As most of you know, about two years ago I abandoned the religion of my parents. It wasn’t working for me, and since then I’ve been a much happier, healther, more honest person.
One of the unfortunate things I found in taking the Socratic “I know nothing” approach, though, is that of building a “personal ethic”. Many people assume that without a god to lay down an ethic for you, like the Ten Commandments, you’d be left to your own devices and become this wicked, evil person. I’m living proof that that’s not true 🙂 Nevertheless, I’ve often thought that this road would be much easier for other people to grasp if there was a succinct summary of ethics which I could point to and say, “That’s what I strive for”.
Luckily, my acquaintance John B. Hodges penned just such a summary, as “The Ten Points of Ethical Wisdom, an Atheist Moral Compass”:
- Do not mistake obedience for morality. Ethics is a tool for living with other people. It is not based on authority, but on reason and compassion.
- Do not seek to deceive yourself or others with pleasing lies. Things are as they are, and the consequences of actions will be what they will be. The wise will be truth-seeking and truth-telling.
- If you value anything in this life, on this Earth, you should value other people, for they are the only help you will have in times of trouble. Seek friends and allies, do not make enemies unnecessarily.
- Reason and compassion together imply other commitments: to democracy, freedom of thought and speech, equal rights for all, community support for the disadvantaged and handicapped, humane treatment of animals, and preserving the Earth for future generations.
- Why does a person deserve the protection of the law? For one thing, we are persons also, and force uncontrolled by law would threaten us as well. We are all at risk, of illness, accident, poverty, and aging; by protecting the weak, we protect ourselves.
- We find ourselves alive and conscious. What shall we do with our lives? Beware “fishers of men”. If we demand that someone else supply us with a purpose, someone else may DO just that. Purpose is ours to choose.
- There is a natural “default” purpose, which we may choose if we like. We all have parents, as did they, back to the beginning of life. Every one of our ancestors had children. Health is the ability to survive; the goal favored by natural selection is “promote the health of your family.” We are all the offspring of uncounted generations of family-health-maximizers, so we may find adopting this goal consciously to be congenial. Beyond our near relatives, we may choose to draw our circle of friends and relations as widely as we wish. We are all members of Darwin’s family, all kin from the beginning of life.
- The Good is that which leads to health, The Right is that which leads to peace. If you want to maintain peaceful and cooperative relations with your neighbors, don’t kill, steal, lie, or break agreements. If you want peace, work for justice. As Shakespeare wrote, “It needs no ghost, Milord, come from the grave, to tell us this.”
- Fairy-tales about the supernatural are not necessary to give meaning or purpose to life. Meaning is the story we choose to join. Instead of seeking a ticket to Heaven by being an obedient slave on Earth, we can gain meaning by taking a positive role in history, seeking to make this Earth a better place.
- Enjoy the life you have, appreciate the world you live in, make the best of the opportunities that reality offers you. Do not seek to live forever, for nothing does. The Universe is vast and wondrous, and more than enough. We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
Although I realize this will not resonate with all readers of barnson.org, it really resonated with me. It’s a bit too long to hang it as a cross-stitch on the wall, though…
An interesting post
Most of these I agree with.. 1. Do not mistake obedience for morality. Ethics is a tool for living with other people. It is not based on authority, but on reason and compassion.
– This is fine, but I do worry about the notion of ethics being only the tool for living with others. It would seem easy to discard this tool when necessary or convenient, or when it becomes easier to live without it. But, to give this one the benefit of the doubt, and assume that it means that ethics is a powerful tool (among other things) makes it nearly perfect. So, let’s do that.
2. Do not seek to deceive yourself or others with pleasing lies. Things are as they are, and the consequences of actions will be what they will be. The wise will be truth-seeking and truth-telling.
– Like this one. Rings true.
3. If you value anything in this life, on this Earth, you should value other people, for they are the only help you will have in times of trouble. Seek friends and allies, do not make enemies unnecessarily.
– Good here as well.
4. Reason and compassion together imply other commitments: to democracy, freedom of thought and speech, equal rights for all, community support for the disadvantaged and handicapped, humane treatment of animals, and preserving the Earth for future generations.
– A bit complicated, this one, but if I understand it it basically says that we shoulod be looking at th ebigger picture, and if thats the case.. then its good.
5. Why does a person deserve the protection of the law? For one thing, we are persons also, and force uncontrolled by law would threaten us as well. We are all at risk, of illness, accident, poverty, and aging; by protecting the weak, we protect ourselves.
