The Concept of Fairness as Expressed in Javanese Propositions: a Study of Cultural Wisdom

One of the Javanese’s highest cultures is the creation of cultural wisdom that conveys the concept of fairness as expressed in propositions as well as cultural expressions. This research aims to revive the memories of Javanese cultural wisdom especially those related to fairness. Based on the propositions, the objective of this research is to identify the concept of fairness behavior in Javanese culture. This research is qualitative. The data were collected from text books and literary texts validated by in-depth interviews as well as forum group discussions. The data corpuses were analyzed by using componential and taxonomic analysis. Through semantic and pragmatic analysis, the fairness concept in Javanese culture can be identified. Bisa ngrumangsani is the main principle of fairness in Javanese propositions and covers two sub-ordinates propositions, i.e. self-restraint and appreciation for others. Each of these two sub-ordinate propositions covers four sub-ordinate propositions referring to action, character, desire, and competence. All of these propositions are sustained by the other proposition creating a whole concept of fairness. The results of this research are expected to serve as groundwork on how the education of national character building relating to fairness behavior can be realized.  


Introduction
states that language is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways when used in contexts of communication. Language is the principle means whereby we conduct our social lives and embodies cultural reality. Peursen (1976) states that the ancestor bequeathed their culture by means of language. Referring to Peursen and Kramsch, propositions are the media of the representation that enables the next generation to learn the bequeathed culture. Hudson (1990) states that proposition may either be something one already knows, or something one discovers, so the next time it will be there as knowledge. Javanese culture is one of the regional cultures in Indonesia which plays a big role in national cultural building.
Javanese propositions are one of the highest Javanese cultural creations regarding local wisdom. Generally, this proposition is used in expressing cultural wisdom in order to create social harmony. The productivity of Javanese propositions invented in speech as well as Javanese literary texts shows that the values of cultural wisdom expressed by those propositions need to be identified and then implemented in day-to-day activities. Propositions are representations of ideology, concept, and cognitive production, expressed in the order of words. Javanese propositions, named unen-unen, usually are formed within a fixed structure. The propositions containing the concept of wisdom are understood by the society and become a collective (shared) possession. Widdowson (1996) states that speakers express a proposition by using the symbolic conventions of the code to key us into a context of shared knowledge. In the communication, the speaker does not say anything, but does or perform some kind of illocution or communication act. Searle (1991) argues that in the utterance of the sentence the speaker expresses a proposition. The act of expressing the proposition is a part of performing certain illocutionary act. Cruse (2000) expresses that communication is not just a matter of expressing proposition. To communicate, we must express proposition with a particular illocutionary force, performing particular kinds of actions, such as promising, warning, and so on. A speech has illocutionary power making the hearer replay the intention it contained. The proposition communicated to others makes the participant of speech act replaying the intention conveyed.
Naturally, a phenomenon based on the attitude of selfrecognition, as well as appreciation toward others, exists in the social interaction in each ethnic group. These attitudes are of human fairness in the society which then results in social harmony and nation integration, individually as well as socially. Javanese proposition Aja rumangsa bisa, nanging sing bisa ngrumangsani (literally translated 'don't think that you are able to do a certain thing; you, however, should be able to do selfrecognition') is one of the cultural wisdom expressions about fairness learned in Javanese culture. Peterson and Seligman (2004) state that fairness is the product of moral judgement. The judgment towards fairness is a human desire process in order to determent what is morally right, what is morally wrong, and what is morally proscribed. Skitka and Mullen (2008) state that when people have strong moral convictions about outcomes, their fairness in judgements and decision acceptance are primarily shaped by whether the morrally "correct" outcomes are achieved. Fairness-and especially unfairness-is a basic element of moral and political judgement, not "artificial" or best understood in terms of conventions, and not a virtue of instututions particularly (Ryan, 2006). Elster (2006) states that the term "fairness" in everyday language, seems to be used in two main ways, i.e. (1) the idea of a fair division of something, and (2) the idea of a fair response to the behavior of other people. When a particular outcome or set of outcomes is perceived to be unfair, it may affect the person's emotions, cognitions, and ultimately his/her behaviour vis-à-vis the focal outcome source (Chiu-Yao Ting & Tai-Kuei Yu, 2010) Peterson & Seligman (2004) view's shows that fairness covers the following elements: 1) Treating others fairly, 2) Not using others for our own sake, 3) Behaving honestly, 4) Appreciating others, 5) Being responsible for what we do, 5) Doing something promptly.
If a memory towards cultural expressions is lost from the collective memories of a society, the cultural wisdom conveyed in such expressions can vanish (Rahyono, 2005: 47). Considering the situation and the atmosphere in developing and realizing the democratic process of our nation and state, a cultural wisdom research about fairness unquestionably plays an important role. Social harmony can be created when the members of the society actualize and implement the wisdom of the related propositions in their day-to-day activities. Ruppanner (2008) states that country context is an important consideration i in studying fairness.
This research on the concept of fairness aims: 1) To identify the concept of cultural wisdom on fairness in Javanese culture represented by propositions, 2) To comprehend pragmatic meanings expressed by propositions of cultural wisdom regarding the concept of fairness, 3) To find out principles representing fairness elements expressed by the propositions, 4) To show a deviant meaning that might exist, 5) To show how to re-actualize fairness conveyed in propositions in order to create social harmony and national integration.

