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Perfection In a Imperfect World 1/31/2007 8:31:17 AM
I believe there are absolutes that every nation should abide by. This discussion is from my logic notes. An interesting declaration based on universal values was issued by Kofi Annan of the United Nations. Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General asks whether the global community is still guided by universal values in his speech "Ethics, Human Rights and Globalization" He writes"... Do we still have universal values? Yes, we do — but we should not take them for granted. They need to be carefully thought through. They need to be defended — and strengthened...."
As a logic student, I have found that my fascination with ancient history shows that there are certain Universal values based on Ideals that are absolute. Why they are not recognized by everyone is because values can be subverted by the passions of man. Some will call it lawlessness, others will call it justice. Yet there are the laws of every nation that testify to the inalienable right of all people throughout the world. Human rights, for all people, has always been in the spirit of mankind, from the garden of Eden, up to the present age.
Thoses laws that protect life are based on an Ideal, yet when that ideal is perverted, that nation falls. Recognizing the values can often seem a struggle equal to Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannous, where fate and Free will collide. Nullifying a value by perverting its truth will still not void a Truth.
Analyze those points you are referring to. Is health not something everyone sees as a universal value? Therefore, if health is a universal value, then every country must place a value on it. Health as its (Ideal)As is Freedom, is something everyone strives to achieve, although the Ideal is restricted by laws or unknown illnesses, each has its gatekeeper, be it, the physicians or Judges who work as the checks and balances in a imperfect world. In Plato's work "The Republic" he envisioned certain Ideals, Ideals such as Wisdom, Health, and procreation as important aspects to his Ideal society. To reach such an Ideal, as in the metaphorical "City on the Hill"; we often run into the Crucible, with all the prejudices and temptations that come with people who allow their passions to overshadow good judgment. Freedom in a society of much liberty has to have laws based True tenets,which represent the Tenets of life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, inalienable rights that a social compact strives for. Consequently, Human rights are truly universally accepted throughout the world as an Ideal all wish to achieve in an in perfect world. Knowing that all humans are not perfect, and have a tendency for fits of passion , the vision of , "... and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more..." engraved on the U.N. build in New York has yet to be realized.
Our conclusions are rather simple. If deontology is right, and if we have to be able to know right from wrong with utter certainty, then moral judgments can be known to us a priori. Nothing about morality can be hidden from us; we have the capacity to know everything that is right or wrong, and those things we cannot know were not moral issues in the first place. Again, if we are to be responsible for some choice, then we must be able to know right from wrong without doubt. If these arguments are sound, then moral judgments are universal and absolute; for if they different in place and time, then we can never be sure of what to choose.
< http://online.umflint.edu/blackboard/bioethics/lecture6parta.htm>
What are our guides for right and wrong throughout man's history? What was a universal value, meaning of life and where did man look, but at empirical knowledge bound with laws that framed our society ? If life was bound by the epicurean philosophy, then we are just dust formed by chance, bound for oblivion. Because, spontaneous generation can never able to be proven, it is an unspoken conclusion that deep down humans believe that life is precious. The proof is in the laws that carry a heavy penalty throughout the world for those who take another's life. An army that protects our people and land, an executive body that rights laws which are enforced by our local police force. The foundation for empirical proof is a cornerstone for those things we do not see. What can man do, but study to learn what is really so in the visible world to reveal the ultimate meaning of life through those things which are hidden. Yes, there are dictators and despots who wish to rule through force, but as long as man can use his mind along with his emotions, their conscience will guide in the right direction.
