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Da Vinci's Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (Lady with an Ermine). c.1490, can be seen at Czartorychi Muzeum, Cracow, Poland.  Image courtesy of Olga's Gallery.

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Library of Ethical Development

In a note to a group of young people, Mark Twain once advised, "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." The thought of astonishing people is certainly appealing, yet somehow we have to know what's right before we can do it. How do we know what's right?  It's not all that easy, despite the fact that there's a vast field of study devoted to the topic which is described using terms like "Ethics," or "Moral Philosophy."  However, countless philosophers writing shelves full of books over interminable millennia have hardly improved on the age-old dogma, "treat others as you want to be treated."  Albert Schweitzer rephrased it this way: "A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives." 

But why should we even be interested in opening the question?  Why not just leave the discussion of ethics to theologians? 

Despite the fact that religion and ethics are sometimes assumed to be interchangeable ideas, a standard of morality is important whether one believes in a higher power or not.  It makes society work and establishes the basis by which human beings can relate to each other safely and comfortably.  If our ethical lines shift according to whim, others won't be able to anticipate our responses or predict our stance on any issue.  We all have a strong desire to know where we "stand" in relation to others.  Do they care about us?  Do we care about them?  How do we know whether our relationships can be relied upon? Generally we know "where we stand" with others based on their treatment of us and their responses to our actions.  We have the best relationships with those people we feel certain will react more or less as we expect. Since this works both ways, we want to treat them with the same regard and respect that we expect them to extend to us.

In his book, The Moral Sense, modern philosopher and educator James Q. Wilson argues that there are ethical "inclinations" that are common to almost all people. Although he cautions that "this doesn't mean we have found a set of moral rules," he also believes that most of us try to keep society's laws out of higher concerns than merely a fear of retribution.  He notes, "a sense of duty, a desire to please, a belief in fairness, and sympathy for the plight of others."

Discoveries in neuroscience over the past decade suggest that there might even be something of this sort hard-wired in our brains. "Mirror neurons" have created quite a stir since their discovery by Italian scientists in the 90's, and subsequent studies have had fascinating results.  The same areas of the brain are activated not only when we perform an action ourselves, but also when we watch the same action being performed by somone else. Many scientists are convinced that this indicates the seat of our brain's ability to internally simulate the experiences of others. As the European Science Foundation puts it, "Today, mirror neurons play a major explanatory role in the understanding of a number of human features, from imitation to empathy." 

Empathy, of course, is what allows us to "treat others as we want to be treated."  Maybe we really do have a certain degree of a "moral sense," as Wilson argues.  If so, it would seem to weaken the arguments for moral relativism and to elevate words like "values" and "ethics" to a status somewhat higher than "tastes" or "preferences."  This distinction is very important in the study of ethics. Among other things it allows us to see modern examples of man's inhumanity to man as the horrors they are, rather than as merely another culture's chosen practices.

Those who believe in a higher power may have reasons to adhere to a variety of additional codes and ethical standards, but whether one believes in a higher power or not, our "moral sense" at least should compel us to go about our lives with ethical standards founded on empathy and concern for others.

As for John Q. Wilson, in a still, small voice he concludes his book with the words, "Mankind's moral sense is not a strong beacon light, radiating outward to illuminate in sharp outline all that it touches.  It is, rather, a small candle flame, casting vague and multiple shadows, flickering and sputtering in the strong winds of power and passion, greed and ideology.  But brought close to the heart and cupped in one's hands, it dispels the darkness and warms the soul."

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