Among philosophers, there is general agreement that benefactor R must act in some way that concerns beneficiary Y in order to deserve Y’s gratitude.
Author: chadarms
Be the change.
Whether R must be an agent.
Most philosophers agree that at the very least, benefactor R must be an agent in order for Y to owe gratitude to R for φ-ing.
Gratitude (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In keeping with this emerging consensus, the remaining sections of this entry will be concerned only with the concept of prepositional gratitude:
the response called for in a beneficiary to a benefactor’s having done something beneficent for him.
Gratitude (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
A consensus is emerging that analyses of the concept of gratitude should be concerned only with the phenomenon expressed by the prepositional sense of the term (Carr 2013; Gulliford, Morgan et al. 2013; Manela 2016a; Roberts and Telech 2019).
The consensus is based on the observation that the propositional sense of “gratitude” is more or less identical to another concept: the concept called appreciation or gladness.
To say that I am grateful that it did not rain on my wedding day, for instance, is just to say that I am glad it did not. To say that I am grateful that my cancer went into remission is just to say I am glad that it did and that I appreciate the extra life and health that state of affairs entails.
By contrast, to say I am grateful to a good Samaritan for saving my life implies more than that I am glad, or appreciate the fact, that I was saved by her.
To be grateful to such a person seems to imply, for instance, a desire to see her fare well, or a commitment to helping her out in the future, should she ever find herself in dire circumstances.
Gratitude (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In the last 40 years, philosophers have begun paying attention to a fundamental distinction in how we use gratitude terms (Walker 1980–1981; Card 1988; McAleer 2012; Manela 2016a).
On one hand, such terms can be used just before the preposition “to”, as in
Y is grateful to R for φ-ing,
where Y is some beneficiary, R is some benefactor, and φ is (at least paradigmatically) something R has done that was beneficial for Y.
Tony Manela (2016a) calls the attitude expressed by this type of locution prepositional gratitude.
Gratitude (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Despite its ubiquity in everyday life, there is substantive disagreement among philosophers over the nature of gratitude and its relationship to other philosophical concepts.
I am polite to everyone
Positive people attract positive energy through being polite to everyone they meet.
https://www.theactivetimes.com/healthy-living/30-habits-positive-people
Gratitude – Wikipedia
The Appreciation Scale measures 8 different aspects of gratitude:
appreciation of people,
possessions,
the present moment,
rituals,
feeling of awe,
social comparisons,
existential concerns,
and behaviour which expresses gratitude.
I am punctual
Positive people are on time. Late people are too busy apologizing for being late to be positive.
https://www.theactivetimes.com/healthy-living/30-habits-positive-people
Include all things
“Because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Gratitude Apprentice 