"Enlightened Self-Interest": Different Contexts

A couple of weeks ago, a made a blog post Paul Collier’s book, The Bottom Billion, and how foreign aid requires both “compassion and enlightened-self interest.”  This is somewhat of a sequel to that post.

Well, as it turns out, enlightened self-interest is actually a term prevalent in philosophy and in psychology. In both these fields, the term is used to describe an action which helps others, but is also designed to benefit the self.

In philosophy, including political philosophy, the term is used to explain why we should allow the system of capitalism to work for itself.  Think Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.” If everyone acted with enlightened self-interest in mind, proponents of enlightened self-interest argue that this ensures the health of a system that best serves everyone.

The problem with this line of argumentation is that it’s somewhat of an esoteric understanding of how a society or an economy should function.  If a government trusts people to act with enlightened self-interest, then that begs the question of what to do about those people who act with un-enlightened self-interest for their own personal exploits?

I came across one blogger, who made the interesting argument that it is a libertarian argument. As such, it is subject to the run of the mill critiques of libertarianism, which this blogger characterizes as: “How can the poor/environment/elderly survive without the government to protect it against the ravages of capitalism?"  Additionally, he points out that it is subject to the Tragedy of the Commons. and that it is a rhetorically weak argument as “you will usually get much farther by appealing to man's virtues than by excusing his vices.”

To design a large economic or political system based on enlightened self-interest certainly seems to have its problems, but for a specific policy, like foreign aid, I think it fares better.  In fact, it seems to be quite ideal. Aiding poor countries is, after all, in the long term economic interests of the entire world.  But if, in a purely capitalist sense, it was a good investment to give huge amounts of foreign aid as a percent of GDP, then the United States would have already done it. Simply put, it would cost money which politicians are unwilling to spend.

Therefore, donor countries need to design foreign aid in such a way that it is sufficiently "self-interested" to get enough votes to past, but "enlightened" in such a way that it is a good policy.

So in political philosophy, enlightened self-interest applies to a government – to a very large group.  To Collier, in the context of foreign aid, it applies to one specific policy.  In psychology, the term is applied even more specifically: to a couple or to an individual.  I'll save that for a future post.

Women & Islam: The Veil

It is with some degree of hesitation that I publically express my views about an issue as delicate as this. I know that I risk being profane to some and cowardly to others, yet I believe the veil worn by many Muslim women around the world is a topic worthy of discussion and it is germane to this blog’s theme of altruism and self-interest. 

I will be the first to admit that I have not studied this issue to any great extent.  I am not a Muslim； I am not a woman.  In light of these actualities, I welcome and encourage critiques, especially if you come from a background that is different from mine.  I’m willing to clarify my position, but I trust you will find it tactful.

Let us begin!

John L. Esposito’s What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam presents the verses from the Qur’an which are the basis of the hijab dress code.  According to him, one of the verses at the heart of this practice is:

“And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts.” (33:53, http://quran.com/33/53).

Esposito also points out that in recent years, scholars have called attention to the idea that these verses in Surah 33 do not apply to all women, but rather, only to the wives of Muhammad, while more conservative Muslim scholars have maintained that this verse should be binding to all women because women are a source of fitnah, or temptation, for men.

Two things to note here:

(1) “For their hearts” -- In a sense, this verse suggests an altruistic attempt to maintain the modesty of women.  This would be in line with the overarching message of Islam on women. Esposito states that “Islam raised the status of women by prohibiting female infanticide, abolishing women’s status as property, establishing women’s legal capacity . . . .” and the list goes on and on.

(2) “For your hearts” -- On the other hand, the notion of fintah suggests a deeply self-interested – selfish – attempt by men to compensate for the fact that many of them are too lazy or too unwilling to control their own sinful desires.

The movie Persepolis, which was adapted from the French graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi contains  one scene in which some male police officers in Iran (post-Revolution) yell at a woman for running down the street, saying that her butt movement is “obscene,” to which she retorts:

“Well then stop looking at my ass!”

(Si vous parlez français: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXKw6CkkGtY)

To me, both these justifications for the hijab are problematic.  The first seems to suggest by its very nature of an ugly paternalism more than a legitimate altruistic concern for women.   The second is blatantly sexist because men are not subjected to a congruent standard of modesty in dress.  In short, the hijab is a tool promoted by men at the expense of women.

This is not to say that wearing the veil cannot be a beautiful and personal decision.  I once had a teacher who proudly and voluntarily wore it.  She told us on the first day of class: “I want people to see me for who I am and not for what I look like.”  I think the decision by some women to veil themselves voluntarily is, of course, entirely different from women who are mandated by law to, or coerced into, wearing it.

And finally, I think it is always important to remember this:

(Diagram from: http://peacepalacelibrary-weekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/islamic-veil-secularism-and-freedom-of.html, Cartoon from: http://qahiri.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/bikini-vs-burqa/)