We Erode Ourselves by Denying Others' Humanity
Created at: October 11, 2025
We cannot trample upon the humanity of others without depleting our own. — Chinua Achebe
The Mirror of Moral Reciprocity
Achebe’s claim functions like a mirror: in diminishing another, we witness our own reflection dim. The insight aligns with the humanistic core of ethics, from Kant’s humanity formula—treat persons always as ends (Kant’s *Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals*, 1785)—to the African ethic of Ubuntu, “I am because we are” (Desmond Tutu, *No Future Without Forgiveness*, 1999). Both suggest that our moral substance depends on recognizing the intrinsic worth of others. When we trample that worth, we do not merely injure the other; we thin the fibers that hold our identity, dignity, and community together. To see how this principle takes on lived texture, we turn to Achebe’s own art and historical witness.
Achebe’s Postcolonial Lens
In Achebe’s fiction, dehumanization corrodes everyone it touches. In *Things Fall Apart* (1958), colonial agents classify Igbo life as primitive, yet that very act hollows the colonizer’s moral authority. Similarly, *A Man of the People* (1966) depicts postcolonial corruption as a cycle where scorn for the governed depletes the governors’ integrity, leaving cynicism in place of civic purpose. Achebe’s later memoir of the Biafran War, *There Was a Country* (2012), extends the lesson beyond fiction: when policy treats groups as expendable, culture frays and leaders forfeit their claim to legitimacy. Psychology helps explain the inner costs of such roles.
Psychology of Empathy and Moral Injury
Research suggests that harming others injures the self. Studies of obedience and role assimilation show participants experiencing distress when induced to mistreat peers (Stanley Milgram, 1963; Philip Zimbardo, 1971). More directly, the literature on moral injury—psychic harm from violating one’s moral code—documents guilt, shame, and alienation among those who perpetrate or witness wrongdoing (Litz et al., Clinical Psychology Review, 2009). When empathy is silenced to justify harm, people often numb their own emotional life as collateral damage. These individual wounds scale up when entire systems normalize dehumanization.
History’s Warning and the Civic Ledger
Societies that devalue some lives soon cheapen all. Hannah Arendt’s analysis of bureaucratized cruelty in *Eichmann in Jerusalem* (1963) shows how moral judgment atrophies when persons become abstractions. Conversely, processes that rehumanize—such as South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1996–1998)—seek repairs for both victims and perpetrators through truth-telling and accountability. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) codified this insight: protecting others’ dignity is not charity but self-preservation for the polity. Designing fair institutions is therefore a practical safeguard for our shared humanity.
Institutions That Protect the Person
Laws and norms that treat people as ends reinforce our own moral stamina. Rawls’s veil of ignorance invites us to design rules we would accept without knowing our position (John Rawls, *A Theory of Justice*, 1971), thereby embedding respect into structures. In policing and governance, procedural justice research shows that dignified treatment increases public trust and compliance (Tom R. Tyler, *Why People Obey the Law*, 2006). When institutions reward recognition rather than domination, citizens internalize regard for others—and in doing so, preserve the civic character they must one day rely on. Yet institutions are made of daily choices, which begin with us.
Everyday Practices of Recognition
Achebe’s wisdom becomes tangible in ordinary conduct: listening before judging, resisting contemptuous speech, and repairing harm when we cause it. Restorative practices operationalize this mindset by centering relationships and obligations rather than mere punishment (Howard Zehr, *Changing Lenses*, 1990). Each act of recognition replenishes a reservoir we all drink from—trust, empathy, and the sense that life together is possible. Thus, by choosing not to trample the humanity of others, we conserve our own: a moral ecology where dignity, once safeguarded, nourishes everyone.