Good Decisions and Otherwise by Little Dog

Chapter Twelve

As being is our primary purpose, Brian was eventually pleased that the robbers did not return, at least not immediately, and so these days of excitement - which had so marked the beginning of spring - soon passed, and in their place arose a period of relative peace. The following months Brian was able to appreciate for the sight of the season alone, which before him unfurled as he made his way through the days. Such days consisted of many long walks, wandering through the countryside, a chance for Brian to calm himself, and for little dog the opportunity to continue with his first steps towards capability.

For Brian it became clear, with his progress, that the being of peace is a precursor to joy, or indeed any state of happiness, and this was cause for reflection, thinking of why he should ever do otherwise, and where the limit, the point of departure beyond which something else was required - the will to achieve, to learn and build, and to help one another. Here there was great contrast, between on the one hand peace, and on the other action, the discerning nature of the former, and the broad difficulty of the latter.

In theory there is the possibility of an active life of peace, thought Brian, success we might call it, as opposed to the secluded meditative state to which I am drawn, as an escape from the difficulty of endeavour, but this life eludes me. Perhaps I am not good enough, or perhaps I try too hard and make a mess of things, but for the most part it seems to be down to the behaviour of others, which is to say that they cause all the trouble, and I cannot change it, for it is in turn for them to decide. I would uphold the ideal, and to a great degree, whatever happens, I do, but when confronted with a serious threat it is anyway hard to avoid some sort of response, whether to rescue the vulnerable and the unfortunate, or to defend the weak and the innocent. Beyond the repose of my own person lies all the world, and here the choices are sometimes hard. To decide, at what might I succeed, depends on the relation of myself to the other, and if my assessment of this proves inaccurate I shall surely fail. I will try at something, bring my thoughts into action, pit the best I am able to think against the problems I face, these others. I shall present these thoughts in deed, movement and speech, and then stop to see the impact - what effect on my targets, what their response, and what consequences for me? The world might barely notice, will keep on with all the trouble and all the trying, and I none the better, but I cannot avoid it.

In consideration of this condition, how challenging this life, we turn to capability, for by improving ourselves we increase our chances of success, self to other, but what a lot of trouble just about this. The smallest of examples only, little dog's ability to smell the criminals, is a good example of the point, emblematic - how unwelcome for some, that we might enforce the difference between right and wrong.

The upset between Rebecca and Russell, which had effectively ended those flurried weeks following the robbery, those spent reacting to the incident, and preparing for its reoccurrence, too soon passed - for of course Brian could not let there be ill feeling between them, especially since he had organised the evening. It was the last thing they needed, division on the home front, internal strife, when enemies loomed in the distance. Brian talked to them both individually and apologised, attempted to take all of the blame for himself, and explained to them that really there had been no disagreement between them, if any only of small differences, theoretical differences about things that may never happen, which by definition are irreconcilable. All of it was no more than a little heat beneath the collar and then a moment of social awkwardness.

Privately, on his long walks with little dog, Brian agreed with Russell's suggestion to include the neighbours further afield, but considered that he might have better managed his reaction when Rebecca disapproved of his idea to stop the robbers from escaping.

Both Rebecca and Russell, Brian reflected, would have the good of security, but differ in their opinions on how best to achieve it. My wife thinks to avoid risk, and to rely on professionals to uphold justice, but Russell and I would too maintain such capability. It is no more than defensive to do so, thinking that for my lot, these few lanes among the Chilterns, we might make a contribution, and there we must have knowledge - to identify the problem - that is down to little dog, but then we must respond to his call. Rebecca however objects, and thought to command Russell, that he must avoid a confrontation, with the robbers, but so too with the truth in itself. Russell believes in his freedom, to uphold good standards for himself, and, like I, he would have access to the situation, to see that things are well done. Without any way to prove the matter in either direction, they both turned to strength of personality, thinking to persuade the other, and there fell out, unable to back down from the front pitched on either side.

As the robbers did not return, and little dog never did begin barking, the weight of the argument fell in Rebecca's favour. It seemed silly to maintain any upset, for the strong stance in dispute was clearly not needed, and so it was Russell that broke the ice, apologising at Holly Cottage in person. Bad-tempered he called himself, from time to time, but since that evening never more contrite, and on that basis Rebecca was glad to apologise herself. Brian then announced that he should take little dog out for a walk, and asked whether they would like to join him, thinking there to move on in the established context, that between them good relations had been restored, to which proposal both parties consented, and so soon after the three of them headed back out into the countryside, bringing with them the two children, Lorraine Ward, and of course little dog.

It was not long afterwards that the Wright family found their way to Brian’s favourite topic, for the children thought it a source of much amusement, and knew through long experience that somewhere inside him lay great value, treasure to excavate, introspection to bring to light, around which it was sure all else would be structured.

