Toni Morrison: ‘Goodness: Altruism and the Literary Imagination’

What I love about essays like this, from the pen and heart of a true artist, is that they make me consider, seriously, important subjects, like "goodness." Lately, I have come to the conclusion, with all the "bad" that's going around like a worldwide pandemic, that "goodness" is actually quite simple. It's about the desire to be good, and being willing to change in order to make good happen, within and without. Goodness requires effort, because all human beings have a dark side, some darker than others. It can be a struggle to be good, so those who put their shoulders to the wheel of goodness, to keep moving toward the light, are, in my opinion, good.

Stunning, as usual for Ms. Morrison. "Evil has a blockbuster audience:" indeed, we are bombarded by news coverage of mass murderers and inhumane administrations. Instead of watching it, pick up "A Mercy," or "Beloved," or any of them, and READ. You'll be enriched.

Thank you for publishing this essay. I, myself, can merely stutter, but Toni said it well. "Evil has a blockbuster audience; Goodness lurks backstage. Evil has vivid speech; Goodness bites its tongue."

Beautiful words and a wonderful lesson. My goodness how she will be missed. Thank you.

Yes, I agree with N.Aragon, "I wish the whole paper was filled with reading material like this." I've noted that recently the NYT has been including a great many articles that are meant to be practical ways to make one's life easier or better, though I would have thought such advice was widely available elsewhere (e.g., How to Talk To Your Roommates; How to Do Laundry.) Why not include more articles about how thoughtful people are grappling with ways to make their lives better in the deepest senses? Granted that this would be tricky, in the sense that an individual's response to this challenge would not be universally suited to all, but so be it. I always feel privileged on the rare occasions when I have the opportunity to hear where others have come to rest with regard to the Big Questions, especially when if it doesn't comprise a recitation of received doctrine. So, NYT, how about it?

A pleasure to read this amazing novelist......her insights and her novels. She will be missed and remembered.

This reminded me of what philosopher Philip Hallie wrote in an essay called "From Cruelty to Goodness" in 1981. "Freedom from the cruel relationship, either by escaping it or by redressing the imbalance of power, was not essential to what western philosophers and theologians have thought of as goodness. Escape is a negative affair. Goodness has something positive in it, something triumphantly affirmative." "What interested me was that they [a group of villagers who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi's in WW2] obeyed both the negative and the positive injunctions of ethics; they were good not only in the sense of trying to be their brothers' keepers, protecting the victim, "defending the fatherless," to use the language of Isaiah; they were also good in the sense that they obeyed the negative injunctions against killing and betraying." "I learned that the opposite of cruelty is not simply freedom from the cruel relationship; it is hospitality. It lies not only in something negative, an absence of cruelty or of imbalance; it lies in unsentimental, efficacious love." "If the lives of others are precious to you, your life will become more precious to you."

Thank you so much for sharing this great gift of hers. We have all been blessed by her life and art.

A very interesting read, TY. Ms. Morrison in her inability to fathom altruism, uses her ignorance and inability as a rhetorical device, I hope. I was struck by this line, “Goodness as instinct, as a result of genetics (protecting one’s kin or one’s group).” The Amish have in their community “Ordnung” which Ms. Morrison does not address: ‘The Amish blueprint for expected behavior, called the Ordnung, regulates private, public, and ceremonial life…A member noted: “The order is not written down. The people just know it, that’s all.”...the Ordnung is the “understood” behavior by which the Amish are expected to live..the Ordnung, the grammar of order, is learned by Amish youth. The Ordnung evolved gradually over the decades as the church sought to strike a delicate balance between tradition and change...Ordnung vary across ...settlements.' (https://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-faith/) The Amish are a community in the world but not of it, that is the outside world is the enemy of their way of life, of them. What struck me here is that this is the same rationalization black women use in justifying the rape culture in the community: “But when your community fights for those same people who terrorize you, it sends a very complicated and mixed message.” From Russell Simmons, R. Kelly, and Why Black Women Can’t Say #MeToo (https://nyti.ms/2kwQbdl). How altruism can be misunderstood as a bad thing, giving empathy, mercy, falsely. There is no good in false mercy, it is evil.

Thank you. I wish the whole paper was filled with reading material like this. Moving and thoughtful, giving the reader an opportunity to reflect. May she rest in peace.

During my late husband's long illness, this was something I frequently pondered. Was my caretaking vanity or goodness, selfless or selfish? How does one examine one's own heart? Does it even matter what inspired my devotion? So it is with anyone's goodness, the actions outweigh the motives.

Thank you!

Thank you! Goodness , Kindness and thoughtfulness -traits mistaken for weakness in a world that clamors for power and control. We human beings thrive on the kindness and goodness of others. Showcasing it where it can be will be good for our collective soul and the wellbeing of future generations. A human mind particularly when young is a fertile ground-what nurtures it matters to our existence as a species.

Ms Morrison posits three explanations of altruism in a search to find goodness. I would say that while it is thought provoking to explore each one, in this instance, maybe the ends justify any three of them. Since — certainly since WWII — moral relativism has been a handy intellectual edifice upon which writers can paint images, narratives of irony and yet feel that they have a clear conscience. Is Toni Morrison here suggesting that we may be moving into a time when this no longer suffices?

How telling that there is not yet a single comment on this poetic and thoughtful discussion of goodness and altruism. There are currently 1100 comments on Trump's visit to Dayton in the aftermath of the massacre there. Are Trump and his ilk sucking the very oxygen from the air? They often make it hard to breathe deeply and steadily.