitude of living. That is, only human beings have the consciousness to become existential” [12, p. 80]. Therefore, the existence of humans is not their specific historical existence in social relations but spiritual existence, in which “being is freedom” [2, p. 69]. “Real personality is what we create through the inherent qualities that each person possesses”. As a result, freedom (which we have created) is a measure of human worth” [13, p. 281]. Although “some people cannot find the way of life that is suitable for a person’s noble status, they can and must live freely and autonomously, otherwise it is not worth being called a person” [13, p. 284].

The third is that freedom is a measure of self-worth and an act of self-determination of people. For existentialist philosophers, freedom is an inherent value, ability, and transcendence of each one. According to them, when people are born, they are different in terms of physical condition, living situation, and spiritual life, so everyone must choose and decide the purpose and meaning of life, and go beyond his limit and existence. Since people are living things, they are not only in a state of being but also in a state of not being and will be. They cannot exist motionlessly but always reach out “by overcoming themselves” [5, p. 133]. Freedom does not manifest in the outcome of actions, but in the aspiration to be free. “Freedom is decided by ourselves, and we are entirely responsible for that decision” [13, p. 209]. If a human “overcomes”, “transcends”, and “burns” himself, he will be reborn to become truly himself. “Human is something that needs to get over. Human is like a bridge, not a lifeline” [5, p. 372]. According to Marcel, freedom is not about doing whatever you want because it is negative freedom. It is also not thought that I have total discretion to decide and use myself because that is freedom of possession. Neither of those types of freedoms exists yet, which means that they have not been free. Freedom is the creative act of human beings. “A free and self-controlled person must know how to master all the meaning of his life, so he must be self-determined” [13, p. 195]. It is the action that comes from “listening to the screams of existence”.  Freedom is an act of self-determination. Hence ‘freedom to choose is the only definition of freedom” [4, p. 148].

Thirdly, it’s the content of the category of responsibility. Responsibility, like freedom, is the central moral substance of modern times in general, and moral ideology in existentialism’s realistic philosophy in particular.

The first is that human responsibility is the responsibility of freedom. “What is freedom? It is the will to take responsibility for” [6, p. 148]. Existentialists define freedom as the freedom to make decisions. However, it’s not arbitrary. The moral obligation must accompany each person’s right to choose. Each individual must have a sense and responsibility towards himself and others when making decisions, not just being accountable to a certain object such as laws, social norms, and ethical standards, etc. That responsibility is not only to follow the rules of the police but also to respond to the freedom.

The second is that humans must be responsible for their existence and choose their nature in society. According to existentialist philosophers, humans are thrown into the world and chose their essence according to their will, so they are nothing but becoming and creating themselves. They have to decide their behavior, who they want to be, and being happy or grievous, luxurious or low, successful or failed, and choose the meaning of life. The meaning of each person’s life depends on their choice and creation, and the first responsibility belongs to his choice of existence and human nature. Therefore, people cannot avoid taking accountability for their decisions.

The third is that humans must be responsible for themselves, others, and society when making decisions. Existentialists believe that people have the right to make their own decisions, but such independence is not arbitrary.  Each person’s freedom to choose must be tied to moral responsibility no matter what the outcome of that choice. People make decisions not only for themselves, but also for others and society, so the value generated would be embraced and practiced by all. The results of that choice affect not only themselves but also the entire community. Therefore, each individual must have a sense and responsibility for himself, others, and society when making decisions. For creating values, if a responsible person decides on something, that choice is considered the norm for everyone. Therefore, every word and action in life must take into account the balance of conscience and personality. Because we are not only responsible for ourselves, but also everyone and everything.

