Human relations Flashcards
Definition of interpersonal relationships
An inter-personal relation is an association between two or more individuals
Where does politics fit into all this?
The political institution, as an institution is not created by man but arises due to man’s nature. Although men can come together in order to provide their own basic necessities, the community provides conditions through which man can develop his intellectual, moral and physical virtues to help one realize his nature. In his nature, man cannot do without politics.
Definition of society
The unfailing manifestation of human coexistence according to types, subject to different alternatives in so far as they are human.
Four important elements in the definition of society
- An unfailing manifestation
- In the relation with others, there can be different types of societies. (organization according to types)
- Any society implies human co-existence or formation of social bonds. (Human co existence)
- There are various alternatives which a person can freely choose to become a member of. (subject to alternatives)
An unfailing manifestation
Where a human being is, she/he needs a society. A person cannot fail to be with others no matter how individualistic the person is.
Organization according to types
The organization can be according to nature or according to nurture (by man). These types enable the person to achieve specific purposes or aims. According to nature are like the family and according to nurture are like sports associations.
The types/forms are: according to nature (natural societies and artificial societies); according to level (basic level; intermediate level; highest level)
Human co-existence
Individual actions are also social actions. What I do as a person has an influence on other persons I co-exist (associate) with.
Human co-existence refers to the fact that societies should enable man realize her/his nature as man. If a society stifles or limits man’s nature, then that society cannot flourish. In addition, no human action is independent of society. When I choose to study or not to study, I will have an impact on the people who support me and those who depend on me. No human action takes place in a vacuum.
Subject to alternatives
Subject to alternatives implies the free nature of man to join in these social relations, and as such, these relations can be viewed from an ethical angle since it involves man’s free decisions.
A person should not be forced to become a member of a particular society. Free association is part of human nature.
Types of societies
Natural societies
Artificial societies
Natural societies
Linked to nature.
Occur naturally and its aims are natural.
The laws which govern such societies emanate from nature, for instance natural moral law.
Examples of natural societies include: families; political communities.
Artificial societies
They are different kinds of societies which forms voluntarily and it’s not necessary that such societies be formed.
The aims of these societies are determined by the members and the laws which govern such societies are agreed upon by the members.
An example of an artificial society is a sports club or a company.
Societies structured in basic and fundamental ways
Primary/Basic society
Intermediate society
Highest society
Primary/basic society
Is the family
The family is the most basic society and is its nucleus
Nature: Natural
Aim: Unity, procreation, education and nutrition
Laws governing it: Natural moral law
Intermediate society
An example is a school, university or a business.
Nature: Artificial
Aim: Decided by the members e.g. education in the case of a school
Laws governing it: Artificial laws e.g. statutes
Highest society
Is the political community, e.g. the state.
Nature: Natural
Aim: Common good
Laws governing it: Constitution which has the bill or rights (natural) and other chapters
Culture
The interiorization and enrichment by means of learning.
A totality of customs, techniques and values that distinguish a social group.
A cultured person
One who has interiorized and enriched his personality. A cultured person is able to learn from others and bring out (educe) the best part from the different cultures and or individuals. To say a person is cultured may be equivalent to saying a person is educated.
Fundamental elements of culture
Language Norms Belief/ tradition Art /technology Dressing Systems of government Education
Language
Language has to express thought.
Language has to be truthful (veracity).
A society in which people do not communicate clearly is a society which has many interpersonal frictions. Language can either be through body language, sign language, visual or audio form.
Language enables work in a society.
People who speak in different languages may not be able to efficiently work together. It is therefore important to have one language of communication in a society.
Work
.Work is an exquisitely human affair. Animals do not work either, because with whatever they do they neither improve nor worsen their animal situation. Any man, on the other hand, improves or worsens by working, or by not working at all.
But work ought to be subordinated to language, to society and to ethics, because it is these three that make work possible.
To work is a right, because it is the channel for human development and creativity. Man needs more than just to subsist; he needs to improve himself, society and the world by working. Work, then, is the most expressive form of man’s total essence
Work acquires a personal sense only if understood as a gift of oneself to others. And since to give is related to receiving, work is personal if what is accepted is not only the service but also the person offering it. A piece of work is more personal when it is asked personally and received directly from the other person. That is why it is important to put a value to one’s work, first because the product created has an imprint of the person who works and consequently he/she deserves a just remuneration from it.
Leisure enables one to
- To free oneself from the solemn or serious. A person is able to laugh and enjoy
- Show super-abundance. One can only rest if he has extra money and time to spare. Hence it is a fruit of a hard-earned effort
- Celebrate the completion of a task. Therefore celebrations like anniversaries acquire meaning
- Escape dreariness. One needs to take a break from the normal world with its own laws and regulations into another world (a playful world).
Work enables:
- Self-improvement and self-growth
- Self-donation
- Perfection of our very essence
- Perfection of society which relies on free ethical inter-personal relation; language; truth
Dimensions of culture
- Expressive dimension. Some elements of culture express what a culture is. An example is language or art.
- Historical dimension. Tradition, stories and narratives transmit history.
- Symbolic dimension. Specific art and dressing can symbolize happiness, marriage or even funerals. Work, dressing and art
- Productive dimension represents what a specific culture has developed. This is mainly through education and work
Current issues which affect inter-personal relations
Today’s world is a fast paced world with technology determining the direction of many sectors. New social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp enables people to interact freely while at a distance. These tools, good as they are, are a means to specific ends and are not specific ends in themselves.
Once these forms of technology become an end in themselves, it may lead to techno centrism with the many disastrous effects. Man ends up being placed at the service of technology. There are many people who spend many hours on social networking sites and do not go out to meet friends. They may have an illusion that they have a great circle of friends in their social networking sites, while in reality they have few or none. Friendship implies spending quality time with someone, having that face to face contact; speaking to someone and sharing a meal or a joke…in short getting to know someone and the other person knowing you.
Technology can also be used for the sole purpose of making a profit and not to humanize a person. This leads to technocracy. The consequences of this new type of culture (technocracy) are frightening, even paralyzing. On the material level, technocracy continues to provoke a very grave energy crisis, which renders the future of humanity very obscure and uncertain, and which can result in a lack of prime materials that will end up much worse than the preceding shortages that have afflicted humanity. Already, there is talk of the world running out of hydrocarbons in a relatively short period of time. It is our hope that human ingenuity will work out another source of (renewable) energy. Technology thus has to be used in a human way and needs to humanize a person.
