The Principle of Goodness was formally announced on Friday, 28 January 2005, at UNESCO's Eighth International Conference on Philosophy and Culture: Unity and Diversity in Religion and Culture, held in Seattle, Washington. Co-developer of the Principle, Ron House, lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, presented the paper Protecting Individual Identity and Diversity in a United World: a new basis in fundemental ethical theory. The Conference was a program of the UNESCO Chair on Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, Their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue. It hosted a collaboration of academics and representatives of major world religions, and was attended by members of many nations and many cultures, seeking ways to foster friendship and unity in diversity amongst all peoples. It was introduced by Vi Hilbert, Elder of the Upper Skagit Tribe, and designated Living Treasure of Washington State. As such, it was a perfect venue to announce so important a Principle.
In organising this conference, the UNESCO Chair was partnered with nine universities, in association with the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research and over fifteen other highly-respected world organisations fostering peace, cultural, and/or religious studies. Antioch University Seattle was the official host.
The Principle of Goodness is a newly-stated fundamental ethical theory, asserting that Good and evil are realities, meaning that there are consistencies and relationships in the universe that provide real consequences and meanings to being good or being evil. Its basic statement is that Goodness is to try to benefit everyone, and evil is to try to harm even a single innocent one. It provides an explanation, lacking in utilitarianism and 'big picture' approaches to ethics and policy, as to why it is wrong to harm the helpless and minorities, such as the poor, indigenous groups living in ancestral ways, supposedly 'insignificant' theatened species and their environments, and so on; and none of this depends on some 'greater benefit' posited to arise from harming the innocent or powerless. They are priceless in and of themselves, simply because they are sentient beings. And the same goes for everyone; the Principle defends the weak without making the mistake, increasingly common and very damaging, of villainising those who are not. Everyone is unique; everyone matters!
The question was asked by one delegate, whether the Principle is consistent with Kant's ethical philosophy. The Principle is a stronger guide than Kant's categorical imperative, and is consistent with it; a technical philosophy paper on this very question will appear later this year. There was also considerable discussion over connections between the Principle and the suggestion from another presenter that moral guidance can be found in existing cultural and religious traditions. Such a suggestion makes sense if Good and evil are indeed aspects of reality; those traditions that 'make sense' ethically will tend to benefit the peoples who adopt them.
Papers from presentations at the Conference, including the paper on Goodness, are available on the web at http://www.networkforpeace.org. The direct link to the Goodness paper is http://www.networkforpeace.org/PDFs/House.pdf. The website for the academic study of the Principle of Goodness is at http://www.sci.usq.edu.au/staff/house/goodness.
Further papers covering important aspects of the Principle and its implications for personal and societal ethics will be delivered in other forums soon.