– This one (which starts with a question – eek) seems a bit weird. The law is not designed or inclined to protect the weak. It exists to protect anyone (no matter how weak or strong) from anyone (no matte rhow weak or strong) that would bring harm to person, property, money, or otherwise, outlined in such a way that is fair to both the victim and the accused. Its not perfect, but the law is designed for that. This seems to say, “Why have law? Well, why not, because forces of nature will get us too..” Which makes very little sense.
6. We find ourselves alive and conscious. What shall we do with our lives? Beware “fishers of men”. If we demand that someone else supply us with a purpose, someone else may DO just that. Purpose is ours to choose.
– Again, this is weird. It seems to answer the question of “What do we do” with “Beware, someone may supply you with a purpose”. I agree that we should not let our purpose be dominated beyond our ability to choose, but I don’t mind ideas form others. (Weird BTW, that someone who is basically writing the “Rules for life” would say “Don’t follow someone else’s ideas for “What should we do with our lives”)
7. There is a natural “default” purpose, which we may choose if we like. We all have parents, as did they, back to the beginning of life. Every one of our ancestors had children. Health is the ability to survive; the goal favored by natural selection is “promote the health of your family.” We are all the offspring of uncounted generations of family-health-maximizers, so we may find adopting this goal consciously to be congenial. Beyond our near relatives, we may choose to draw our circle of friends and relations as widely as we wish. We are all members of Darwin’s family, all kin from the beginning of life.
– Excluding my Darwin issues, it seems that this one is saying.. Be healthy (if you like), your parents did, so you might like this idea. Then it left turns and says “you can have as many people in your inner circle as you like”. Okay.. Nothing here I really disagree with, but its a tad unclear and a tad overwrought.
8. The Good is that which leads to health, The Right is that which leads to peace. If you want to maintain peaceful and cooperative relations with your neighbors, don’t kill, steal, lie, or break agreements. If you want peace, work for justice. As Shakespeare wrote, “It needs no ghost, Milord, come from the grave, to tell us this.”
– Again, ignoring the jab at theists, sure, all these things seem to be good ideas.
9. Fairy-tales about the supernatural are not necessary to give meaning or purpose to life. Meaning is the story we choose to join. Instead of seeking a ticket to Heaven by being an obedient slave on Earth, we can gain meaning by taking a positive role in history, seeking to make this Earth a better place.
– Well, now we get to the real “God-Bashing”. Nice with the fairytale part. Let it be known that the Christian faith is based on the concept that being an obedient slave will NOT get you a ticket into heaven. I guess if I ignore the weird choices of words, I agree that it is good to try to make the world a better place.. To base all meaning on that though seems difficult to do. I’m too busy trying not to screw it up more today than I did yesterday.
10. Enjoy the life you have, appreciate the world you live in, make the best of the opportunities that reality offers you. Do not seek to live forever, for nothing does. The Universe is vast and wondrous, and more than enough. We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
– Fine, enjoy your life. No real disagreements. Make the best of it. Good there. Nothing lives forever? Disagree, but whatever. Stars.. yeah, they’re pretty cool. Scared of night? Well, my neighborhood can be sketchy.
Score: About 50/50. half of this is good, solid stuff, and is great.. but half seems to try to sound like it is religious, or goes out on a limb, or gets poetic, or just doesn’t make sense.
Oh boy.. who painted this target on my nice white shirt.
The Ten Points of Ethical Wisdom
Author’s reply to Timpane’s comments- the “ten points” format is not ideal, I was trying to respond to a challenge to write a better guide to ethics than the “Ten Commandments”. It is a “Reader’s Digest” summary of a longer essay that I wrote years earlier. The earlier essay was itself a reply to the frequent claim that ethics necessarily comes from religion, that atheists cannot have any moral compass.
Point 5 was originally a response to a fundamentalist’s challenge to explain, without invoking the authority of a God, why anyone deserved the protection of the law- why should the strong not just have everything their own way? It is an attempt to put the “social contract” approach to ethics into a few sentences.
Point 6 again is a summary pressed for space- The question is “What is the purpose of human life?” and my answer is “We have our choice on that.” When you go out to find the purpose of life, you are sure to meet someone who will tell you that the purpose of life is to do the will of God. Coincidentally, this same person will do you the favor of telling you what God wills. And there you are- jumping through his hoops and carrying his luggage, and congratulating yourself for serving the highest cause of all. (I followed a Guru for five years.) SUCKER!!!
