Posted 04 March 2014 - 03:19 AM
“All Find What They Truly Seek”
THE TAO, c.s. lewis, The Abolition of Man
I. The Law of General Beneficence
II. The Law of Special Beneficence
III. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
IV. Duties to Children and Posterity
V. The Law of Justine
VI. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
VII. The Law of Mercy
VIII. The Law of Magnanimity
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I. The Law of General Beneficence
(a) NEGATIVE
'I have not slain men.' (Ancient Egyptian. From the Confession of the
Righteous Soul, 'Book of the Dead', v. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics f=
ERE], vol. V, p. 478)
'Do not murder.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:13)
'Terrify not men or God will terrify thee.' (Ancient Egyptian. Precepts of
Ptahhetep. H. R. Yi2i\\, Ancient History of the Near East, p. i3}n)
'In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw... murderers.' (Old Norse. Volospd 38, 39)
'I have not brought misery upon my fellows. I have not made the beginning
of every day laborious in the sight of him who worked for me.' (Ancient
Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'I have not been grasping.' (Ancient Egyptian. Ibid.) 'Who meditates
oppression, his dwelling is overturned.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE
V. 445)
'He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.' (Hindu. Laws
of Manu. Janet, Histoire de la Science Politique, vol. i, p. 6)
'Slander not.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
'Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' (Ancient Jewish.
Exodus 20:16)
'Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded.' (Hindu. Janet, p. 7)
'Has he ... driven an honest man from his family? broken up a well
cemented clan?' (Babylonian. List of Sins from incantation tablets. ERE v.
446)
'I have not caused hunger. I have not caused weeping.' (Ancient Egyptian.
EREy. 478)
'Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.' (Ancient
Chinese. Analects of Confucius, trans. A. Waley, xv. 23j cf. xii. 2)
'Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.' (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus
19:17)
'He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon goodness will dislike no
one.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, iv. 4)
(b) POSITIVE
'Nature urges that a man should wish human society to exist and should
wish to enter it.' (Roman. Cicero, De Ojficiis, i. iv)
'By the fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be preserved as much as
possible.' (Locke, Treatises of Civil Govt. ii. 3)
'When the people have multiphed, what next should be done for them? The
Master said. Enrich them. Jan Ch'iu said. When one has enriched them,
what next should be done for them? The Master said. Instruct them.'
(Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)
'Speak kindness ... show good will.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v.
445)
'Men were brought into existence for the sake of men that they might do
one another good.' (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. vii)
'Man is man's delight.' (Old Norse. Hdvamdl 47)
'He who is asked for alms should always give.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 7)
'What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of his?' (Roman.
Juvenal xv. 140)
'I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.' (Roman. Terence, Heaut. Tim.)
'Love thy neighbour as thyself (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:18)
'Love the stranger as thyself (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)
'Do to men what you wish men to do to you.' (Christian. Matthew 7: 12)
2. The Law of Special Beneficence
'It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When that is firmly set up, the
Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to parents and elder brothers is the
trunk of goodness.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 2)
'Brothers shall fight and be each others' bane.' (Old Norse. Account of the Evil
Age before the World's end, Volospd 45)
'Has he insulted his elder sister?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'You will see them take care of their kindred [and] the children of their friends
... never reproaching them in the least.' (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v.
437)
'Love thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy Ufe long.' (Ancient
Egyptian. £i^£v. 481)
'Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right thinking man.'
(Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2600)
'Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free man and as
one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on our friendship?' (Greek,
Epictetus, iii. 24)
'Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.' (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)
'I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but should fulfil both my natural and
artificial relations, as a worshipper, a son, a brother, a father, and a citizen.'
(Greek. Ibid, lll.ii)
'This first I rede thee: be blameless to thy kindred. Take no vengeance even
though they do thee wrong.' (Old Norse. Sigdrifumdl, 22)
'Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their wives? For every good man, who is
right-minded, loves and cherishes his own.' (Greek. Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)
'The union and fellowship of men will be best preserved if each receives from
us the more kindness in proportion as he is more closely connected with us.'
(Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xvi)
'Part of us is claimed by our country, part by our parents, part by our friends.'
(Roman. Ibid. i. vii)
'If a ruler ... compassed the salvation of the whole state, surely you would call
him Good? The Master said. It would no longer be a matter of "Good". He
would without doubt be a Divine Sage.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, vi. 28)
'Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and good men, your native land
deserves from you more honour, worship, and reverence than your mother and
father and all your ancestors? That you should give a softer answer to its anger
than to a father's anger? That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you
must obey it in all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to
a war where you may get wounds or death?' (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)
'If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he
hath denied the faith.' (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)
'Put them in mind to obey magistrates.'... 'I exhort that prayers be made for
kings and all that are in authority.' (Christian. Titus 3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)
3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors
'Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an image of the
Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of piety is in vain. This is
the first duty.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)
'Has he despised Father and Mother?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'I was a staff by my Father's side ... I went in and out at his command.'
(Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)
'Honour thy Father and thy Mother.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:12)
'To care for parents.' (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus, in. vii)
'Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should be considered as the lords of
the atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.' (Ancient Jewish.
Leviticus 19:32)
'I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.' (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
'You will see them take care ... of old men.' (Redskin. Le Jeune, quoted ERE v.
437)
'I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.' (Ancient Egyptian.
Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the end and continued after
they are far away, the moral force (te) of a people has reached its highest point.'
(Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)
4. Duties to Children and Posterity
'Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of the
atmosphere.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'To marry and to beget children.' (Greek. List of duties. Epictetus, in. vii)
'Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth? . . . What will happen?
Whence is the population to be kept up? Who will educate them? Who will be
Director of Adolescents? Who will be Director of Physical Training? What will
be taught?' (Greek. Ibid.)
'Nature produces a special love of offspring' and 'To live according to Nature is
the supreme good.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)
'The second of these achievements is no less glorious than the first; for while
the first did good on one occasion, the second will continue to benefit the state
for ever.' (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)
'Great reverence is owed to a child.' (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)
'The Master said. Respect the young.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)
'The killing of the women and more especially of the young boys and girls who
are to go to make up the future strength of the people, is the saddest part... and
we feel it very sorely.' (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE
V. 432)
5. The Law of Justice
(a) SEXUAL JUSTICE
'Has he approached his neighbour's wife?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v.
446)
'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:14)
'I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)... beguilers of others' wives.' (Old Norse.
Volospd 38, 39)
(b) HONESTY
'Has he drawn false boundaries?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.' (Babylonian. Ibid.)
'I have not stolen.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul.
EREy. 478)
'Thou shalt not steal.' (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)
'Choose loss rather than shameful gains.' (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
'Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his
rights.' (Roman. Justinian, Institutions., I. i)
'If the native made a "find" of any kind (e.g., a honey tree) and marked it, it
was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no
matter how long he left it.' (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)
'The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another
unless he has first been attacked by the other's wrongdoing. The second is
that a man should treat common property as common property, and private
property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature,
but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when
men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement,
or stipulation, or casting lots.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
© JUSTICE IN COURT, &C.
'Whoso takes no bribe ... well pleasing is this to Samas.' (Babylonian. ERE
V. 445)
'I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.' (Ancient
Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' (Ancient Jewish.
Exodus 20:16)
'Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.'
(Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)
'Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that
one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.' (Ancient Jewish.
Leviticus 19:15)
6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
'A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.'
(Hindu. Janet, i. 6)
'Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their
utterance.' (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
'With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay? (Babylonian. ERE
V. 446)
'I have not spoken falsehood.' (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous
Soul ERE v. 478)
'I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)
'The Master said. Be of unwavering good faith.' (Ancient
Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
'In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.' (Old Norse. Volospd 39)
'Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and
hides another in his heart.' (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)
'The foundation of justice is good faith.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i.vii)
'[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep
promises.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)
'Anything is better than treachery.' (Old Norse. Hdvamdl 124)
7. The Law of Mercy
'The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.' (Hindu.
Janet, i. 8)
'Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.'
(Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
'Has he failed to set a prisoner free?' (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
'I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a
ferry boat to the boatless.'
(Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)
'One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.' (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
'There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.' (Old Norse.
Hdrbarthsljoth 38)
'In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the
tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.'... 'They never
desert the sick.' (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)
'You will see them take care of., widows, orphans, and old men, never
reproaching them.' (Redskin. ERE v. 439)
'Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by
giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.' (Roman. Juvenal, xv.
131)
'They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.'
(Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)
'When thou cuttest down thine harvest... and hast forgot a sheaf., thou shalt
not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for
the widow.' (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)
8. The Law of Magnanimity
(a)
'There are two kinds of injustice: the first is found in those who do an
injury, the second in those who fail to protect another from injury when
they can.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. I. vii)
'Men always knew that when force and injury was offered they might be
defenders of themselves; they knew that howsoever men may seek their own
commodity, yet if this were done with injury unto others it was not to be
suffered, but by all men and by all good means to be withstood.' (English.
Hooker, Laws ofEccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)
'To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the
enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.' (Ancient Egyptian. The
Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p.
161)
'They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of the Fortunate Woods and
the dweUings of the Blessed . . . here was the company of those who had
suffered wounds fighting for their fatherland.' (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi.
638-9, 660)
'Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter, spirit the sterner, as our
strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut to pieces, out best man in the
dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this battle, he can howl forever.' (Anglo-
Saxon. Maldon, 312)
'Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death is not
grievous.' (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)
'The Master said. Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for the
Good Way.' (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
(b)
'Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.' (Roman. Cicero, De
Off. i, xxiii)
'Death is better for every man than life with shame.' (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf,
2890)
'Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing effeminate,
nothing lascivious be done or thought.' (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i. iv)
'We must not listen to those who advise us "being men to think human
thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts," but must put on
immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according
to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its
power and honour surpasses all else.' (Ancient Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic.
1177B)
'The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our minds the
soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest power of the mind
requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.' (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)
'Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to live, let him wait for his time
... let him patiently bear hard words, entirely abstaining from bodily
pleasures.' (Ancient Indian. Laws of Manu. ERE ii. 98)
'He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses ... is said to be devoted.
As a flame in a windless place that flickers not, so is the devoted.' (Ancient
Indian. Bhagavad gita. ERE ii 90)
©
'Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?' (Ancient Greek. Plato,
Phadeo, 81 A)
'I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights, wounded with the spear
as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to Myself.' (Old Norse. Hdvamdl, I. 10
in Corpus Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand's Lieder der Alteren
Edda. 1922)
'Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. He who loves his Ufe
loses it.' (Christian. John 12:24,25)
Posted by The Augustine Club at Columbia University, March 2002, because the
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