Delphic Maxim 34: Shun what belongs to others

I’ve set myself the challenge of responding to each Delphic Maxim for 15 minutes a day.

34. Shun what belongs to others

This week seems to be a strange mix of shunning and commentary on personal property. Because of that, I find these maxims much harder to write a response to: the concept of ‘shunning’ is pretty alien in millennial Australia. (I suppose the old Facebook delete party is the closest approximation of ‘shunning’ a person, but how shunning applies to evil and belongings is a whole other issue).

Earlier this week I spoke about the idea of ‘what is yours’ being deeper than merely ‘what possessions you own’. Here it’s almost like I should walk that back, because to ‘shun what belongs to others’ seems to be a retreat from the idea of community that has underpinned so many of these responses. We are enmeshed in our social worlds — the idea that we would turn away from the interests and concerns of others is an unhelpful one. We don’t have to be consumed by others needs (that takes a lot of energy, and sometimes our personal needs take precedence), but to completely reject those needs is callous and inhuman.

If we narrow the meaning of belonging to simply cover the material things people possess, then this maxim probably makes a bit more sense. In that kind of a reading, shun might mean ‘do not covet’ (to draw a biblical comparison) — don’t desire or envy things that belong to others. That’s reasonably healthy — but probably a stretch on the meaning of the word ‘shun’.

So it makes me wonder how much is informed by the way these words are translated! Is the word ‘shun’ more loaded now than it was back then? Is there a more appropriate word for not coveting the possessions of other, or was the meaning literally ‘shun’, reject, do not pay attention to, turn away.

Material things are, after all, pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. When we relate to others, their possessions are basically irrelevant (or at least, they should be). We’ve noticed throughout these maxims how important friendship is in living a good life. Perhaps the lesson here is that we should pay less attention to what other people own, and more attention to who they are. That’s a healthy way to live!