Methods
This research was conducted on the basis of the following conceptual frames: 1) The phenomenon based on self-recognition regarding someone's competence and the appreciation of others exists in the human interaction among the members of Javanese society, 2) Self-recognition regarding someone's competence and the appreciation of others are values to build the fairness concept, 3) The collective fairness concept is communicated among the members of the society by means of the language, i.e. proposition, 4) Each proposition can be wisely or unwisely interpreted, 5) The interpretation towards propositions is done using referential and contextual meaning analysis, 6) Referential analysis is used to find out a topic (referent) to which the proposition and the meaning components of fairness refer, 7) Contextual analysis is used to reveal the wise messages communicated by the related proposition, 8) Fairness concept created by the propositions is invented through the taxonomic relation meaning analysis.
This qualitative research aims to find out the concept of fairness in Javanese culture. The definition implemented in the research is that fairness means to reflect what we can do and/or to accept the strengths of somebody else's. Referring to the implemented conceptual frame, the technical procedure of this research is as follows: 1) Collect the proposition data which were considered to contain the principles of fairness; 2) Classify the corpus data into the groups of the propositions with the componential meanings of fairness; 3) Semantically analyze the meanings of the propositions in order to find the componential meanings of fairness with reference to the determined operational definition; 4) Analyze the proposition meanings and pragmatically open statement corpus so as to find the topic and messages or the meaning in the propositions and/or corpus texts; 5) Taxonomically analyze the meaning relations of the propositions in order to find the main principles as the super-ordinate propositions of fairness and sub-ordinate propositions which fully build the concept of fairness; 6) Conclude the finding.
The data of this research were collected from Javanese literary texts, Javanese language and literature text books, as well as oral traditions collected from the traditional ceremonies. The collected data corpuses were Javanese propositions regarding the concept of fairness. The collected propositions were chosen based on the description and discourse contexts written in the related literature texts.
These data were validated by means of in-depth interview techniques and forum group discussions. In addition to validating the collected data, the in-depth interview technique and the forum group discussion were also used in order to expand the found propositions which are related to the fairness concept.
In-depth interiews were done by interviewing ten informants who have the qualification of cultural competence. The procedure and instrument of in-depth interview techniques are as follows: 1) The meanings of propositions agreed by the Javanese community as the research data were asked, 2) The other propositions representing the similar messages were confirmed, 3) How the messages of the propositions implemented in the community's daily activites were questioned, 4) The contexts in which the propositions were used were asked, 5) The wisdom of the propositions was asked.
The participants of the forum group discussion were cultural observers and Javanese cultural academicians. Each 2-hour group discussion was attended by 15 to 20 persons with the accepted meanings of propositions for Javanese and the key messages communicated through the propositions as the focus of the discussion.
The component analysis towards the proposition data taken from the written text was already validated through in-depth interviews and saresehan (group discussion forums) and resulted in the findings of the propositions suspended as the componential meanings of fairness in Javanese culture. The essential purpose of componential analysis is to identify certain general conceptual categories or semantic principles revealing the expressions in the particular components, among other categories of state, process, causality, class membership, possession, dimension, location, and as we have seen in the case of "come" and "go" directionality (Widdowson, 1996: 57).

