“Do Something Ethical”

Theologian Bernard Lonergan in Insight: A Study of Human Understanding ¹ approaches human cognition as theoretically reflective action. Lonergan’s epistemology is tied to praxis; it posits a four-part sequence of experience, reflection, judgment, action. Action leads to new experiences in a constant cycle of evolving thought toward ethical outcomes. In “The Race for Theory,” Barbara Christian instructs that “theorizing” as a verb is dedicated to the service of community. ² Barbara Christian observes that people of color theorize in narratives and prefer dynamic ideas that encourage the spirited resistance to attacks on their humanity. The action of theory and within theory is key for the literary theorist. Audre Lorde maintains that “silence will not protect you” and that the master’s tools will never dismantle the masters’ plantation house. ³ Liberation pedagogies to contain violence and build communal futures are present in the works of Paulo Freire and Martin Luther King, Jr. ⁴ All of these liberation pedagogies have positions on or theories of praxis. Indeed, all present pedagogies are important devices deployed for ethical acts. The argument here is that to do something intellectually rigorous, one must do some act of constructive good for the commons. That at face value seems to fly in the face of competitive and predatory systems that are Malthusian in their effect if not their intent. So, we can rephrase the philosophical and theoretical arguments into one injunction for pedagogy and instruction: if we wish to evolve beyond the predator–prey matrix of social (dis)order, then we must find the common good as tending toward health and protection of all, human and nature.