ABSTRACT

Erich Fromm asserts that there are five human needs which free one from alienation: relatedness; transcendence; rootedness; experience of identity; and a frame of orientation and an object of devotion. Desire is an important part of the soul, Plato believes, but it must be controlled by reason. The soul's final component, spirit, completes Plato's simile of reason, the charioteer, controlling two horses, spirit and desire. There are six recurring themes in Confucius' teaching: rite, reciprocity, learning, loyalty, music and humaneness. John Locke's Two Treatises of Government emphasized the sacredness of people's inalienable rights, embodied in the American Constitution as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Altruism reflects the self-sacrificial 'ethics must hurt' philosophy, whilst indifference is personified by the ethical couch potato who does little for him self or others. Paul Leinberger and Bruce Tucker describe how American baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are turning away from self-centredness towards improving their relationships with others.