By: Richard Thistle

The idea for this blog originated while sitting in my Biology of Human Nature Philosophy class listening to a lecture on the history of paradigm shifts in how we perceive the world. This primarily consisted of two contrasting camps, naturalistic and theistic world views.

What immediately struck me was the morality displayed by Greek physician Hippocrates, a naturalist and the man whom many regard as “the father of modern medicine” and also attribute the oath “do no harm” that all doctors must avow to uphold.

This raises two interesting philosophical dilemmas: can one be truly moral without an overarching theistic framework and what if our current politicians were held up to an oath, or certain standards that made them more accountable for their actions.

Now I am aware of the latter being a bit naïve and ideological but it is still, nevertheless, worthwhile to consider even as a purely theoretical or abstract exercise. There is also the ambiguous nature of policing such standards of accountability. There would obviously need to be criteria and standards to adhere to.

This also creates the difficulty of choosing who is fit to create and then implement these new ideas. Would it perhaps be done by a committee of elected officials or would the committee be hand-picked by those already holding certain government offices?

These are all nuanced practical questions that can be ironed out over time. What this all would really be aimed at is resolving a growing climate of civil unrest and tension in our political realm. Maybe an approach such as this would alleviate the seemingly constant need for political misdirection and force them to focus on the important things, such as the issues affecting the people and less time on smear campaigns directed at other competing politicians.

Unfortunately politicians seem to be creating theatrical displays that hone in on and prey on our fears rather than providing well-reasoned explanations and solutions.

I hope that this provides some type of platform that leads to an engaging dialogue about the current state of affairs.