David Cameron and Social Integration

In my last posting I suggested there is no such thing as a fully integrated society. I further suggested we would be better employed in considering how people function in our society rather than bothering about how well they are integrated into it. In a speech to the Munich Security Conference on 11/02/11 David Cameron argued,
“We have allowed the weakening of our collective identity. Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.” He suggested we have done this separation by encouraging organisations which believe in separation rather than integration, see http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2011/02/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference-60293 . In this posting I want once more to consider the idea of a fully integrated society. I also want to consider which beliefs groups within a society must share in order to function adequately in a flourishing society.

What exactly is meant by a fully integrated society? Is it one in which people share a set of common beliefs or is it one in which people have only a set of some common beliefs? Let us assume a fully integrated society is one in which people share a set of common beliefs. Mill famously argued,
“Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each others to live as good seems to themselves than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.” (Mill, 1859, On Liberty, quote from Pelican Books 1974 page 72.)
If it is accepted we can replace the word “mankind” by “society” then I would suggest Mill is arguing a fully integrated society is an impoverished society. I believe we should accept Mill’s argument for two reasons. Firstly if we were to pressurise some members of society to live as the majority see fit by sharing the majority’s beliefs we would diminish these peoples happiness and probably also diminish the overall happiness present in society. Secondly I would suggest any such society becomes closed to new ideas. Any society closed to new ideas becomes a stagnant society and a stagnant society is an impoverished society. It follows if people aim for a fully integrated society as defined above we must accept that they are creating an impoverished society. In what follows it will be assumed people want a flourishing society. The question now becomes can we really think of a society in which people only share some common beliefs as a fully integrated society?

An objector might object the above question only arises because I am talking about integration in totally the wrong way. She might suggest that we should not be considering a fully integrated society but rather simply an integrated one. She might further suggest that when considering integration we should consider whether people feel at home in that society or alienated from it. Intuitively her last suggestion seems to carry a lot of weight. Nevertheless I am reluctant to accept this last suggestion for two reasons. Firstly if we consider whether people feel at home in a society or alienated from that society, which is not fully integrated, it would appear this society is one in which people only share a set of some common beliefs. Intuitively any society in which people only share some common beliefs does not appear to be an integrated society. If our intuitions clash we have grounds not to trust these intuitions.

Secondly how do we judge whether someone is at home in a society or alienated by it? Perhaps we should simply ask them. We might conduct surveys to answer the question. But surveys are expensive to carry out and it is by no means certain that someone’s answers to questions about integration would always reflect how she actually acts in society. Let us assume that if someone identifies with the society she lives in that she must be reasonably well integrated into that society. I believe if someone identifies with something this means she must be wholehearted about or satisfied with what she identifies with. This is a common theme of this blog, see some of my previous postings or (Frankfurt, 1988, The Importance of What We Care About, Cambridge University Press, chapter 12.) If I am correct if someone identifies with the society she lives in then she must be satisfied with that society. I would now suggest that whether someone is satisfied with the society she lives in depends on how well she functions in it. If someone is unable to function in a society it would seem to be hard to for her to be satisfied with that society. Conversely if someone functions well in a society it is hard to see what grounds she has to be dissatisfied with that society. Rhetoric about integration into society seems meaningless if we have no means of gauging this integration. In the light of the above we can gauge how well a group is integrated into society by considering how they function in society. However in the light of the above the question, as to whether we can we really think of a society in which people only share some common beliefs as a fully integrated society, seems irrelevant. It follows rhetoric about integration becomes superfluous and we should simply concern ourselves with how different groups function in our society.

