1.5.9.11 Love and Equality are Not Enough

Version 1.0 October 2022                             (Previous Version)

Before considering the sufficiency of Love and Equality, we must avoid being misled by the order of presentation of these ethical values.  Equality on its own is not enough either!  Though treating people, or sentient beings, equally seems fair on the surface, without Love as a guiding principle (the desire to minimize suffering and promote happiness) we could act in a way that is equally unfair to all and still comply with the principle of Equality.  We could behave in a way that is equally bad for everyone who is affected.  This is obviously not what we would consider ethical behaviour.  So we choose to value both Love and Equality, while being clear that while valuing both of these is essential for us to lead a good life, they are, on their own, incomplete as a set of ethical guidelines.

We accept that ethical judgements are based on outcomes as well as intent.  As the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  What turned out to be wrongdoings or harmful actions are often undertaken with the aim of improving peoples’ welfare, not harming it.  Good intentions, when acted upon, may have unintended, adverse consequences.  We are obliged, if we value Love and Equality to pursue the Truth, to discern the relevant aspects of Reality, and allow for a Diversity of informed opinions, so that we become more aware of the expected outcomes of our ethical choices. 

If Love involves minimizing suffering it must be balanced with valuing Life: we mustn’t lightly euthanize a sentient being to reduce its suffering, but must take into account that entity’s desire to still live and be able to have a satisfying life.  On the other hand, when the suffering is immense and a person makes a conscious and justifiable decision to end the suffering by dying, we should allow that.

Other core values are also applicable.  We want to avoid being in the position of saying “I loved her, I didn’t mean to hurt her!�  To avoid harming others we need self-discipline, to avoid aggressive or controlling anger, to prevent our pride, greed, lust, envy, jealousy or sloth from causing harm.  We need to take action ourselves, and have others take action, to assist us to overcome selfish or negligent behaviour that causes harm.  it's not a matter of a logical necessity, but rather a practical one.

For ourselves and others, we need a motivator to help us actually do the right thing.  This is the subject of the next section.