The fourth is that responsible people are always dominated by conscience before each decision and action. It is the capacity of conscience. In terms of their original nature, people are compelled to take responsibility. They were “thrown into” the world, but then they began to take responsibility for themselves. They became free and responsible. People cannot avoid the feelings like fear, anxiety, and disappointment because they are their natural state when taking on responsibility. Without fear and anxiety, they cannot be alert when faced with choices and cannot hold their responsibility for those choices. Accordingly, fear and anxiety are not negative emotions but positive ones. Existentialism calls upon humans to confront and develop the sensation of anxiety and fear as they are essential to the responsibility of freedom. The more anxious they are about each decision, the more they understand their duty to themselves and others. The more they perceive the obligation, the closer they are to freedom.

The meaning of the moral ideology of existentialism in cultivating morality for the Vietnamese youth currently

The history of the nation’s development shows that youth are always considered the mainstay and future of the country. Today’s young generation will determine the status of the country in the future. Therefore, they play a decisive role in the growth of the nation. First of all, for educating young people, it is necessary to educate their morality and responsibility for the country. The range of responsibility is one of the two basic categories of ethics in existentialism. In addition to the limitations such as not thoroughly resolving the relationship between individuals and the community, underestimating cultural inheritance, and mentioning little theoretical scientific awareness, especially science and technology, existentialism also brings many positive values. Existentialist ethics not only has a profound human significance but also awakens the thought of conscience and reason for life. It acknowledges that freedom is an inalienable right of humans and focuses on creating people who dare to do and dare to bear responsibility. Thanks to these explicit features, existentialist ethics becomes significant in developing the morality of Vietnamese youth nowadays. This article demonstrates two principal themes: the evolution of meaning in youth’s life (the ideal of life) and the growth of Vietnamese youth’s obligation in a civilized and modern society.     

The first is about meaning in life (the ideal of life). The meaning in life (the ideal of life) is the destination, the values and standards of life that every person desires to achieve. For achieving the goal of freeing people from alienation and spiritual slavery, existential ethicists are singularly concerned about life. Who should humans become? How do they live? Should we live a meaningful life or a life of waste for the little things? The young is a pioneer and decisive force for the country’s evolution so they always lead every movement and “the future owner of the country”. Educating the ideal of life for Vietnamese youth is a vital demand in the current period. Because youth “is the generation of enthusiasm and creativity to develop the country”. Today’s young generation will reflect the status of the country in the future. The political report in the 9th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the Tenth National Party Congress pointed out: “Although the majority of cadres and party members promote their pioneering, dynamic and creative roles, and preserve moral qualities”, some party members have been corrupted, reducing the Party’s prestige before the people and reducing people’s confidence in the Party. “A large part of cadres and party members, including party members holding leadership and management positions, including many high-ranking cadres, have deteriorated in political thought, morality and lifestyle. They exhibit different expressions of ideal fading. They fall into selfish individualism, take advantage of opportunities, live a life of pragmatism, and chase after fame and fortune. They are jealous of others about their status. There are local ideology, corruption, waste, arbitrariness, and failure to follow rules...” (Political Report, 2006). Therefore, to build socialism, we need to have socialist people. They are talented, moral, “highly enlightened of communism” and “capable and specialized”. They need to be loyal to the country and love the people. They are hardworking, economical, honest, upright, and public-spirited, and selfless. They care for people and have the spirit of solidarity and mutual assistance between the Vietnamese people and all the advanced nations in the world for national independence, peace, justice, and social progress. Uncle Ho said: First of all, every young person must know how to build the ideal of a good life. Only when they have a good ideal of life, will they overcome all temptations of ordinary matter, helping them to engage in and conquer their aspirations for a noble life. The existentialists believe that human life is not like grass, trees, flowers, leaves, or animals, whose nature is predetermined and they live only instinctively. Human is a distinctive existence. We exist consciously, so we must go beyond that life and live the true meaning of human life. Therefore, today’s youth need to give up the “meaningless lifestyle, that is just eating, sleeping and faintly living like trees, puddles, or a chair in a train” [10,  p. 388]. J.P.Sartre called it the “mediocre” life. The young need to master all situations and should not depend on anything. They need to leave their distinct mark not to be dissolved into the general flow of society. As a result, they will recognize their position and responsibility as “the future owner of the country” to meet President Ho Chi Minh’s expectation: “the country is prosperous or poor, and weak or powerful, that thanks to the youth’s contribution. If they want to be worthy of their future, right now, they have to improve their spirit and force, and work hard to prepare for that future” [7, p. 185].

