17 August 2012

responsability

What does it mean "You are responsible for your own actions"? Or "You are not responsible for somebody else's feelings"?

I misspelt again! But I was able to find out the etymology of the word "responsible" after a couple of searches.
I tried:
"responsability"
"responsibility meaning"
"responsibility etymology"

responsibility Look up responsibility at Dictionary.com
"condition of being responsible," 1787, from responsible + -ity. Related: Responsibilities.
responsible Look up responsible at Dictionary.com
1590s, "answerable (to another, for something)," from Fr. responsible, from L. responsus, pp. of respondere "to respond" (see respond). Meaning "morally accountable for one's actions" is attested from 1836. Retains the sense of "obligation" in the Latin root word.
respond Look up respond at Dictionary.com
c.1300, respound, from O.Fr. respondere "respond, correspond," from L. respondere "respond, answer to, promise in return," from re- "back" + spondere "to pledge" (see spondee). Modern spelling and pronunciation is from c.1600.
spondee Look up spondee at Dictionary.com
late 14c., "metrical foot consisting of two long syllables," from O.Fr. spondee, from L. spondeus, from Gk. spondeios (pous), the name of the meter originally used in chants accompanying libations, from sponde "solemn libation," related to spendein "make a drink offering," from PIE root *spend- "to make an offering, perform a rite," hence "to engage oneself by a ritual act" (cf. L. spondere "to engage oneself, promise," Hittite shipantahhi "I pour out a libation, I sacrifice").
pledge (n.) Look up pledge at Dictionary.com
mid-14c., "surety, bail," from O.Fr. plege (Fr. pleige) "hostage, security, bail," probably from Frankish *plegan "to guarantee," from a West Germanic root meaning "have responsibility for" (cf. O.Saxon plegan "vouch for," O.H.G. pflegan "to care for, be accustomed to," O.E. pleon "to risk, expose to danger"). Meaning "allegiance vow attested by drinking with another" is from 1630s. Sense of "solemn promise" first recorded 1814, though this meaning is from c.1400 in the verb. Weekley notes the "curious contradiction" in pledge "to toast with a drink" (1540s) and pledge "the vow to abstain from drinking" (1833). Noun meaning "student who has agreed to join a fraternity or sorority" dates from 1901. Related: Pledged; pledging.
promise (n.) Look up promise at Dictionary.com
c.1400, from L. promissum "a promise," noun use of neuter pp. of promittere "send forth, foretell, promise," from pro- "before" (see pro-) + mittere "to put, send" (see mission). Ground sense is "declaration made about the future, about some act to be done or not done." The verb is attested from early 15c. Promised land (1530s) is a reference to the land of Canaan promised to Abraham and his progeny (Heb. xi:9, etc.; Gk. ten ges tes epangelias). Promising "showing signs of future excellence" is from c.1600.
What does all this mean?
Taking the first two together:
responsibility already means: The condition of being morally accountable for one's actions.
and going further:
The condition of being able to answer for your actions.
and ever further:
The condition of being able to guarantee your actions?
or finally:
The condition of being able to predict your future actions from your past?

I think however the phrase means that you should not lay blame for your actions on someone else and that you cannot accept blame for the way somebody else feels. And that you therefore have to be true to yourself and should not let other people determine your future or your happiness.

Edit:
A friend suggested:
And that you therefore have to be true to yourself and should not let yourself or other people believe that others determine your future or your happiness.

Edit:
After some more thinking I have come to the following:
1) "Take responsibility for your actions" is a tautology since "responsible" already means to be morally accountable for your actions.
2) This lead me to: "to be responsible" means to have an internal "moral" framework in which your actions make sense, are reproducible and nachvollziehbar (comprehensible, understandable, replicable, reasonable, open to scrutiny) It also means that your "moral framework" is the basis in which you live your life and interact with others. Even though you actions can be influenced by others you moral framework should not be.
3) I also have come to realise that I do not possess a fixed moral framework, at least not in the traditional sense. Which has brought me to another query, that is: "morals vs ethics".

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