Goodwill Hunting

On this occasion, not the film. Although we have it on DVD and know it more or less frame by frame. Instead it's the topic for our café philo meeting next week. Or at least the goodwill part is. The group meets once a month with someone different leading the discussion each time. For the first session of 2014 it's me.

It takes a little while to prepare for one of these. At least for me. Having got the subject, I then to have think round it in English, pulling key points together to give the discussion a kick-start before trying to translate it into French, which is interesting in itself. 

Finding the expression in another language which conveys precisely the same meaning as in your own, isn't always easy. One of our friends who is a fluent French speaker was talking about the problems the daughter of a French friend of hers was having. The daughter is anorexic and had been given a series of questions to answer, one of which asked if she had a problem with how she eats. It was an oddly phrased question which used the verb manger. In English manger refers to the act of eating. The daughter got very confused apparently and didn't know how to answer the question. Whereas what she was actually being asked was about her diet, which to our ears should have been alimenter - to feed/nourish. So I have to watch out, although at these discussions, surrounded by French friends, there is always someone willing to suggest the right thing if I get myself in a knot.

Good will or la bonne volonté is far more interesting than I thought it was going to be.  We've just celebrated the  'season of goodwill', which are often how Christmas and New Year are described, even if it sounds like a special offer. "From December to January get your goodwill here". But of course as a concept it is in operation all the time . . somewhere!

Goodwill is certainly a well-used noun. We expect to find the spirit of goodwill within the family, amongst colleagues and between friends. There are at least 171,000 charities in the UK and apparently 600,000 that aren't as yet registered. Alongside paid staff, there is also an army of volunteers. According to the NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac, during the year 2010/11, 39% of adults in England said they volunteered at least once a year. That apparently numbers 19.8 million people and accounts for an awful lot of goodwill. How many volunteers were involved with the London Olympics? From what I've read, 70,000.

Business and accounting carry their own definition and methodology relating to goodwill. There are a lot of community projects and other support groups that have incorporated goodwill into the title of their organisation. If you're a goodwill donor you'll probably need the services of the Goodwill Valuation Guide. As to philosophical debate, well there are various trains of thought, but Kant I suppose is the front-runner, describing goodwill as being intrinsically good, whereas other aspects of human nature have a value under certain conditions and can be used for good and evil.

Is goodwill innate? Is it more to do with social conditioning? While the intention might be to do good, it might not be received in that way. Depending on the context, the individuals concerned and the way the goodwill is applied, there could be occasions where it is viewed as bordering on the interfering.

Goodness itself is a profound and ancient belief, existing across generations and cultures.  In that context goodwill is also a well established political strategy, which has existed as part of government ever since diplomacy arrived. Although at home and abroad, certain aspects of imperial history as well as our international present, make you wonder if governments and their officials even know how to spell the word. At moments of crises we see the better nature of political goodwill, governments and agencies working together. So many international organisations have Goodwill Ambassadors. They are a particular feature within the United Nations System which includes Unicef, Unesco, the World Health Organisation. The complete list is here.

It's clear, at least to me, that goodwill is such an important part of our way of life and so diverse in its application, that I'm not sure society could function without it.