Results and Discussion
Javanese propositions that contain the meaning of components of wisdom are grouped into the following eleven categories: 1) Self-recognition and self development, 2) Self-management, 3) Introspection, 4) Responsibility, 5) Acceptance of of his/her own righ, 6) Acting cautiously, 7) Social relationship management, 8) Justice, 9) Appreciation to others, 10) Sincerity, and 11) consistency.
The propositions in each category are provided in the Appendix. On the basis of both meaning components and contexts of usage found from the data, the messages communicated by means of such propositions lead to the order of the taxonomic relations which build the fairness concept. Taxonomic hierarchies are essentially classificatory systems, and they reflect the way the speakers of a language categorizes the world of experience (Cruse, 2000: 180).
Bisa ngrumangsani (self-recognition and self development), extracted from the complete version of the proposition aja rumangsa bisa, nanging bisaa ngrumangsani (literally translated 'don't think that you are able to do a certain thing; you, however, should be able to do self-recognition') contains the meaning of wisdom regarding self-recognition. This proposition is actually the super-ordinate of the taxonomic hierarchy building the concept of fairness in Javanese culture. The sub-ordinate propositions of bisa ngrumangsani are split into two categories: a) the one covering selfmanagement and b) the other covering social relationship management (Figure 1).
A proposition can be categorized as a concept if it is sustained by the other proposition with a similar pragmatic meaning and implemented in the social interaction as well as in the written texts. We found that the proposition bisa ngrumangsani as the essence of the proposition aja rumangsa bisa, nanging bisaa  The propositions fulfilling the first category are the ones of self-control "meper hawa nepsu" (Table 1), of being introspective "mulat sarira hangrasa wani", of being responsible "ndhadhagi", of accepting her/his right "narima ing pandum, and of doing something carefully "alon-alon waton kelakon". The ones fulfilling the second category are those of being honest "sapa jujur bakal luhur, sapa salah seleh", of appreciating others "nguwongke", of being honest "sepi ing pamrih rame ing gawe", of being righteous "sama beda dana dhendha" and the one of being consistent "ajining dhiri saka lathi". Suwardi (2010) states that a spirit of sepi ing pamrih is the representation of peacefullness.
The postulates of wisdom points revealed out in this research can be categorized into two categories: a) selfmanagement, and b) social relationship management.

Category a: self-management (meper hawa nepsu)
When someone controls her/his passion, s/he: is able to manage her/his greed; is able to manage her/his indignity and disdain; can make someone happy.
When someone is introspective (mulat sarira hangrasa wani), s/he: acknowledges others' strengths and accepts her/his weaknesses; owns her/his strengths to do selfdevelopment; dos not force others to do what s/he wants; can measure self competence and other competence; can be independent.
When someone is responsible for something/someone (ndhadhagi), s/he: is responsible for her/his authority; protects the party for whom s/he is responsible.
When someone accepts herself/himself as s/he is (narima ing pandum), s/he: realizes her/his own competence; accepts any fact that takes place; accepts any fact and is grateful for what s/he earns; does not complain about her/his own weaknesses.
When someone does something correctly and carefully (nastiti ngati-ngati), s/he: is careful to do something; makes a correct decision; is analytical; is not careless to make any decisions.

