Universal Values

I finished listening to my second of the Great Courses, Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life. It was fascinating, and while I don't think I will set a goal to read each of the "great books" discussed in the lectures, I will certainly put some of them on my list, and I've definitely learned something already, even though I've only read a few of them at this point in my life.

The final lecture tied the course together, and one of Dr. Fears' primary points was to clarify for us the Universal Values that emerge from the "great books." A recurring theme in the course relates to our current societal obsession with relativism -- the idea that there are no absolutes, so set of core values, no beauty outside of preference, no right/wrong outside of the laws we invent. In our "modern" viewpoint, we act as if there is no common set of values, for (we reason) how can Christianity's values and Islam's values and Atheistic values live together (for example.)

Dr. Fears selected great books from a wide range of human thought, however, and in his opinion, there are some Universal Values that emerge. They are:

• Wisdom
• Justice
• Courage
• Moderation
  

From Socrates, through Confucius, the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, Marcus Aurelius, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and up to Churchill and Gandhi, these four values are universally accepted as "good" and are prized among all human cultures. Even the books which advocate against them in certain situations (Machiavelli) regard them as a base.

My inital impression is agreement. I will think about this and perhaps have more to say in the future. But for now, it's hard to argue that it would be good advice to anyone that they should strive to be a person of wisdom, justice, courage and moderation.

Could you go wrong?