USD Magazine, Spring 1996

By Michael R. Haskins

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I n cl i v i cl u a I i s 111

From Self to Society Professor Phil Hwang wholeheartedly subscribes to the theory that you can have too much of a good thing. He believes that many of our society's current ethical and moral difficulties can be traced to an overdose of self-esteem. The antidote? Hwang suggests that we increase our intake of what he calls "other-esteem." "The concept of other-esteem is new, but the philosophy is not," says Hwang, who has been a counseling professor at USD's School of Education since 1974. "Many people today are talking about the need for personal responsibility and respect for others. They may not call it other-esteem, but that is the philosophy they're promoting." In his new book, Other-Esteem: A Creative Response to a Society Obsessed with Promoting the Self, Hwang explains that society should not do away with the emphasis on self-esteem, but should learn to balance individual needs with the needs of others. The string of self-esteem movements that swept our

society in recent decades has promoted individual rights over responsibilities and stressed individualism over interdependency, Hwang says. His book is an attempt to switch the spotlight back onto society as a whole. "The focus in our society has always been on the self," Hwang says. "There is an incompleteness to that. We need to become proactive in promoting others, less selfish and self– righteous, and less willing to place blame on others." Hwang cites a number of difficulties he believes could be solved by maintaining a balance between self-esteem and other– esteem. Some of the problems he traces to society's overempha– sis on the individual include increasing violence, especially among young people, the litigious nature of our world, the high rate of divorce, drug use and drinking, and the lack of courtesy people exhibit in day-to-day life. "People are becoming active in seeking to change these nega– tive aspects of our society," Hwang says. "Other-esteem is a

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