In Plato's Republic, Glaucon, the poor shepherd boy, finds a ring (the ring of Gyges) which can make him invisible. He can do anything he pleases. Should Glaucon be moral? (In fact, he murders the King and marries the Queen).

If we were invisible there are lots of things we might do. However we are NOT invisible. Many do think they can get away with something, and they attempt it, but, as we will show in the following pages, they are only kidding themselves.

Should Glaucon, or any other person, be moral? Yes, as we shall explain in a later chapter, by the definitions and results of scientific Ethics, he, and we all, should be moral.

THE "SIX ADVISORS" COACHING METHOD

In Utah, Dave Blanchard and Harvey Schoof are making remarkable progress in changing people for the better utilizing their "Six Advisors" method. Blanchard, using materials developed by Schoof, has given an assessment report to over 800 people. They found that the vast majority of them believe that if they only could HAVE -----then they will be able to DO and BE.

Actually Blanchard counsels them that it is just the other way around: If they figure out who they ARE, then they more effectively are able to DO; and eventually they will HAVE. Once they take his advice and try it out, they have found he was very correct about this. Their lives work much better, and they tend to be rid of their low self-esteem. They then no longer focus on the discrepancy between their imagined goals and their actual reality, feeling pain about that gap. Instead they focus on and build on their strengths -- which they have now become aware of due to Blanchard's assessment -- and they feel pretty good about themselves: they have happier lives. His work is based upon Formal Axiology.

I ask him: How do good people make good decisions, using good judgment?

"The good news," he told me, "is that we can now measure a person's thoughts. In fact, we measure 36 specific areas. All of the 36 measurements we make with our Test ( -- he is referring to The Hartman Value Profile -- ) have significance;, and we have given each of them a proper name, such as Empathy, Intuition, Practical Judgment, Role Awareness, Self-Direction, etc. Each of them can be in three conditions: over-focused, under-focused, and balanced.

Continued in the complete written works . . .

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Reviews of Dr. Katz's "Ethics as Science"

Review by Wade Harvey
Wilmette, Illinois
I completed the essay tonight. You have a wonderful writing style, and it was very enjoyable reading for me.
The subject matter is intrinsically fascinating for me, and your personal style and way of explaining things from experience was icing on the cake. I think many people could greatly benefit from reading it - one of the best ideas I like is that morality is actually in our self-interest. That seemed to be a theme that many of your vignettes pointed to that I think myself and others could benefit from. I also liked the wide variety of ethical topics that you covered. It shows that you have had a long-time interest in the subject and have looked at it from a number of different perspectives. The interesting thing for me is how the different perspectives begin to converge.

Commentary by Frank G. Forrest
Author of online course "Ethical Decision-Making for the 21st Century" offered by Daytona Beach Community College, Florida
I have reviewed your essay and have reread it several times. I see it as an ethics primer. You have done a very fine job. Good ends justifying bad means probably is the most difficult problem in ethical decision making, and its occurrence ranges from individual personal problems to affairs of state. Your discussion of this issue is excellent.

Review by Robert W. Fuller
President Emeritus
Oberlin College
I can see that what you've done looks very interesting. There are a number of points of convergence in our work. And we both cite Robert Wright's work which makes many of the same points from a different perspective. I was especially struck by the fact that we both make much of models. I've forwarded the essay to my web coordinator who may have ideas of others who'd be interested.

Review by Andrew Weiszmann
It's a really worthwhile read for anyone who cares about values. Even though your style is very much your own , you achieve a depth of understanding that warrants attention by readers at all levels. You show a grasp of human nature that is quite rewarding. I believe you have added to an understanding of human nature that is badly needed in this modern world.

Comments by Richard Ringel
Director of a Computing Laboratory
Complexity Theory scientist
This is a good approach to introducing value science. It is certainly the best I have read. It's loaded with interesting material. Since you bring up in your paper the topic of moral inconsistency, I would suggest that from a scientific and mathematical point of view, the Theory of Chaos would make good sense, since there are hidden chaotic patterns within moral inconsistency."

Other Books By Marvin Katz

Living The Good Life - By Marvin Katz and Wade Harvey