To transcend the mediocre life, the young must first understand themselves and the meaning of their life, making them determine their reason. After building a life of lofty dreams and ambitions, they need to create strategies to put their lofty dreams and ambitions into action. To have effective and sustainable strategies, they should find their core competencies and original values. The foundation of all these values is the humanity, the true, the good, and the beautiful existing in everyone. “Life always has a meaning. If we want to make our life meaningful, first of all, we have to act and get into a task” [10, p. 279]. The young need to escape the trivial life and refuse the “existential death” to get a meaningful life. The existentialists encourage people to be themselves. We not only are existential humans but also need to awaken the existential part of ourselves. Each Vietnamese young must find a way to live a beautiful life that is full of aspirations and passion. We live to dedicate and leave our mark, making life more positive.

The second is about the responsibility of the young in modern society. In the period of globalization and international economic integration, the process of cooperation and connection is taking place in all fields of social life and countries in the region and around the world. Therefore, being a part of society, every young person should put himself in a relationship with society. The young must understand that their growth is the foundation for societal development. On the contrary, the development of a society becomes a favorable environment to help them develop sustainably. From existentialism’s philosophy of responsibility, it can be seen that it is momentous to educate young people’s sense of responsibility nowadays. According to President Ho Chi Minh, young people need to be trained to become good citizens, good workers, good soldiers, and true revolutionaries to master the country in the new era. They must be bred with revolutionary morality to achieve those goals. They can perfect themselves if they are furnished with genuine revolutionary morality, forming their capacity to complete a glorious revolutionary mission. In that sense, revolutionary morality is a solid foundation for young people to fulfill their glorious tasks. In his will, He especially emphasized: “The Party should take care of educating them on revolutionary morality, training them to be the heirs of the construction of socialism, and making them both “highly enlightened of communism” and “capable and specialized” [9, p. 612], or in other words, they have both “morality” and “talent”. If we would like our young generation who are both “highly enlightened of communism” and “capable and specialized” to inherit socialism, we must have a comprehensive education. It is necessary to pay attention to both ethics and talent, in which ethics is the root. “Highly enlightened of communism” is understood as the high professionalism of the political, cultural, scientific, technical, and military qualifications, and “capable and specialized” is understood as “the determination for a lifetime to fight for the Party and the revolution. That is the most important thing”. Educating and cultivating revolutionary morality for young generations include the following qualities.

Firstly, it is fidelity to the country and devotion to the people, ie absolute loyalty to the Party and people, determination to strive for the Party and the revolution, and willingness to serve the people. It is the most central affair that Ho Chi Minh has paid more attention to in revolutionary education for the young. First of all, loyalty to the country is a passionate and deep patriotism, expressed in the daily thoughts and actions that are for the benefit of the country. Therefore, the young must be educated so that they are honest and upright. Being devoted to people means loving and appreciating people, studying, working, fighting for the people, and helping everyone have food, clothes, and education. It is indispensable to take care and protect the interests of the people by overcoming all difficulties in life to develop production and improve life. At the same time, they must be respectful toward others and empathetic for the flaws of others. They dare to fight against manifestations of harassment and rely on the people to launch the emulation movement in production, making people liven up and believe in the socialist regime.

Secondly, it is the spirit of “hardworking, economical, honest, upright, and public-spirited, and selfless”. “Hardworking” means working hard, be disciplined, and efficient. “Economical” is to save time, labor, the money of the people and the country. “Honest” means pure, and not greedy for position and money, and great clarity. “Upright” is not flattering, not egotistic, to do good deeds and to avoid evil deeds. “Public - spirited, and selfless” is working without caring about ourselves and enjoying after others. At the 3^rd National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Ho Chi Minh Labor Youth Union indicated: “Individualism is always concerned about individual interests and not interested in the collective good, with the thought “As long as we benefit”. It is the genesis of all sorts of vices such as being lazy, comparing with envy, being haughty, being jealous, being shy, wasting, and embezzling. All of them are the enemies of revolutionary morality and socialism” [8, p. 306]. The youth must constantly strive and sacrifice for the country. Ho Chi Minh asked the young to consider what they did for the country rather than what the country gave them in the social-personal relationship. It’s crucial to educate them so that they love and take responsibility for everyone. They have to take regular self-criticism and serious criticism to improve together.

