The Philosophy of Favor

Introduction

The word favor means something done for someone as a gesture of kindness and goodwill. The word has both positive and negative connotations attached to it. In the positive sense, a favor means doing something good for someone. However, in the negative sense, favor means subjectivity and partiality. This simple word has great meaning for philosophers and psychologists. Philosophers and psychologists tend to understand why people favor others, why do they ask for favor and how do people who have been asked for favor react to the request. Do they give the favor or do they refuse to do the favor? In case they give the favor, what is their motive behind it, and in case they refuse to do favor, what is the reason behind the refusal to do the favor. These questions may seem simple at the outset, but they have great psychological implications for the psychologists and philosophers.

The research paper attempts to understand the concept of favor. Most importantly, it will understand the ethical dilemma on the question why do people do favors. Do they do it because they want to do it and truly expect no return out of it, or they do it because they expect to have their favor returned? For this purpose, the paper draws on an excellent concept of Favor Bank given by a brilliant Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. It also makes comparison of the attitude of people of different countries with regard to favor in heterogeneous cultures.

Favor

Doing favors and asking for favors is a very common phenomenon. A favor may be defined as a scenario in which a person does something for someone in a situation where the person is not obligated to do that thing for the person. This is a very interesting topic in that it not only provides an opportunity to understand the different types of people but also a deeper understanding of the relationship between the benefactor and the beneficiary.

Being asked for a favor is not always welcomed. There are people who just do not have the ability to say no to someone. It is in their nature, and they cannot help it. The benefactor or the person asking for favor may sometimes take undue advantage of the beneficiary's weakness and exploit him by asking for favors on a continual basis. In such a situation favor takes the form of a nuisance. The helper has to provide for the help request by sometimes even going out of the way. The helper either has to devote his time, energy and money or he may even have to make use of his authority to grant the favor he has been asked for. This is the ethical dilemma associated with the help seeker who manipulates a helper for his or her own selfish motives.

Types of benefactors and beneficiaries

There are two types of people who ask for favors. There are those who are habituated with asking for favors, and then there are ...