As we’ve said on more than one occasion, we like it when people ask us serious questions. In that category we do not include the “Are-you-still-beating-your-wife?” type. This is technically known as “the complex question fallacy” because it assumes as a given the answer to a question that has not been asked. It’s committed when a question is asked (a) that rests on a questionable assumption, and (b) to which all answers appear to endorse that assumption.
No, we mean honest questions
that don’t have an ax to grind, like trying to force us to admit that we’re
wrong about the principles of economic and social justice when the questioner
hasn’t made any effort to demonstrate that we are, in fact, wrong. Which, by the way, is another example of the
complex question fallacy: “Are you going to admit you’re wrong?”
That’s because answering yes
to the question is an admission of guilt, while answering no implies that we
are admitting we’re in the wrong, but Just.
Won’t. Say. It. . . because we’re just too stupid and
stubborn. No room is left to protest
one’s innocence. This is therefore a complex question, and a subtle false
dilemma . . . another logical fallacy, by the way, which demands that someone
choose between two options as if they were the only options, when there is at
least one other option available, e.g.,
we’ve never beaten our wife, and we’re not wrong, so we can’t admit it.
That’s your logic lesson for
the week. Now on to the question:
What was the inspiration for the Center for
Economic and Social Justice?
Good question. Pioneers of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan
(ESOP) and human rights movement had come together in the early 1980s. They were united in their common commitment
to two things.
These were, one, the global
vision and economic justice paradigm first advanced in 1958 by ESOP inventor
Louis O. Kelso and the “Great Books” philosopher Mortimer Adler. Two, the concept of social justice as articulated
by the scholar Rev. William J. Ferree from the social doctrine of Pope Pius XI.
The philosophy and purpose of
CESJ were soon crystallized in written statements of our founding principles
and core values. Since the launching of CESJ, members have gathered every
month, starting each meeting with a participatory reading of our core values
and code of ethics. CESJ’s principles underpin our record of achievement.
And what are the Core Values
and Code of Ethics? We’ll look at the
Core Values tomorrow, and the Code of Ethics on Monday . . . assuming nothing bright
and shiny pops up to distract us. . . .
#30#
