Self Authorship

elf Today, a current trend is an acronym “YOLO”, which means you only live once. However, “YOLO” means much more. People only get one chance in life and must live it up to the fullest potential, but the need to stratify their own needs and desires as well as others around them. People get too caught up in life, they forget about themselves and do not live for them but others, forgetting about self-authorship. Self-authorship does not mean that a person should be selfish nor selfless, but should be in control of what they do in their life: being the author of their own book. They must also take into account what others feel, but not forgetting about them. Self-authorship is the only way a person can live life to the fullest and a healthy moral life. For a person to achieve self-authorship they must understand the requirements of it, understand how important it is to their life, what they will loose if self-Authorship is not achieved, and how it affects others in their life. First off, self-authorship has three important requirements for a person. These requirements help define what self-authorship is and means to a person. According to Jean Hampton in her article “Selflessness and the Loss of Self”, one of the requirements to achieve self-authorship is “ a sense of your own intrinsic and equal value as a human being”. This is basically a person’s understanding of his or her worth in society. This helps shape what a person values in themselves and others. But how does an individual decide who is worth more, the other person or themselves? To be self-authored, Hampton suggests “one must respect the value not only of others but also of oneself, and must therefore reject any roles, projects, or occupations which would be self-exploitative” (Hampton 38). This is an egalitarian concept of human worth. Kant, which came up with this egalitarian theory states that all people are equal as long as they are rational and autonomous (Hampton, 37). In conclusion, one must value their self-worth equally to any other human begin to be self-authored. For instance, Hampton tells a story of a friend who was pregnant with twins and already had to sons ages 3 and 5, who were a handful. Terry, Hampton’s friend did all the care giving for her children, all the housework, and much more. He husband was rarely available to assist her with her duties because of his long hours at his job. As her pregnancy progressed, her household chores and her care giving to her family started to take a toll on her health. Terry continued to do her normal routine without asking for help from her husband and friends, although she was tired and sick. Four months into the pregnancy, Terry lost one of the twins and the other twin was born prematurely with a host of medical problems. It is obvious that Terry lost her self and is not self-authored because she placed the value of her self below that of her family and other. Maybe if Terry valued herself equal to that of her family she may have not lost one of the twins and her son and her would not be sick.
Another requirement is having “ a sense of what you require as a human being to flourish” (Hampton 37). Hampton calls this the legitimate need of human beings. This is basically things a human needs to survive. For instance: water, shelter, air, clothing, medical care, self-control, freedom, and love (Hampton 38). If a person cares about others they will respect others’ values and make sure they have what they need to flourish; however, those who respect their own self worth will be just as concerned with their needs to flourish as well as others. Take Terry for example, her constant service to her family left her busy and stressed out that she had little rest. This left her with medical problems due to her hard pregnancy and the lost of her child. Terry lost her self and forgot that she must care for her own needs because her needs are important for her to care for others.
The third requirement is the “a sense of what you require, insofar as you are a particular person to flourish as that particular person” (Hampton 37). Basically, this is an ones individual characteristic. In order to be self-authored one must make sure they have resources, time, skills, plans, capacity to develop other characteristics, and to do projects, which shape them into their unique self. Self-authorship is not something humans do autonomously but something they must do. Through self-authorship people are able to express themselves, their autonomy, and a way to make sure they prosper. According to Hampton “ the objective requirement of self-authorship is satisfied by the individual when she subjectively defines who she is, what she wants, and what she perceives in her life” (Hampton 39).
Terry, as noted before, is an example of someone who had lost her self, and was not self-authored. Hampton goes on to tell a story of a man who cared for others but was not self-destructive. The man’s name is doc. Doc had a hard life growing up and had discipline issues. When he was 18 he was sentence to 5 years in prison for armed robbery. When he got out of prison his foster father had passed and left his car garage to Doc. Doc accepted the shop and became the town’s mechanic. Although people were afraid of him, they knew he would always help. Doc may have been mean and had a temper but he was always trustworthy. He would stay up all night to fix farmer equipment if it broke or take gas to people in the middle of the nigh. As he grew older his temper turned to wit although not so nice but always funny. Children and young adults would hang around the garage and learn as much as they could from Doc. Most importantly they learn trustworthy and dedication to service, which they might not have learned. In no way is Doc’s care giving self-destructive nor was he forced to do his services. His care giving was truly authentic. He treated everyone including himself equal. He knew what he required to flourish as a human being by keeping the garage as a way with dealing with his anger, frustrations, and his struggles as a child. He also knew what he required as a particular person to flourish as himself. Thus, because he followed the entire requirement and understood the importance of it he was able to achieve self-authorship and live a life of his choosing that was not only healthy but also moral.
Self-authorship is important to everyone’s life. It’s the only way a person can truly live life to the fullest. If each person would follow the requirements to achieve self-authorship and understand its importance they will truly live a healthy and moral life.