Moral Law and Freedom; V. O. Watts

MORALLAW and FREEDOM Dr. Watts, author and lecturer, is Burrows T. Lundy Professor of the Philosophy of Business at Campbell College, North Carolina, and Di rector of Economic Education for Northwood Institute, with headquarters at Midland, Michi gan. His latest works, of which he is co-author and editor, are Free Markets or Famine and Politics vs. Prosperity (Midland, Michigan: Pendell Publishing Co., 1975). v. ORVAL WATTS NECESSARYAND BASIC in the Judeo-low the "Golden Rule." When we Christian Ethic is recognition of apply it in practice, we find it is the enduring nature of Moral Law. the unifying principle of those The essence of this moral law is commandments that refer to the summed up in the "Golden Rule," relations between the individual and it derives from the fact that and his fellows: "Thou shalt not humans need one another. steal," "Thou shalt not kill," and Without other human beings, we "Thou shalt not bear false wit cannot be born, cannot be reared, ness."

cannot prosper; and to have the.. Now, it should be clear that cooperation of other humans - to obedience to Moral Law means vol avoid the conflicts which would be untary cooperation and freedom. suicidal for humans-we must fol-If we don't steal, we leave other persons free to use their talents in peaceful cooperative ways to produce goods for their own use, for exchange, or for gifts to others, such as gifts to one's fam ily or heirs. Therefore, we have a state of individual freedom if we live by 56 1976 MORAL LAW AND FREEDOM 57 the "Ten Commandments." We have private property and number less associations for voluntary co operation. And humans develop as humans and make progress only>' in this condition of individual freedom and.···voluntary association estab lished by adherence to thes'e moral principles. Therefore, these moral principles are antecedent to and take precedence over all man-made laws and customs.

In other words, these enduring moral principles require of us re spect for the property rights of other people - that is, respect for their rights to control their own persons and for their rights to control those things which they obtain in voluntary cooperation, whether by gift, by voluntary ex change, or by the productive use of these things. Living by these principles re quires that we fulfill our contracts, that we speak the truth,and that we revere the laws of Life and Nature.The human need for this reverence appears in the first four of the "Ten Commandments." This voluntary cooperation and exchange are doubly productive of benefits in contrast to the one sided gain that anyone may get by coercion, as for example, burglary, by slavery, or by taxation. In vol untary cooperation, all partici pants must· benefit if the coopera tion is to continue, for, if it is vol l.1ntary, anyone may withdraw when he feels he' is not benefiting, when he feels that. the gains are distributed unjustly or going en tirely toone person or group at the expense of the time and en ergy of' others.

We should' note also that Iiving by the Golden Rule involves re spect for privacy - the right to be let alone and the right to choose one's associates. Coercion - the at tempt to compel people to associ ate with others - leads to conflict rather than to the attitudes and actions which are mutually bene ficial. Freedom established by the Moral Law of the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments includes the 'moral right to withdraw from an unwelcome contact with other persons, as well as the right freely to cooperate in mutually beneficial ways. ~ IDEAS ON LIBERTY Killed by Corruption ALL who have ever written on government are unanimous, that among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist. EDMOND BURKE A REVIEWER'S NOTEBOOK JOHN CHAMBERLAIN THE LOVE OF LIBERTY ~**** GOING AROUND ISRAEL on an ar chaeological junket, I encountered the word "hitnadvut." It means voluntarism as opposed to coer cion, and it connotes social power as opposed to State power. I hap pened during the same trip to be reading Leonard Read's new book, The Love of Liberty (The Founda tion for Economic Education, $5.00). What Leonard Read is all about is "hitnadvut."