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Ethical Record the Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol Ethical Record The Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol. 105 No 6 E1 50 June, 2000 ETIIICAL TO BE ELITIST - BUT NOT ENGLISH An elite is literally defined as the pick or flower of a group (Chambers); elitism is the favouring by government of an elite. It is of course a French term but having tried 3 emperors in the CI() the French settled for a presidential democracy as have the Germans and Americans. As used in England, elitism we all know is an extremely pejorative term which recently gained even more opprobrium when a comprehensive girl from the north east failed to gain a place at Magdalen College Oxford to read medicine. Gordon l3rown fomented an 'elitism' media storm over claims that Laura Spence's excellent A Levels results had been ignored. Never mind she had not yet taken hcr A Levels and that she gained a place for biochemistry at Harvard rather than medicine, a less - popular subject for which she probably would have been accepted at Magdalen. An invidious choice by the College was inevitable as Magdalen only had 5 places to award from more than 20 good candidates, both state and private, due to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's keeping a tight curh on expenditure for medical school places. The greater scandal is that with the onset of tuition fees, loans rather than grants and heavy p6stgraduation debt, many potential students are discouraged from applying to college at all. The advantaote of grammar schools was that poor but clever children were encouraged to lookbeyond the horizon of their peers and partake of intellectual and cultural refreshment. The present government seems to favour a coarse populism which finds the lowest common denominator, encourages football fanaticism and equates celebrity with belonging to pop groups or appearing in television soap operas. It is quite shameful in the 2Ist century that of the world powers, the Head of State in England is neither elected nor secular but stands at the apex of persistent hereditary power and privilege of landowning classes. The prime minister is at the moment condemning those who even politely point this out. Yet the Ethical Society for one, seeks to promote a better, democratic tbrm of 'elitism', The educational programme we organise seeks the best speakers on particular topics to which anyone interested in thinking about the subject is freely invited. Jennifer Jeynes NICOLAS WALTER MEMORIAL MEETING THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RESOLUTION Dick Clifford 4 TIIE MERITS AND MISTIKES OF ANARCHIST THEORY Isaac Ascher 10 ETHICS AS AN EXPRESSION OF EMOTION Cltris Bratcher 16 ELOI REQUIRE MORE LOCKS Leslie Jones 19 VIEWPOINTS B. Smoket; D. Forsyth D. Rooum, E. McArthtp P Rhodes, D. Shepherd. EMICAL SOCIETY EVENTS SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Conway Hall Humanist Centre 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Tel: 020 7242 8034 Fax: 020 7242 8036 website: www.ethicalsoc.org.uk email: [email protected] Officers Chairman of the GC: Diane Murray Vice Chairman: John Rayner Hon. Rep of the GC:Don Liversedge Registrar: Terry Mullins Editor, Ethical Record: Norman Bacrac SPES Staff Administrative Secretary to the Society: Marina Ingham Tel: 020 7242 8034 LibrarianlEwgramme Coonlinator: Jennifer Jeynes. Tel: 020 7242 8037 Operations Manager: Frances Hanlon. Tel: 020 7242 8033 Lettings Manager: Peter Vlachos.For Hall bookings: Tel: 020 7242 8032 New Members Jean V. Bayliss, London, SE I ; Mrs. Sonia Huisman, London, NW2; Miss Alexandra Lcch, London, W9; Paul Sirvid, London. NICOLAS WALTER MEMORIAL MEETING Sunday, 4 June 2000 A large number of friends, colleagues and relatives of the late Nicolas Miner gathered at Conway Hall to pay tribute to his memory. The following remarks were made by Norman Bacrac on behalf of the Ethical Society. Nicolas Walter had a long and distinguished connection with the South Place Ethical Society. It is a family connection - Nicolas' grandfather, S.K. Ratcliffe, was one of the Society's Appointed Lecturers for more than 40 years until his death. in 1958. Just as Ratcliffe's language was noted for its lucidity, everyone agrees that the same could he said for his grandson. Nicolas. In 1955 Ratcliffe wrote The Story of South Place. A reviewer said that •in its entertaining style, many illustrious individuals of the past figure in its pages...' However Nicolas once said to me that his grandfather 'had got it all wrong' (a slight exaggeration, I suspect). Nicolas was engaged in producing a new version of the Society's history, which would no dougt have corrected the errors his diligent scholarship had discovered and perhaps given a different perspective on the events: it would also have brought the story up to date. I believe this is one of the projects which Nicolas intended