A UNIVERSAL DECLARATION
OF A GLOBAL ETHIC
I. RATIONALE
We women and men from various ethical and religious traditions commit ourselves
to the following Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic. We speak here
not of ethics in the plural, which implies rather great detail, but of
ethic in the singular, i.e., the fundamental attitude toward good and evil,
and the basic and middle principles needed to put it into action.
We make this commitment not despite our differences but arising out
of our distinct perspectives, recognizing nevertheless in our diverse ethical
and religious traditions common convictions that lead us to speak out against
all forms of inhumanity and for humaneness in our treatment of ourselves,
one another and the world around us. We find in each of our traditions:
a) grounds in support of universal human rights,
b) a call to work for justice and peace, and
c) concern for conservation of the earth.
We confirm and applaud the positive human values that are, at times painfully
slowly, but nevertheless increasingly, being accepted and advocated in
our world: freedom, equality, democracy, recognition of interdependence,
commitment to justice and human rights. We also believe that conditions
in our world encourage, indeed require, us to look beyond what divides
us and to speak as one on matters that are crucial for the survival of
and respect for the earth. Therefore we advocate movement toward a global
order that reflects the best values found in our myriad traditions.
We are convinced that a just global order can be built only upon a global
ethic which clearly states universally-recognized norms and principles,
and that such an ethic presumes a readiness and intention on the part of
people to act justly--that is, a movement of the heart. Secondly, a global
ethic requires a thoughtful presentation of principles that are held up
to open investigation and critique--a movement of the head.
Each of our traditions holds commitments beyond what is expressed here,
but we find that within our ethical and religious traditions the world
community is in the process of discovering elements of a fundamental minimal
consensus on ethics which is convincing to all women and men of good will,
religious and nonreligious alike, and which will provide us with a moral
framework within which we can relate to ourselves, each other and the world
in a just and respectful manner.
In order to build a humanity-wide consensus we find it is essential
to develop and use a language that is humanity-based, though each religious
and ethical tradition also has its own language for what is expressed in
this Declaration. Furthermore, none of our traditions, ethical or religious,
is satisfied with minimums, vital as they are; rather, because humans are
endlessly self-transcending, our traditions also provide maximums to be
striven for. Consequently, this Declaration does the same. The maximums,
however, clearly are ideals to be striven for, and therefore cannot be
required, lest the essential freedoms and rights of some thereby be violated.
II. PRESUPPOSITIONS
As a Universal Declaration of a Global Ethic, which we believe must
undergird any affirmation of human rights and respect for the earth, this
document affirms and supports the rights and corresponding responsibilities
enumerated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United
Nations. In conjunction with that first United Nations Declaration we believe
there are five general presuppositions which are indispensable for a global
ethic:
a) Every human possesses inalienable and inviolable dignity; individuals,
states, and other social entities are obliged to respect and protect the
dignity of each person.
b) No person or social entity exists beyond the scope of morality;
everyone--individuals and social organizations--is obliged to do good and
avoid evil.
c) Humans are endowed with reason and conscience--the great challenge
of being human is to act conscientiously; communities, states and other
social organizations are obliged to protect and foster these capabilities.
d) Communities, states and other social organizations which contribute
to the good of humans and the world have a right to exist and flourish;
this right should be respected by all.
e) Humans are a part of nature, not apart from nature; ethical concerns
extend beyond humanity to the rest of the earth, and indeed the cosmos.
In brief: this Declaration, in reflection of reality, is not just anthropo-centric,
but cosmo-anthropo-centric.
III. A FUNDAMENTAL RULE
We propose the Golden Rule, which for thousands of years has been affirmed
in many religious and ethical traditions, as a fundamental principle upon
which to base a global ethic: "What you do not wish done to yourself, do
not do to others," or in positive terms, "What you wish done to yourself,
do to others." This rule should be valid not only for one's own family,
friends, community and nation, but also for all other individuals, families,
communities, nations, the entire world, the cosmos.
IV. BASIC PRINCIPLES
1.Because freedom is of the essence of being human, every
person is free to exercise and develop every capacity, so long as it does
not infringe on the rights of other persons or express a lack of due respect
for things living or non-living. In addition, human freedom should be exercised
in such a way as to enhance both the freedom of all humans and due respect
for all things, living and non-living.
2. Because of their inherent equal dignity, all humans should always
be treated as ends, never as mere means. In addition, all humans in every
encounter with others should strive to enhance to the fullest the intrinsic
dignity of all involved.
3. Although humans have greater intrinsic value than non- humans, all
such things, living and non-living, do possess intrinsic value simply because
of their existence and, as such, are to be treated with due respect. In
addition, all humans in every encounter with non-humans, living and non-living,
should strive to respect them to the fullest of their intrinsic value.
4. As humans necessarily seek ever more truth, so too they seek to unite
themselves, that is, their "selves," with what they perceive as the good:
in brief, they love. Usually this "self" is expanded/transcended to include
their own family and friends, seeking the good for them. In addition, as
with the Golden Rule, this loving/loved "self" needs to continue its natural
expansion/ transcendence to embrace the community, nation, world, and cosmos.
5. Thus true human love is authentic self-love and other- love co-relatively
linked in such a way that ultimately it is drawn to become all-inclusive.
This expansive and inclusive nature of love should be recognized as an
active principle in personal and global interaction.
6. Those who hold responsibility for others are obliged to help those
for whom they hold responsibility. In addition, the Golden Rule implies:
If we were in serious difficulty wherein we could not help ourselves, we
would want those who could help us to do so, even if they held no responsibility
for us; therefore we should help others in serious difficulty who cannot
help themselves, even though we hold no responsibility for them.