If any society is to function it must have some common beliefs. If any community is to function within that society it must share these basic beliefs. Of course some community might theoretically thrive in a society without sharing any of its beliefs but such a community would be parasitic on that society and does not function within it. The question now naturally arises what common beliefs must people share in a flourishing society? The answer according to David Cameron is,
“Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, democracy, the rule of law, equal rights regardless of race, sex or sexuality.”
I believe David Cameron is right and that any flourishing society must share these values. At this point I am going to assume that in the context of our discussion the words “belief” and “value” are interchangeable. My objector might claim at this point even if David Cameron is correct about these being the values our society values that I am wrong to suggest that any flourishing society must share these values. She might point out that China is a flourishing society. I would disagree and whilst I accept a non-democratic country such as China may flourish economically I do not accept such countries are genuinely flourishing, China for instance has changed little politically since the Tiananmen Square massacre. Even if we accept David Cameron’s view as the right one we must nonetheless remain aware that the domain of shared values is limited. Mill argued that,
“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. He cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for him to do so, because it will make him happier, because, in the opinions of others, to do so would be wise, or even right.” (Page 68)
If we accept Mill’s view, as I do, then we may not compel others to do things even if we think it is right that they should do so. For example some people believe Muslim women should be banned from wearing the burka in western society; Nicolas Sarkozy in France for instance. I personally do not approve of the burka but nonetheless believe that provided Muslim women freely choose to wear it they should be perfectly free to do so except in certain circumstances in which personal recognition matters; passport control for instance. Accepting this freedom does not mean we must remain passive in respect to the wearing of the burka. Following Mill we may of course criticise, reason with and attempt to persuade Muslim women not to wear the burka but we may not use compulsion which rules out legislation. It follows the only basic belief all must share in a flourishing society is that each of us should be free to do as seems best for herself provided that by so doing she does not harm others. I believe the values David Cameron mentioned come down to this basic belief. Unfortunately for David Cameron it follows we should accept partially integrated communities which behave in ways that run counter to many of our other values. Fortunately for him however this acceptance does not mean we should encourage such communities which already exist, or the immigration of further such communities. Indeed I would argue we should help and persuade such existing communities to function more fully in our society. Nevertheless we must be prepared to accept these communities provided they do not affect our freedom, or the freedom of some their own members, provided their actions do not harm others. In conclusion it seems to me that rhetoric about how well some ethnic communities integrate into our society is irrelevant and all that matters is that these communities function and not prevent others from functioning in society.

Soldiers and Beta Blockers

A large number of soldiers returning from active service in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and the military is interested in using beta blockers to help in alleviating this disorder. Beta blockers are drugs commonly used to treat some heart conditions such as angina. Elisa Hurley is concerned that the use of these drugs may have at least one bad consequence (1). In this posting I want examine whether we should share her concern.

Before I start my examination I must briefly summarise Hurley’s argument. Let it be accepted that post battle beta blockers help prevent the formation of painful emotional memories (PEM) in soldiers. Clearly soldiers are required to kill enemy combatants in battle. Equally clearly civilians are required to not kill others. If they do so they may be charged with murder. Hurley suggests this killing in battle separates soldiers from the normal moral community. Some might reject her suggestion but I will accept it here for the sake of argument. She proceeds to argue that after battle soldiers need to be integrated back into the moral community. She then further argues coming to terms with PEM is necessary for this re-integration. She then concludes a bad consequence, of beta blockers preventing the formation of PEM, is that they also prevent this re-integration. Hurley’s argument it seems to me depends on two implicit assumptions. Firstly any normal moral community depends on emotions to some degree. Secondly a moral community must be integrated. I will question these assumptions.

Not all moral systems have an affective component. Some believe that morality is objective and that our moral behaviour should be based on norms. Clearly if we accept a non-affective moral system PEM are not necessary for a soldier to successfully himself re-integrate into such a community. However in practice I would argue that the problems autistic people and sociopaths have in forming moral judgements strongly suggests that morality must include an affective element, see for instance Nichols (2). In what follows I will accept the first of Hurley’s implicit assumptions.

I will now turn to the second of Hurley’s implicit assumptions. It seems clear to me if Hurley assumes a soldier can be reintegrated into a moral community she must also implicitly assume that this community is in some way integrated. I will now give three reasons why I find the idea of such a fully integrated moral society improbable. Firstly I would simply point out we live in a multi-cultural society and that some of the norms people live by differ. I of course accept in any society people must share some norms. Secondly I would argue a fully integrated moral society might become something akin to an exclusive club. For instance a fully integrated society might exclude some people such as schizophrenics from membership. Intuitively provided schizophrenics take drugs to control their condition they ought to be full members of moral society. This intuition is supported in practice. Society holds schizophrenics responsible for their actions provided their schizophrenia is controlled. A further example might be provided by convicted prisoners who by their actions don’t seem to be fully integrated into moral society but whom nonetheless I would argue should nevertheless be regarded as members of moral society to some degree. These examples suggest that we live in a moral society which is not fully integrated. Lastly I would argue to talk too much of integration with respect to any moral society which includes an affective element would be a mistake because we experience emotions to a varying degree. For example Michael Slote believes it might be possible to base our moral society on empathic concern for others (3) . In such society women might be better at dealing with moral problems because of their greater capacity for empathy. It seems to me that such a society would not be fully integrated. It should of course be fully inclusive. For these reasons I would reject Hurley’s second implicit assumption that we live in an integrated moral society. I would suggest it would do better to consider the ability of people to be members of, to function, in a moral society rather than integration.

