I've been talking about rights and values largely because I'm trying to develop a framework for harmonizing all the cultural issues and conflicts around me and for implementing Buddhism in our modern society. I've been having some fortune in doing this. By analyzing the various assumptions and "things" that people assert as "principles" and seeking to understand them systematically I've come to see a framework for establishing a morality that is both rational and yet linked to tradition.
The next concept that will help link the principles of democracy with other principles is the principle of "virtue." Values have a purpose. And rights have a purpose. The purpose of a right is to enable actions that will bring about a desired end. Some ends like "Happiness" don't make sense unless one breaks them down into components. And then one sees that pursuit of happiness is a never ending end. We achieve happiness, and then we have to pursue it all over again. If we have a right to "pursue happiness" it is with the constraint that we not harm others in that process.
What makes people join together to create systems of interaction is that systems have "merit" for them. One gets more than one puts in, or at least as much as one puts into the system. If a system requires more from some than others, the others are "free riders" and in a sense acting as parasites on the system. The difference between a parasite and a predator is that a predator functions within an ecosystem as an element of that system, but a parasite functions within a system and harms (degrades) that system.
What makes a system function is that each of the components of that system provide "merit" for the other components. We go to the baker for bread, we go to the miller for grain. The baker buys the grain saving us from having to go to the miller. A trucker ships the grain providing the baker without the requirement to physically pick up the grain. A trucking system links the trucker, the miller, the baker, and farmers, so that each know if and when a trucker is available to ship the product. Economic systems exist because the components have merit, the system has merit.
The merits of a person, group, or system, can also be described as "virtues." Virtues are to merit the way principles are to goals like happiness, freedom, or independence. We follow principles because they are linked to goals. We establish principles because they have merits. When principles are upheld in a way that generates merit for those who uphold it, that is merit.
I got this idea while listening to the House Historian talk about the merits of the House. There is a whole lot more to read on this subject, because it isn't really a new line of reasoning. For some reason we don't hear much talk about virtue anymore. People want their own rights and don't seem to see the importance of "merit" and virtue in acquiring and maintaining rights. And also there is an extremist line of argument "out there" that merit and virtue doesn't matter -- just let everyone act on their own maximal greed and instinct and everything will turn out right. But that isn't true. We can see who meritricious and dishonest behavior degrades the system we live in.
The virtue of a democratic system is that it enables each individual to maximize his own virtues and merit. And the virtue of seeking to exhibit virtues is that it allows each person to pursue his rights to the betterment of the whole. The reason this is so is that the virtues of the subcomponents of a system each contribute to the health of the whole. When we uphold virtues we exhibit merit. This is simple causality.
For example the virtue of Good communications allow truckers to maximize the value of their work efforts, bakers to maximize their baking, and a whole lot of other functions to work better. Thus good communication is a "virtue". It is a virtue of communications systems, and it is a "desired" virtue of the elements of those systems. For example the virtue of "transparency" in Government is that it allows the public to ensure that Government upholds its virtues. The "virtue" of oversight comes from the communications it involves and the need of the "legislature" to keep an eye on the merit of the Executive.
This provides the link between the goals of "liberty", "equality" and the varous structures and systems that actually exist. We also can draw a reverse inference from this discussion. When the press doesn't behave as it "should" -- it doesn't uphold the virtues of a free press, the results are all sorts of mischief. When the legal or executive powers seek to degrade the virtues of a free press they also degrade the merits of their own performance. Virtue is actually tied to attaining generalized goals that enable people to achieve happiness, governments to maximize the "general welfare", and systems to function. Thus we also have a link between what constitutes "good" and what doesn't.
So we need to think long and hard about virtue. Not just in generalized abstract terms but also in our own terms. What are the virtues of my profession? What can I do to maximize my virtue in my role as a "citizen", a "worker", a "spouse" , or a "parent." What are the virtues required for those functions to succeed. What are the criteria for success?
Chris
Posted by cholte at June 2, 2007 09:47 PM