Profiles of Ethics: A Tribute to Lewis Miller Stevens

Abstract

NATIONS, or in fact any form of society, local communities, cities, and states, have reputations and present images to mankind based upon their conduct. This conduct is the product of mass behavior which, in turn, is often shaped by that of individuals, particularly of leaders. These behavior patterns are often described in terms involving value judgments: they are deemed either good or bad. They involve conceptions of ethics, standards of excellence, which the societies may cherish and which they may strive to maintain at what is considered a high level. To use terms today much in vogue, one of the principal features by which a community image is judged is the profile of ethics which it displays. If the local standards of behavior are high and its leadership righteously responsible, its profile is admirable. However the reverse may be true, and if the standards of conduct are low, the profile may be hideous or at least forbidding. But the description of a community profile of ethics may be difficult to capture and record, for its elements may be complex and blurred. There is an ancient fable of an individual whose face was of such a character that if one gazed on it from the left it appeared perfect and of good report, but if seen from the opposite angle it was evil. Unfortunately, community images can be equally puzzling to those who wish to portray what one sees on direct confrontation. No one can be more conscious of the fact that in seek-