‘What is it today then?’ asked Sophie.

‘What is what today?’ replied Brian.

‘The lesson of course. What shall we teach little dog?’

For the benefit of Russell and Lorraine, Brian was here obliged to retrace the development of their discourse, which had sprung up with the present subject, the new life that had arrived in their family over Christmas, and how best to educate him.

‘You must excuse us’ said Brian, ‘if we seem immoderate, but we have taken the training of our young dog here very seriously. Seeing it as a matter of principle, I gave to the children as guidance a simple schema, that we might see goodness as composed of both cause and effect, and consider the connection between the two, from good intentions, to good decisions, and on to good implementation, where in theory the consequences of the three combined should too be good.

‘The lesson for little dog today, and the subject for our conversation, if you will, concerns the nature of good decision making, what to do and how to get it right, once clear on the objective, which, I put forwards, depends upon an understanding of the relation of self to other.

‘From the perspective of little dog we might imagine a stream to jump, where an accurate assessment of this relation should determine in advance the respective sizes, the width of the stream and the distance he is able to jump.’

‘This is very much to the point’ said Russell, evidently amused.

‘Indeed’ agreed Brian, continuing swiftly, ‘and in training our dog we should help him in this respect, by offering him the opportunity to improve, in terms of physical ability, and in terms of experience, where in seeing the result of his various attempts he will in the future be able to judge the likely outcome of the next.’

‘But Brian’ interjected Russell, ‘where will it all lead, if intentions are only carried forwards on the basis of ability? Are you not saying that might is right, rather than right is might? I am afraid you advocate a technocracy.’

‘You see my problem’ sighed Rebecca to Lorraine. ‘How could I possibly have foreseen what a mere dog might mean?’

‘Men are fond of making mountains of molehills’ replied Lorraine.

‘But it is not only capability that is important’ said Brian, undeterred, ‘for there is also courage, for example, were little dog to fail repeatedly in his estimation of the rivers and streams in his path, and fall into them once too often, he might eventually lose his confidence, and come to fear such obstacles. What constitutes our chance of success in any given matter is complex, and often includes, alongside capability, and courage, the opinion of others, whether expressed in public reaction or in the existence of law. Arriving at my conclusion, it should be clear that the predominant factor is goodness, or right, rather than might, and that utility is a product of virtue, for the other is defined in relation to the self, but anyway capability is greater where good, in the sense that it depends upon the condition of the actor, and experience upon positive accumulation rather than negative.’

‘Now what Brian?’ asked Lorraine. ‘Is that all you have to say on the topic?’

‘Of course not’ replied Rebecca for Brian, ‘for you have forgotten the other side, namely, bad people. Would anyone like to ask Brian why people are bad, or more specifically, why they make bad decisions?’

‘Good people make bad decisions’ said Alfie.

‘Because they are tired’ for example said Lorraine.

‘Ingorance’ said Brian, ‘is surely the main reason why people make bad decisions.’

‘Difficulty’ said Russell, ‘might be the greater.’

‘An example please Russell’ asked Rebecca.

‘Something that you need to do, but have little chance of succeeding at. People who steal because they are poor, or illegal immigrants who get stranded at sea.’

‘Ignorance is the greater’ replied Brian, ‘but I take your point.’

Eventually the Wrights and the Wards found an appropriate place to stop, two benches set a few yards beyond the banks of a brook, from which the families were able to put into practice the lesson for the day, there bringing to life the season's motif. Little dog, like the spring, was blooming. Following the trajectory of the thrown ball he leapt from side to side of the stream, easily enough, but Alfie, who was already waiting on the other, to throw the ball back in turn, said he was sure that he saw little dog look at the distance, and judge it correctly.

‘On the other hand’ continued Brian, ‘difficulty does not necessarily lead to bad decision making. It might, if the difficulty is so great or urgent that it leads to a lack of consideration, but to return to the examples you proffered, the shoplifter’s decision to steal food is not bad, in the sense that they know full well the risk. They expect to get caught, every so often, but, on the basis that they have little other choice, do so anyway, and this is why we excuse such crimes, to some degree at least.’

‘It was the gin that went to my head’ said Rebecca. ‘I was not drunk, but it caused me to be inconsiderate.’

‘Yes me too’ replied Russell, ruefully, ‘but you are right Brian, it is one or the other. Bad decisions are either ignorant or inconsiderate, and we have only to avoid these two simple things for everything to go well.’

The four of them laughed. They could not help doing so, for if only things were so simple.

Proceeding with their walk, returning home, the Wrights and the Wards enjoyed themselves enormously, putting little dog through his paces, in exploring the structure of alterity, that at least available to the perspective of a dog, the scope of which included other dogs, both smaller and bigger, and the landscape, in all its variety, and of course other humans, to all of which I am pleased to say he behaved in good proportion.