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social

ethics

Cardinal Human Values

October 27, 1995

Q: What specifically is meant by "cardinal human values"? Is there a specific set of principles that can be identified as cardinal human values?

There are fundamental values or rights that each and every human being is entitled to, and there are fundamental values which are universal among highly evolved beings, that is to say, beings who have surpassed the animal stage and have come to the point of self reflection. These fundamental values are what distinguishes a human being from an animal. If these values are not maintained, though the man or woman may inhabit a human form, they are nothing but an animal in human form. For, without adherence to the fundamental dignity of a human being that is inherent in the humanity of a person, that person becomes an animal.

Now what is the characteristic of animals? They hunt for their food, they seek the place to sleep, they meet their basic physical requirements, and they seek survival and well-being. This is common in the animal kingdom. What is it that distinguishes a human being from an animal? Why does one possess humanity? Is it merely a matter of inhabiting a human body? I would say it is more complex than that. A person may inhabit a human body and be merely an animal. If they want to be a human being, they must adhere to the fundamental values of a human being, and those values are the preservation of the dignity of all beings, respect for the life and dignity of all beings. For a human being is a self-reflective entity. A human being has the capacity to reflect upon their lives, to reflect upon what they have experienced, and to come to conclusions about what is the proper way to live and not to live. They do not simply react to the environment in an instinctive fashion, but the human being has the capacity to reflect, to analyze, and to determine what is the course for themselves. Therefore, if a person wants to live the life of a human being, they must utilize this capacity to determine, and they must use it with a sense of humanity. That is, a sense of their inter-

connectedness with other beings, a sense of their human dignity, a sense of their human nobility.

When a person has come in contact with the sense of their own humanity, they will begin to feel that there are certain values that must be adhered to. It does not matter if one lives in India or America or Alaska or Antarctica. It does not matter where the human being lives, in what culture, they will find that there are certain basic values which they, as a human being, feel are important. They will value human life, not only their own but the lives of those who they love. They will value taking care for those whom they love, to see that their basic needs are met as well as their own basic needs. They will value and respect all life, for they will feel that they are a part of the network of life on this planet, and they live in a kind of harmony with living beings. These are basic sentiments to a human being. They come as a result of self-reflection, and from them a human being comes to have a certain moral standard, develops a certain code of ethics, upon which they base their behavior and the behavior of

others.

So, if they find a person who is killing small children, they will feel they must arrest the person. If they find someone who has transgressed against their family, their child, their community, they will feel hurt by that person, though the person has not transgressed against them personally. They will feel they must stop the person from the harm they are doing. These types of sentiments are human sentiments, human values, that comes as a result of a person's connection to their own humanity, and that is why I refer to them as cardinal values. Cardinal means fundamental, essential. The respect for human life, the respect for human welfare, these are essential; therefore they are cardinal. And in a society that would support human development, there must be adherence to these cardinal values. There cannot be a transgression of these cardinal values without degeneration of the society.

So if the human society is to progress, it must adhere to the cardinal human values. If it does not, degeneration will be the result. If a society does not care for the welfare of its members and lets a certain group within the society starve in the street, that society will degenerate -- it is a sure guarantee unless the situation is rectified. If someone is let to go hungry while others sit in the lap of luxury, the society is bound to degenerate because prama is disturbed. And prama will be disturbed whenever cardinal human values are not adhered to by the society at large.