Conclusion
This chapter returns to two key questions about the ways to think about gratitude. One has to do with the question of the sense of self—can humans be independent?—and the ways that someone might approach a benefactor’s generosity with the belief that it curtails her sense of independence. The other has to do with the question of the human sense of obligations—can someone be indebted?—and the ways that someone might approach any benefit as something that oppresses her. The chapter examines how these concepts—dependence and debt—have been described, and how it is possible to construe a very different meaning of what gratitude can be than what these two concepts seem to suggest.