by K. R. Richardson

Created on: August 11, 2011   Last Updated: August 29, 2011

In March 2010, Melbourne's Deakin University released a report entitled, “Respect in an Ageing Society”.  This study was commissioned by the aged care provider, Benetas, and was officially launched by Australian Federal Minister for Ageing, Justine Elliot.  The stated aim of the research was to examine societal attitudes toward the ageing population, with a particular focus on the concept of respect.  As the first of its kind in Australia, it received a great amount of attention in the media.

One of the key findings of the report—and the one which thoroughly occupied the media—was that there was a disparity between the expectations of the older and younger generations.  Older Australians expected their seniority to give them… well, seniority—engendering automatic respect.  Meanwhile, the younger generations classified respect as something that had to be earned.  A generation Y participant was quoted as saying, “I think that they just expect to be given respect because of their age. Sometimes I don’t agree with that because I don’t know them and I don’t know whether they have earned respect.”

On the surface, it would seem this presents a two sided debate and, indeed, that is exactly how it was presented in the media.  All of the commentary provided fell into one or the other of two camps: the first being that respect must be earned, and the second that elders should be categorically respected.  However, both side of the debate faced functional problems.  In practical ethics, these problems are often presented in the form of thought exercises, or moral dilemmas.  One such dilemma is presented below.

Imagine you are sitting near the front of a crowded bus, with no spare seats available.  At the next stop, some school children climb aboard, followed rather laboriously by an elderly gentleman.  No-one moves to provide him with a seat and so he remains standing, his hand clasped around the pole of the seat in front of you.  He could be a war veteran or a retired bank robber; a loving father and grandfather, or a neglectful and selfish but basically harmless human being.  How do you ascertain whether he is worthy of your respect in the 30 seconds it takes for him to climb aboard the crowded bus?  And even if you could gain an instant overview of his life, what would warrant your respect?  Is it enough for him to have done

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