The new commandements

Been reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion every now and then. There's a lot of food for thought and I won't go to the many of the main thesis here, but only bring out one nice topic. Dawkins is referring to a web-site which has tried to formulate a secular set of rules for moral conduct. They call them the ten new commandements. Cathcy name for it, isn't it?

Here they are:

First Commandment: Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you.
Second Commandment: In all things, strive to cause no harm.
Third Commandment: Treat your fellow human beings, your fellow living things, and the world in general with love, honesty, faithfulness and respect.
Fourth Commandment: Do not overlook evil or shrink from administering justice, but always be ready to forgive wrongdoing freely admitted and honestly regretted.
Fifth Commandment: Live life with a sense of joy and wonder.
Sixth Commandment: Always seek to be learning something new.
Seventh Commandment: Test all things; always check your ideas against the facts, and be ready to discard even a cherished belief if it does not conform to them.
Eighth Commandment: Never seek to censor or cut yourself off from dissent; always respect the right of others to disagree with you.
Ninth Commandment: Form independent opinions on the basis of your own reason and experience; do not allow yourself to be led blindly by others.
Tenth Commandment: Question everything.

Let's look at them at more detail. The first seems to be ok, a sort of version of Kantian / Christian golden rule. The second might need some qualifications - harm in what sense? To persons? But I guess it speaks mostly for itself. The third is of utmost importance in these times. Dawkins suggests this further maxim: "Do not discriminate or oppress on the basis of sex, race or (as far as possible) species." but this is in a way included in the third new commandement. "Fellow human being" should include all men and racial and sexual differences. "Fellow" living thing should include living beings in general. "The world" includes nature. So when push comes to shove, this new commandment alone would be a basis for moral conduct.

But let us push on. Fourth commandement is referring to our sense of justice. It may be a tough job to forgive wrongdoing sometimes, but I agree that it is a worthy goal. Fifth commandment is a philosophical one and very important. It is a kind of Cartesian maxim - we should be always ready to learn new things and enjoy it. The sixth commandment is not really required as it can be implied from the fifth - I might replace with one which Dawkings presents. It extends the fifth commandment to education: "Do not indoctrinate your children. Teach them how to think for themselves, how to evaluate evidence, and how to disagree with you." This commandment also encourages to dialogue which is very important for moral thinking.

Now to eighth commandment. This refers to open discussion which is the foundation of free society. Communication is extremely important to understand different world-views and in general, the conduct of others. If one is not ready to discuss or hear other points of view, different from his or her own, there is no possibility for a social order. Ninth commandment and seventh commandment are parts of the same thing - to think for oneself. This Kantian idea of intellectual autonomy is the ideal of a modern man and especially important for secular thinking. It leads naturally to the tenth and last commandment: Question everything. The essence of philosophy.