ES 
EN 
“…Education is a public service and is based on respect for all currents of thought, with the aim of developing the creative potential of each human being and the full exercise of their personality in a democratic society based on the ethical valuation of the work and in active, conscious and supportive participation in the processes of social transformation consubstantiated with the values of national identity, and with a Latin American and universal vision…”[1]
The use of the term respect is very common to refer to the treatment we should have in relation to others as equals , however this discussion is an unresolved issue in our societies, even when we take it for granted. Some preliminary questions that guide this short reflection are: What do we call respect? Should it happen between equals? How do we recognize that equality? Is it nature or the norm that makes us equal? Is this recognition of the other as equal and the valuation of his ideas relative to opinions or to the person, to his dignity or to some mostly accepted current? Is respect a capricious matter or is it an imperative? Is respecting a person or an opinion respecting the person, the opinion or the norm? In any case, in this reflection we will not be able to list all the issues that arise from this notion, but we will try to find at least an answer that allows us to glimpse the keys to addressing it.
In principle we start from the definition of the term by the RAE Dictionary [2] and its etymology[3]:
The origin of the term comes from the Latin word “ respectus ” which in turn is composed of re- and spectum –. Both the terms respectus and respicio (is, are, spexi, spectum) are related to specto (as, are, avi, atum) in which case we can relate it to looking, observing and contemplating a second time. It's looking again, reconsidering and doing it paying attention. The RAE assigns it at least eight meanings, we will pay attention to four:
- m. Worship, observance that makes someone.
- m. Look, consideration, deference.
- m. fear (‖ suspicion).
- m. pl. Manifestations of compliance that are made out of courtesy.
In this sense we can define respect as the recognition given to a specific person [4].
If we accept as true the premise that a person is also what he thinks, and that this becomes evident in what he does, then we can also add to the definition: the recognition of what that specific person thinks, says and does.
One of the practical implications of accepting the latter as true is that by considering culture as that which is the product of the concreteness of individuals and specific relationships in a community, we can conclude that it is also part of what must be considered or reconsidered. in the notion of respect .
Etymologically, this “consideration” or “reconsideration” does not involve the moral assessment of a phenomenon, but rather refers to (visual) perception. In this aesthetic aspect, contemplation implies the acceptance [5] of what is intuited.
Thus, respect is the consideration of the other, what they think, what they say, what they do, within the framework of the cultural context and the acceptance of that reality, beyond the moral assessment of the practical implications. The opposite of this is indifference or the attempt to ignore or ignore the above.
It is important to clarify that we frame acceptance in the field of aesthetics due to its etymological definition, but it is also true that what we intuit is also thought. This represents a step to a logical, formal or phenomenological state. In which case acceptance takes on a new meaning.
When we see a tree, we do not doubt the tree we see, but we may differ in its species or usefulness, and these are different things.
This is when the initial questions become valid in this reflection. If respect occurs between equals, it depends on the criteria with which we approach the notion of equality . However, we can assume that we are equal to the extent that we share certain characteristics and interests, but this refers to the moral condition of the phenomenon. This “equality” in turn generates differences of opinion and perspectives, so contrasting or discussing ideas in this diversity does not deny the principle of respect . Aesthetic acceptance does not imply moral acceptance or its practical implications.
With respect to the norm we will say that respect for the person, in some cases, is also respect for the norm when it conceives man as an end and not as a means.
To conclude, we can say that respect refers to the recognition of the other as another (part[6]) and the acceptance of this diversity.
Adrián García
25/10/2015
[1] Constitución de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, 1999. Artículo 102.
[2] Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, XXIII Edic. Digital: “http://dle.rae.es/?w=respeto”
[3] Blanquez Fraile, Agustin. Diccionario Latino-Español 4ta Edición II Tomo Edit. Sopena, 1961 Barcelona, España
[4] According to the meanings of the RAE, although it can be extended to other natural or artificial elements to the extent that a specific ethical criterion is clarified.
[5] In this reflection, acceptance indicates the “non-problematization” or questioning of the reality or existence of a specific phenomenon, which is why we frame it in the aesthetic and ethical, leaving aside its epistemological meaning.
[6] We consider the other as part of the whole regardless of shared characteristics and interests. To the whole as the sum of the parts and their specific (dynamic) relationships .