SOCIAL ENGINEERING AND AMBIVALENCE OF HUMAN INTEREST: THE NIGERIA EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The common good in this write up is identified with the harmonious complementarism postulated as the authentic foundation of all human interest. It is argued that if the common good is placed above all private interests in a society, social action would then be judged as rational. This is predicated on the reflection that no individual or group of individuals would want to carry out an action that would devastatively affect his person, relation or society. Where such an action is chosen, then, it tantamount to an ambivalence of interest which entails a double capacity effect. This implies that the negative outcome of one’s action presupposes the ignorance of such an effect prior to the action. This is because no one would want to deliberately or consciously destroy himself. Self-destruction here is viewed as a detachment from the common good and the lack of the awareness of our multi-dimensional interests in a particular situation. The Nigerian society is considered as a case in point where selfish actions are taken both in private and public life such that sooner or later they produce negative effects directly or indirectly. This calls for a design or reconstruction of our social institutions or structures that will enable us to rationalize our interest/actions. The remedy includes relating our interest to the ontological reality or absolute being viewed as a total reality with no missing link.