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| Reasoning and Authoritarian Edicts |
Reasoning and Authoritarian Edicts
An edict is a public statement, or command, delivered by some authority. The nature of an edict allows little room for reasoning. You either accept an edict, or you do not.
And that is the key to reasoning and authoritarian edicts. Clear thinking can help you analyze the nature of the authorities that govern your life and the nature of specific edicts that those authorities deliver.
Automatically following an edict is the simplest course of action. Refusing to follow an edict may involve a reasoned decision to not follow that specific edict, or a reasoned decision to not acknowledge the power of the issuing authority. In either case, a decision to disobey often represents an ethical choice and includes an element of personal risk. Refusal to obey is usually taken as a challenge to the power of the issuing authority, and authorities are seldom pleased when they are disobeyed.
A child who disobeys a parent might be scolded. A student who disobeys a teacher might be sent home. A citizen who disobeys the law might be imprisoned. A Catholic who disobeys the Pope might be excommunicated. A soldier who refuses to follow an order might be shot.
Not all authorities and their edicts have the same scope and power. For convenience, authorities can be divided into levels in order to simplify any analysis of the edicts that they may issue.
Authorities at Level A
Level A authorities are respected members of your family and your community. This includes parents, other family members, teachers, coaches, leaders of local service organizations, and community religious leaders. These authorities are known personally and they rely largely on the powers of their personalities to enforce their edicts. When all goes well, edicts issued by these authorities are for your personal development and guidance.
Authorities at Level B
Level B authorities are members of government bodies. Their edicts are laws intended to manage the social activities under their jurisdiction. They can levy financial penalties or use the physical force of the justice system to enforce their edicts. A simple test to examine the validity of a law is to ask the question, ‘What would happen if everyone obeyed that law, and what would happen if everyone disobeyed that law?’ For example, if no one ever assaulted another person, then your community would be much safer; however, if everyone regularly attacked one another, then your community would be in chaos. So a law prohibiting assault seems to be a reasonable and valid edict.
Authorities at Level C
Level C authorities possess expert knowledge and skills needed by society. Scientists, engineers, medical doctors, and religious leaders all fall into this category. Scientists, engineers, and medical doctors acquire their knowledge via induction and deduction.
Religious leaders acquire their knowledge via revelations from select prophets.
Through research and analysis, scientists determine theorems and ‘laws of nature’ that can be used to predict the results of future experiments. A key feature of scientific predictions is that they can be verified by direct experimentation. As new knowledge and skills are acquired, theorems and laws of nature are modified and updated.
Through study and revelation, religious leaders predict which behaviours in this world will lead to privileged positions in the next world. However, religious predictions about the next world can only be taken on faith. Religious leaders seldom exhibit flexibility regarding their edicts. For example the First Vatican Council in 1870 formalized the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, to match the doctrine of Infallibility of the Church. Essentially these edicts say that God will not allow the Roman Catholic Church to err in its belief or teaching. Still, as new knowledge and skills are acquired and social conditions change, religious edicts and recommended behaviours can and do change, although at a slower pace than scientific edicts.
An edict is a public statement, or command, delivered by some authority. The nature of an edict allows little room for reasoning. You either accept an edict, or you do not.
And that is the key to reasoning and authoritarian edicts. Clear thinking can help you analyze the nature of the authorities that govern your life and the nature of specific edicts that those authorities deliver.
Automatically following an edict is the simplest course of action. Refusing to follow an edict may involve a reasoned decision to not follow that specific edict, or a reasoned decision to not acknowledge the power of the issuing authority. In either case, a decision to disobey often represents an ethical choice and includes an element of personal risk. Refusal to obey is usually taken as a challenge to the power of the issuing authority, and authorities are seldom pleased when they are disobeyed.
A child who disobeys a parent might be scolded. A student who disobeys a teacher might be sent home. A citizen who disobeys the law might be imprisoned. A Catholic who disobeys the Pope might be excommunicated. A soldier who refuses to follow an order might be shot.
Not all authorities and their edicts have the same scope and power. For convenience, authorities can be divided into levels in order to simplify any analysis of the edicts that they may issue.
Authorities at Level A
Level A authorities are respected members of your family and your community. This includes parents, other family members, teachers, coaches, leaders of local service organizations, and community religious leaders. These authorities are known personally and they rely largely on the powers of their personalities to enforce their edicts. When all goes well, edicts issued by these authorities are for your personal development and guidance.
Authorities at Level B
Level B authorities are members of government bodies. Their edicts are laws intended to manage the social activities under their jurisdiction. They can levy financial penalties or use the physical force of the justice system to enforce their edicts. A simple test to examine the validity of a law is to ask the question, ‘What would happen if everyone obeyed that law, and what would happen if everyone disobeyed that law?’ For example, if no one ever assaulted another person, then your community would be much safer; however, if everyone regularly attacked one another, then your community would be in chaos. So a law prohibiting assault seems to be a reasonable and valid edict.
Authorities at Level C
Level C authorities possess expert knowledge and skills needed by society. Scientists, engineers, medical doctors, and religious leaders all fall into this category. Scientists, engineers, and medical doctors acquire their knowledge via induction and deduction.
Religious leaders acquire their knowledge via revelations from select prophets.
Through research and analysis, scientists determine theorems and ‘laws of nature’ that can be used to predict the results of future experiments. A key feature of scientific predictions is that they can be verified by direct experimentation. As new knowledge and skills are acquired, theorems and laws of nature are modified and updated.
Through study and revelation, religious leaders predict which behaviours in this world will lead to privileged positions in the next world. However, religious predictions about the next world can only be taken on faith. Religious leaders seldom exhibit flexibility regarding their edicts. For example the First Vatican Council in 1870 formalized the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, to match the doctrine of Infallibility of the Church. Essentially these edicts say that God will not allow the Roman Catholic Church to err in its belief or teaching. Still, as new knowledge and skills are acquired and social conditions change, religious edicts and recommended behaviours can and do change, although at a slower pace than scientific edicts.