to complete had his retirement not been cut so tragically short. Nicolas' father, Dr. Grey Walter,. was an innovative brain scientist who pioneered the medical use of electro-encephalography. He conjectured, not altogether fancifully, that the marital compatibility of a couple could be determined by examination of their respective brain waves. He also designed and built light- seeking robots, named tortoises. They were intended to demonstrate how quite elaborate and apparently purposeful behaviour could be exhibited by what, in neurological terms, was a very rudimentary system. In 1977, Nicolas and I attended a lecture Grey Walter gave to the Ethical Society in the library upstairs: Nicolas found himself unable to stay to the end. Ethical Record, June, 2000 Nevertheless I believe that Nicolas must have imbibed from his upbringing something of Grey Walter's radicalism and unconventional way of thinking. In recognition of his commitment to secular humanism, he was made an Appointed Lecturer of the Society in 1978. Besides delivering lectures over the years. he also took on the roles of Honorary Representative and Chairman of the General Conunittee from time to time. The most significant event in the Society's recent past in which Nicolas was involved was probably the Case in the High Court in 1980 over the question of its Charitable status. The result was a victory for the progressive forces in the Society, which of course included Nicolas, who were pleased that, against the opposition of the Inland Revenue, we were awarded charity status for Education and Mental and Moral Improvement. But what was especially important, nay vital, in this matter is what we were /70t awarded - i.e. status as a religious charity. That is something most of us are heartily pleased to be rid of. When Judge Dillon said that religion is concerned with man's relation with God and the Society is not concerned with God, and therefore the Society was not for the furtherance of religion, it followed that a part of the Society's objects, to wit: the cultivation of a rational religious sentiment, no longer really applied. This was a matter with which Nicolas was much concerned, and in which his help and expert advice would have been invaluable in the event of our seeking to change the object formally. „Going along with his interest in anniversaries of all kinds, Nicolas was particularly concerned that the Ethical Society should mark in 1993 the Bicentenary of its foundation in 1793. Nicolas was the Honorary representative of the Society during that year and presided over the many special events held then. An example of Nicolas' distinctive style of writing to the newspapers may be provided by this letter, written sonie time ago. It was in response to a clergyman justifying the religious instruction of children by analogy with teaching children kerb drill:- "Sir: The 'analogy between religious education and kerb drill... should be drawn more accurately. No one wants children to cross the road without help or to be told there is no traffic on it. But humanists want children to learn how to distinguish between real and imaginary vehicles, and to learn that the latter may be less important than the former. There is no point looking out for a celestial omnibus and getting run down by a terrestrial motorbike. For unbelievers, and for many believers too, it is wrong to teach children either that there is or that there isn't a God, without also telling them that this is a matter of dispute which they should decide for themselves on the basis of all the available facts. This is surely what is meant by education. If Christianity is to be taught in schools, so should humanism." We Were very pleased that Nicolas agreed to give the Keynote Address at the last Annual Reunion of the Kindred Societies on 19 September 1999. His talk, entitled 'A Century of Annual Reunions' was printed in the Ethical Record. This was also his personal farewell to the Humanist movement as an active participant. His account ended saying he had better things to do with the rest of his life. Unfortunately, he was not given the chance. His early death is a severe loss to us all. Ethical Record, June, 2000 3 THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RESOLUTION Dick Clifford Australian Humanist Society Lecture to the Ethical Sociem 28 Septembet; /999 A motion has been placed before the US Legislature and if passed tells the US government to persuade other governments to change their policies to ensure reform of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, adoption of the Tobin Tax, forgiveness of debt owed by the World's poorest countries, require global companies to observe labour and environment laws and much else. At present the global company is not answerable to the citizen and it is essential for these policies to be adopted if we are to restore democratic government.
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