Enjoying Freedom Responsibly 1.4: Intro 4

Alright, enough of this silliness.  Time to nail down this definition.

When I sat down to write this, I hypothesized that perhaps I had not adequately searched for a reasonable definition of 'responsibility.'  So, I resolved to change that.  I looked, and every online dictionary I saw had some variation of Merriam Webster's dependency on 'responsible' that I griped about last night. 

I'm going to cut a long story short.  I didn't find much that was particularly helpful, or even close to what I was looking for.  Dictionary.com actually came sort of near the mark, with: "having a capacity for moral decisions and therefore accountable; capable of rational thought or action: 'The defendant is not responsible for his actions.' "   I found that little gem just a few lines under an advertisement for 'catchhimandkeephim.com' letting me know the 9 ugly mistakes that I'm probably making that my man finds totally unattractive.

But the best answer I found came from Answers.com, which gifted me with "3. Being a source or cause."  I was impressed by the simplicity and elegance.  Really, that cuts to the heart of it right there.  No blatherskite about fiscal nonsense, answering to somebody or some higher authority.  Simple cause and effect.  That's what it comes down to.  Responsibility involves recognizing oneself as the agent by which action occurs, realizing that one is at least one of  the (potentially numerous) causes for whatever consequences arise.

But that's not quite enough.  Responsibility, on a personal level, implies obligation.  Maybe not in relation to some higher power, but it still can't exist in isolation.  It requires some social, even moral, framework to exist.  This is rapidly threatening to spiral into a philosophical morass of unknown depth and viscosity.  So I'm opting for a simpler answer, in the interests of common sense (not to mention shortening this already obnoxiously long 'intro').

Responsibility is: "A condition of attribution and ownership of one's actions/inactions, the consequences thereof and the well-being of others affected by said actions or inactions."  There.  That's it.  I'm going with that until such time as circumstances force me to change it.  On with the show!