Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-25

The court over which I have
the honor to preside would be a
different court not only in
wisdom, but also in character, If
it consisted of only one person.
Even in the law, where the issues
are often less complicated than
in our daily lives, each Of US, par
ticipating in final authority, needs
frank and independent criticism
of his peers. In our court, any
member may be outvoted, but no
one is outvoted until after con-
sultation and reflection upon the
competing values involved in the
problem to be solved. Likewise, in
the areas in which each of us is
his own court, so to speak, in
the law beyond the law, one must
be prepared to be outvoted after
taking counsel with his better in
stinctS and to accept graciously
the minority status that follows.
We all know the Importance Of
consulting a physician about our
physical health. Is our moral
health any less important? In
one area of life, such moral coun-
selling has been, introduced with
very significant results-namely
that Of marriage. -
But the business executive, the
labor leader, the academician, the
politician-needS counsel as to
what is right no less than the
husband and the wife. Our chair
man, Judge Rifkind, is quoted as
remarking that frequently VIII e n
new business ventures are under
taken, all kinds of experts are
present-except for one expert
the expert in ethics, who can sug-
gest whether the whole plan as
conceived was socially useful, was
right, was appropriate under the
circumstances.
How Different II Might Be
1t would require quite a revolu-
ton in our way of thinking for
each industry to invite an expert
in ethics to sit on its board and
to participate in its deliberations;
for each trade union to have such
an expert advise it with regard
to its responsibilities to the gen.
eral community, as well as to its
own members. and to advise its
officers regarding their respon-
Sibility for the men under their
guidance. Our college campuses
might look very different If such
problems as the promotion Of
faculty members, and the enlarge
ment and functioning of the
school itself were subject to de-
liberation on moral grounds. And
our political campaigns. our NOM
nations and elections might well
be different, If political parties
included experts in ethics among
those deciding policies.
Is it fantastic to suggest that
there is an urgent need in our
troubled times for the develop
ment of the profession of the
counselor in ethics, having the
same relation to interpersonal
conduct, beyond the law, that the
lawyer has to conduct that is
subject to the review in the
courts? The developments of this
century indicate that this need
is no fantasy at all. Until this
century, the world had never
heard Of marriage counselors OF
of psychoanalysts. Yet the value
of each calling had been demon
strated. The search for ethics has
been pursued since ancient times
Is 1t not obvious that all of Us
need ethics counselors?
Ministers Mentioned
Such counselors in ethics might
well include the ministers of al
faiths, II they were trained to
serve in the capacity required Of
them by q changing world. Knowl.
edge of the great traditions Of
ethics would certainly help ar
ethics counselor, no less thar
knowledge of legal precedent helps
a lawyer, trying a case which il
really without precise precedent
But in the contemporary world
ethics counselorS might have tt
include other people tina
ministers, as well. I can conceive
also of lay scholars who, havinl
mastered the ethical thought o.
the ages and spent much time II
the study of the modern worlC
and its problem, could helpfully
suggest courses Of action and al
ternatives which might prove
helnfl1l tn the modern bushes.