Point 9 Is a reply to the frequent claim that without religion there is no meaning to life or the Universe. My reply is that Meaning is the story we choose to join, there are plenty of non-supernatural stories available, about our place in human history and in natural history.
I don’t plan to frequent this blog, so I won’t get into debating what “Christianity” teaches- but if you are interested I have another essay on the Ethics of Jesus at http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/JesusEthics.txt…
Cordially yours,
John B. Hodges
EDIT by matthew: Fixed formatting.
Thanks for the reply..
Wow, never thought I’d get a response from the author.. (Matt, what a cool site you have here).
Unfortunately, I can’t reply to him, b/c he probably won’t be reading, but I do appreciate his point of view, and his willingness to reply in this forum.
I will respond to his points.
Point 5 might be better served by simply admitting that there will be those who seek to harm innocent people, and that society cannot exist if that is allowed to happen. A darwinistic point of view might say that since some sort of law has developed in every society known to man, Anarchy as an idea and lawlessness as a concept has been selected for failure. Neither the strong nor the weak en masse should be allowed to harm one another, because that is morally (if such a thing exists) unit, and because society will rip itself apart. – This is more of a criticism of the fundamentalist who asked the question than it is the author’s response.
Point 6 seems like it was written by someone who followed a guru and was burned. It would also resonate with those who are formerly of very behaviorally strict and controlling religions. The truth is, I agree with the idea that a person should seek the meaning of their life, and then seek the most appropriate way to fulfill that meaning. For Christians, that means bible study, reading interpretations of scripture, and not allowing some authority figure to tell you the best way to follow the teachings of the bible. Teachers are helpful, but much like college professors, their purpose should be to instruct you in the basics using academically sound concepts, and to encourage critical thinking about the subject, to include questioning and instruction from other teachers. Imagine if you went to med school and only ever had one professor… If you are atheist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, whatever.. if your lie’s point is to be a good plumber.. learn from a variety of plumbers who are better, use books, and use practice, so you really know what you are doing.
Point 9 is a bit of a Faith vs. Atheism thing, but you’ll get taken a lot more seriously if words like “fairy tales” are taken out. Essentially, its like testifying about someone in court, and saying how stupid and evil you think they are. Your testimony gets taken more seriously if it seems to be impartial. That being said, sure, you can have meaning in life without God. The faith vs. atheism question is about what is BEST. In my experience, that is God (which of course I think is reality). If you don’t think God exists, then you will obviously find another meaning. The nature of our beliefs are that I will think that any other central meaning is inferior, because I believe there is a real omnipotent God who wants me to focus my life on him. This will seem foolish to anyone who thinks God is a lie, because they will think it is inferior to base your life on a “lie”.
I won’t debate either, I guess, except to say that the gospels are far more harmonious if you don’t disclude the miracles and parables of the first three as the author has. Essentially, it all fits with the “Works won’t do it, following Christ will (BTW, this is why a church that tries to dominate every bit of your behavior – i.e. food, clothes, topics of conversation, etc – makes me oogy because the focus seems WAY off). Part of following Christ is to try to do good, so the works should stem out of the faith. If you screw up, fine, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, try to improve, ask forgiveness, and get back on course”.
End of sermon. thanks for the rousing debate. (Where’s Matt on this one?)
Vandy In The Hizouse
Kind of wordy for me. I think anything that intends to serve a compass for moral wisdom should be parsimonius in its use of words. Otherwise, it’s like the War & Peace of Ethics.
So when I started B-school there was this professor who came on board at the same time. He received a faculty endowment for teaching ethics in business. The students thought this was a joke, and treated it as a soft semester, especially considering that Vanderbilt was also in the midst of touting its burgeoning e-commerce program. Keep in mind that this was 1999, so e-commerce was hot and ethics was something that business students waved off as they were busy crushing their employees under the greed of the e-boom.
Given the cooling of e-commerce, and the recent world-record bankruptcies of fradulent companies, this ethics professor is now quoted in the WSJ, like, every other day.
Point is — business is the greatest social force in the world today. And without ethics in the corporate boardroom, people’s lives get trampled.
Ethics:
-Don’t lie -Don’t steal -Don’t screw people over for a quick buck
Get In Groove, Sammy G