7. Because all humans are equally entitled to hold their religion or
belief--i.e., their explanation of the ultimate meaning of life and how
to live accordingly--as true, every human's religion or belief should be
granted its due freedom and respect.
8. In addition, dialogue--i.e., conversation whose primary aim is to
learn from the other--is a necessary means whereby women and men learn
to respect the other, ceaselessly to expand and deepen their own explanation
of the meaning of life, and to develop an ever broadening consensus whereby
men and women can live together on this globe in an authentically human
manner.
V. MIDDLE PRINCIPLES
The following "Middle Ethical Principles" are in fact those which underlie
the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, formally
approved by almost every nation in the world.
1. Legal Rights/Responsibilities:
Because all humans have an inherent equal dignity, all should be treated
equally before the law and provided with its equal protection.
At the same time, all individuals and communities should follow all
just laws, obeying not only the letter but most especially the spirit.
2. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Conscience and Religion or Belief:
Because humans are thinking, and therefore essentially free- deciding
beings, all have the right to freedom of thought, speech, conscience and
religion or belief.
At the same time, all humans should exercise their rights of freedom
of thought, speech, conscience and religion or belief in ways that will
respect themselves and all others and strive to produce maximum benefit,
broadly understood, for both themselves and their fellow humans.
3. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Speech and Information:
Because humans are thinking beings with the ability to perceive reality
and express it, all individuals and communities have both the right and
the responsibility, as far as possible, to learn the truth and express
it honestly.
At the same time everyone should avoid cover-ups, distortions, manipulations
of others and inappropriate intrusions into personal privacy; this freedom
and responsibility is especially true of the mass media, artists, scientists,
politicians and religious leaders.
4. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Participation in All Decision-making
Affecting Oneself or Those for Whom One is Responsible:
Because humans are free-deciding beings, all adults have the right
to a voice, direct or indirect, in all decisions that affect them, including
a meaningful participation in choosing their leaders and holding them accountable,
as well as the right of equal access to all leadership positions for which
their talents qualify them.
At the same time, all humans should strive to exercise their right,
and obligation, to participate in self-governance as to produce maximum
benefit, widely understood, for both themselves and their fellow humans.
5. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning the Relationship between Women and
Men:
Because women and men are inherently equal and all men and women have
an equal right to the full development of all their talents as well as
the freedom to marry, with equal rights for all women and men in living
out or dissolving marriage.
At the same time, all men and women should act toward each other outside
of and within marriage in ways that will respect the intrinsic dignity,
equality, freedom and responsibilities of themselves and others.
6. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Property:
Because humans are free, bodily and social in nature, all individual
humans and communities have the right to own property of various sorts.
At the same time, society should be so organized that property will
be dealt with respectfully, striving to produce maximum benefit not only
for the owners but also for their fellow humans, as well as for the world
at large.
7. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Work and Leisure:
Because to lead an authentic human life all humans should normally
have both meaningful work and recreative leisure, individuals and communities
should strive to organize society so as to provide these two dimensions
of an authentic human life both for themselves and all the members of their
communities.
At the same time, all individuals have an obligation to work appropriately
for their recompense, and, with all communities, to strive for ever more
creative work and re-creative leisure for themselves, their communities,
and other individuals and communities.
8. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Children and Education:
Children are first of all not responsible for their coming into existence
or for their socialization and education; their parents are. Where for
whatever reason they fail, the wider community, relatives and civil community,
have an obligation to provide the most humane care possible, physical,
mental, moral/ spiritual and social, for children.
Because humans can become authentically human only through education
in the broad sense, and today increasingly can flourish only with extensive
education in the formal sense, all individuals and communities should strive
to provide an education for all children and adult women and men which
is directed to the full development of the human person, respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms, the promotion of understanding, dialogue
and friendship among all humans--regardless of racial, ethnic, religious,
belief, sexual or other differences--and respect for the earth.
At the same time, all individuals and communities have the obligation
to contribute appropriately to providing the means necessary for this education
for themselves and their communities, and beyond that to strive to provide
the same for all humans.
8. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Peace:
Because peace as both the absence of violence and the presence of justice
for all humans is the necessary condition for the complete development
of the full humanity of all humans, individually and communally, all individuals
and communities should strive constantly to further the growth of peace
on all levels, personal, interpersonal, local, regional, national and international,
granting that
a) the necessary basis of peace is justice for all concerned;
b) violence is to be vigorously avoided, being resorted to only when
its absence would cause a greater evil;
c) when peace is ruptured, all efforts should be bent to its rapid
restoration--on the necessary basis of justice for all.
At the same time, it should be recognized that peace, like liberty,
is a positive value which should be constantly cultivated, and therefore
all individuals and communities should make the necessary prior efforts
not only to avoid its break-down but also to strengthen its steady development
and growth.
10. Rights/Responsibilities Concerning Peace:
Because things, living and non-living, have an intrinsic value
simply because of their existence, and also because humans cannot develop
fully as humans, or even survive, if the environment is severely damaged,
all individuals and communities should respect the ecosphere within which
"we all live, move and have our being," and act so that
a) nothing, living or non-living, will be destroyed in its
natural form except when used for some greater good, as, for example, the
use of plants/animals for food;
b) if at all possible, only replaceable material will be destroyed in
its natural form.
At the same time, all individuals and communities should constantly
be vigilant to protect our fragile universe, particularly from the exploding
human population and increasing technological possibilities which threaten
it in an ever expanding fashion.
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Send suggestions for revision to: Prof. Leonard Swidler, Religion
Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA; FAX: 215-477-5928;
E-mail: dialogue@vm.temple.edu
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Last revised: 17 Sept. 1998 ihs