Hurley posed the question does the taking of beta blockers damage a soldier’s reintegration into society after battle. I have suggested above there is no such thing as a fully integrated moral society. I have further suggested that it would do better to consider the ability of people to function in a moral society than integration. If my suggestions are accepted then Hurley’s question needs to be refined. Her original question might be refined as follows; does the prescription of beta blockers to soldiers affect their ability to function in society? It seems clear many ex-soldiers find it hard to function in our everyday society. According to James Treadwell a lecturer in criminology at the University of Birmingham statistics suggest that between 3% and 10% of the British prison population are ex-forces personnel. Former soldiers the highest occupational culture claimed by prisoners, see Howard League for Penal Reform . This situation might be partly explained by the experience of soldiers witnessing or being party to traumatic events while in the services, and then later developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

At one time most schizophrenics found it hard to function in society and many were confined to asylums. Recently advances in drugs have allowed most schizophrenics to function in society. The taking of these drugs does not damage a schizophrenic’s ability to function in society, indeed it makes it possible. Let it be accepted PEM prevents soldiers from fully functioning in society. Let it be further accepted beta blockers dampen a soldier’s PEM after battle and that this helps prevent PTSD. It might then be argued by analogy beta blockers do not damage soldiers’ ability to function in society but instead enhance it. For these reasons it might be thought that I am in favour of soldiers taking beta blockers provided these prevent PTSD. In practice I share Hurley’s concern about the use of these drugs

My concern is not about the successful re-integration of soldiers back into society after battle but rather the integration of a soldier’s life with his sense of self. Consider a non-swimmer who through no fault of his own fails to rescue a child from a swollen river. Let us assume the child drowns and this person is traumatised by memories of her screams. Let us further assume there is a drug which would erase all memories of this incident from this person’s mind and hence eliminate his trauma. Some might argue there is no problem here and that the trauma victim should take the drug. I am not so confident that there is no problem. If we accept there is no problem in the above case then perhaps we should also accept there would be no problem if we took the same drug every night when we are sleeping to erase all painful memories of the day before. Such a situation would be similar that which occurs in the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. In such a scenario some past events in a person’s life appear to have little effect on a person’s sense of self; the person loses some important connections to his personal history. I would suggest any disconnection between someone’s personal history and his sense of self is damaging for at least two reasons. Firstly anyone who has a sense of self with only a selective view of his history seems to have a diminished sense of self. I would further suggest such a diminished sense of self is damaging to the individual concerned. Secondly the idea of forgiveness can play an important part in our lives. For somebody to be forgiven he must accept responsibility for his actions. However if drugs dull or pervert his memories of his actions it is hard to see how he can genuinely accept such responsibility. The idea of forgiveness is particularly important in the context of war. After a war has ended there is often a need for a soldier to become reconciled with his former enemies. It would seem to me reconciliation is impossible without accurate recollection. For the above reasons I would suggest that the taking of beta blockers to dull a soldier’s painful memories post battle is damaging.

An objector might claim that nevertheless the damage done by PTSD to a soldier’s ability to function in society may well outweigh any damage to his sense of self or need for reconciliation. He might then use this claim to conclude that the use of beta blockers post battle is acceptable. I would reject such a claim. However even if the objectors claim is accepted I don’t think his conclusion automatically follows. It is clear that schizophrenics who take drugs to successfully control their condition can function in society. Indeed in most cases it seems probable that taking these drugs is the only way they can function in society. But the situation is different with regard to soldiers. Soldiers can be treated in different ways to relieve PTSD, cognitive therapy for instance. I would suggest, provided it is accepted that beta blockers damage the connection between a soldier’s sense of self and his history, that these drugs should not be used to treat PTSD.

1.  Elisa Hurley, 2010, Combat Trauma and the Moral Risks of Memory Manipulating Drugs, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 27(3)
2. ShaunNichols, 2004, Sentimental Rules, Oxford University Press.
3. Michael Slote, 2007, The Ethics of Care and Empathy, Routledge