World Ethics

or some people the idea of a world that is ethical, a world that is consistent, may seem like a far stretch of the imagination. But what do we really stand to lose if we deny ourselves this possibility, even if only in our imagination? If there cannot be a world ethics, then there will always be one group that considers another to be "bad" or "wrong" by comparison. If this is so, there will continue to be general non-acceptance and intolerance, if not war.

World ethics can be described as a sense of consistency and integrity throughout the world. It is the intellectual and experiential discovery of the principles that all humans can act under to create a growing and prospering world-community.

However, we cannot bring a world like this into fruition without first truly understanding the nature of what it is to be human, which perhaps, up until this point, has not been fully understood. Take, for example, the choice of doing what you know versus what you feel like doing. Often, this simple aspect of human behavior is cast in such a light that the conflict of the mind and the body are seen as the conflict between good and evil. This perspective can make it seem as if this ongoing struggle can never be resolved.

Sigmund Freud once wrote, "Anatomy is destiny." Herein lies the question: is our body the master of our mind, or is the mind the master of our body? If our bodies are the masters of our minds, then ultimately we are bound to the fearful and indulgent aspects of our existence. In a sense, we would be little different than other animals.