Thirdly, it is the “pure international spirit”. It is the spirit of solidarity between the Vietnamese people and international friends for happiness, equity, and social progress, being against narrow-minded nationalism, racism, or hegemonic expansionism. According to him, morality was the foundation of the revolutionary, which is like the root of a tree and the source of the stream. “The revolutionaries must have morality. Without morality, they cannot lead the people no matter how talented they are”. In his speech at the 2^nd Congress of the Vietnamese Student Association, Ho Chi Minh emphasized: “Young people are now a glorious generation, so you must voluntarily improve your ideology to deserve to your mission. That means you must have both morals and talent. Having talent without morals is like a person very good at the economy and finance but at a loss, that is not only unbeneficial but also harmful to society. Having ethics without talent is like the Buddha, who does not harm, but he is not beneficial for human beings” [1, p. 136]. Each person must be imbued with the spirit of national ownership and take responsibility for himself, families, the country, and the world. To reach that aim, the young have to learn, cultivate, and practice revolutionary morality, because “like a river, we need have the beginning. If there is no source, the river is dry. A tree needs to have a root. If there is no root, the tree will wilt. A revolutionary must have morality. Without morality, no matter how talented you are, you cannot lead the people” [8, p. 252- 253].

Being aware of the young’s commitments to themselves helps them recognize their responsibilities for themselves, their families, society, and the world. They need to realize the responsibility of their presence in the general public to enhance their knowledge, which is the most material factor in forming human consciousness, thereby creating the will and belief in life. People in general and the young in particular exist in the rich, diverse, and complex relationships of society, family, villages, and colleagues. Therefore, they must first be responsible for themselves, and then for the community. Social transformation and development in all aspects inevitably lead to the alteration of their consciousness, personality, and responsibilities. Therefore, each person must constantly cultivate aspirations, passions, and the will to overcome difficulties to fulfill their obligations and assume their responsibilities in the best way. The responsible person should understand and respect the individuality of others, and help them if necessary. For society, the responsible person must fulfill his citizenship, constantly develop himself to protect and develop the society towards democracy, justice, and civilization. The development of personal responsibility is both a condition and a premise for the setting up and conservancy of social interests, contributing to the progression of the community.

Personal responsibility and social responsibility always have dialectical relations with each other. If we uphold personal responsibility, society lacks freedom and democracy. On the other hand, if social responsibility is upheld, it will tolerate individual irresponsibility, making social responsibility impossible in practice. In the current time, modernization is taking place on a global scale, which has made freedom and responsibility be more and more enhanced. Aside from the benefits, increasing the young’s social responsibility, the market economy’s growth has also resulted in a slew of global issues. It requires each young person to increase their sense of responsibility to solve the problems arising from globalization and international economic integration.

Conclusion

Responsibility is one of the two fundamental categories of ethics in existentialism. This profound analysis of this primary category of ethics reveals the values that existentialist philosophers warn of the dangers to humans in general and the young in particular while living in modern society. Nowadays, a significant portion of the young has overestimated the values of science and technology, and the material value of technological civilization, leading to the risk of losing human values. It can also lead to an uproar in social morality, causing irresponsibility in life. Pursuing a mediocre life and being away from the noble ideal constrain the transformation and development of society. Studying the ideology of ethics of existentialists to find positive values has contributed significantly to enhancing the Vietnamese youth’s ethics nowadays. Morality is the root and a noble value that determines the lifestyle and the attitude of human beings towards the community and society.

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