Richard,
> take the easy way out, and just decide this one for yourself (in lieu of
> deciding what it is for others). It's quite easy for me to understand
> this, because I find it easy to choose between harming and not harming
> others. I choose "not harming" most of the time--actually, I choose to
> avoid "unnecessary violence" to others (including my environment).
As far as I can tell, I've done what you suggest, and I continue to do it.
I don't find it easy, though, at least not all the time. Every now and
then I have to update my idea of what harm means, and it's often a painful
experience that triggers that.
I do not advocate deciding what harm means for others. What I want is
that any time we consider codifying our definition of harm into law, we
first do some serious dialogue about the definition.
Re: Principle of Confidentiality
> Again, we don't need to sort it out. Just sort it out for yourself. If
> you need to clarify with another person (like me, for instance, if we're
> involved in sharing confidentialities), then, let's ensure we share this
> ethical principle beforehand.
I agree with you. I guess I was wanting to jump into the clarification
before I agreed that I share the principle, or even that we need to
clarify it between us! Thank you for reigning me in.
> The right of future generations is common among many indigineous cultures.
I agree that it is common, and many people in the US share this as a
cultural principle. I'm still not clear about which rights we are
discussing when we talk about the right of future generations.
> What's very important, Dale, is that each person reflect on her or his
> principles, values and ethics and sort them out individually; and that
> organizations openly discuss and disclose the ethical principles, rights
> and values that are appropriate within the organizational context.
Yes. In addition to discussing and disclosing these principles and
values, I would love to see people continue to *negotiate* them in
organizations.
Regards,
Dale
--Dale H. Emery -- Collaborative Consultant High Performance for Software Development Projects E-mail: dale@dhemery.com Web: http://www.dhemery.com
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>