Category b: social relationship management
When someone is honest (the honest are the honorable ones, the wrong doers will be unlucky), sapa jujur bakal luhur, sapa sapa salah saleh), s/he: is loyal; does her/his best not to tell lies; is really friendly; is aware of any risks of the activities already undertaken.
When someone is convinced about equal treatment principles, the right person in the right place, generosity, right punishments according to the relevant (sama beda dana dhendha), s/he: does something fairly; without any vested interests.
When someone appreciates others (nguwongke), s/he: appreciates others fairly; emulates the good of anyone without considering their backgrounds; evaluates and appreciate others in accordance with their rights; is generous; pays attention to others.
When someone works hard without any conflicts of interests, s/he: gives some one some amount of donation truthfully; is not influenced by external factors which can make her/him unhappy; works without any complaints.
When someone is really sure about the dignity principle to another one, measured by her/his words (ajining dhiri saka lathi), s/he: is polite, patient, and sincere in speech; always tells the truth; does not deny what s/he has said; makes others happy.
In summary, each proposition is completely filled with pragmatic meanings as wisdom messages which fully build the fairness concept and represents the concept regarding the semantic components forming fairness.
The wisdom, whose points can be developed to teach soft skill materials with fairness personality and which can be communicated by means of propositions, should be revitalized in order to create social harmony. Basically, the reactivation of the fairness proposition as a cultural heritage is an effort to transform the proposition meaning to the state of art. As a thought produced on the basis of the human life phenomena, this thought result can certainly be effective anytime, meaning that this is not merely applicable at the time when the process thought takes place.
The problem coming up in the meaning interpretation of the proposition in the connection of the state of the art is the existence of the meaning shift and/or the interpretation change on such propositions. Theoretically, different interpretations toward proposition meanings can occur and these interpretations cannot even be avoided. Yet, such different interpretations lead the propositions to be unconnected to the fairness concept. The fairness concept in each proposition consistently underpins the fairness message communicated through the propositions. Referring to the cultural principles to develop human being civilization, the propositions are theoretically formulized to communicate fairness messages, instead of the other way around.
Sportsmanship (fairness) is a little part of human nature in dealing with community life problems, but fairness is a private equity capital that clearly plays an important role in building social harmony. When every member of a community has a sportsmanship (fairness) concept, the efforts to build social harmony can certainly take place. Despite only a limited number of human beings with such characteristics, when the government officers, politicians, and public figures have fairness concepts, the creation of social harmony is not merely a dream.
The essence of democracy should be built on the basis of national wisdom. Regarding this research, further research toward a concept of democracy using cultural approach and cultural propositions as a data can be conducted. Verba (2006) states that notions of fairness are often invoked in relation to democracy. Though democracy and fairness may each mean many things, they are expected to go together.

Conclusion
This research paper was prepared on the basis of the research result on Javanese cultural wisdom, especially the fairness concept as expressed in the propositions. On the basis of the categories revealed in the taxonomic relationships, the fairness concept of Javanese culture is marked by two principles, i.e. (1) a principle regarding management of individual quality, and (2) the one regarding management of the quality of social relationships. Sportiveness, therefore, not only merely involves individual quality, but also interpersonal relationship quality. This research offers a research model and cultural wisdom study.
Although the research data only covered the propositions without being measured by the success measurement instrument, the results of this research can contribute some ideas to the individuals regarding how they behave sportively. Further research regarding this topic needs to be conducted to search the key performance indicator of fairness in order that this can be used as teaching materials for soft skills. The research on cultural wisdom expressed in all ethnics in Indonesia can be potential to find cultural wisdom.

Acknowledgement
A special expression of thanks we extend to Ratnawati Rachmat and Karsono H. Saputra, the members of the research team. Without their help, the research would never have materialized. We would also like to thank the informants and the resource persons who join Paguyuban Ngesthi Tama Manunggal, Sangkrah, Surakarta and Paguyuban Wredha Dharma Vidya Caraka, Serengan, Surakarta, for key information and advice during the in-depth interview and group discussion forum regarding the fairness concept in Javanese culture. In addition, my gratefulness is expressed to all fellow teachers who articulated how the response in the seminar was limited to the analysis results.