Dr. Bragg and the Categorical Imperative

With the death this past summer of Dr. Ernest Bragg, Attleboro lost an exemplary humanitarian. Dr. Bragg was both driving force and benefactor in the founding of Beta Community Services, a local organization that provides support for individuals with disabilities. This and other good works were manifestations of a life spent observing human behavior, agonizing over the misfortunes that befall us, and searching for ways to address the root causes of those misfortunes.

In his search for answers, Dr. Bragg studied many religious and philosophical texts, and he arrived at a personal code of ethics which consisted of five principles:

• The Golden Rule as taught by all world religions
• "Moderation in All Things" as taught by Aristotle
• The Categorical Imperative as formulated by philosopher Immanuel Kant
• Reverence for life as taught by Albert Schweitzer
• Nonviolence as taught by Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and others

"Fine," you might say, "I'm familiar with most of those principles, but what the heck is the Categorical Imperative?" I will attempt to answer that question, but only because I had the privilege of learning about it from Dr. Bragg himself.

Before deciding on a course of action, ask yourself, "Would I like everyone to behave as I do?" If you can say "Yes," then your action is ethical, according to the Categorical Imperative. If "No," then it's not.

If, for instance, I was tempted to tear a page out of a library book, I would only have to ask myself "What if everybody did that?" to realize the ethical choice. The same rule would apply if I was considering leaving a bag of trash on the side of the road.

The Categorical Imperative might be summed up in the expression, "What goes around, comes around." Kant's philosophy suggests that the wellbeing of society is something that we are all responsible for. Dr. Bragg took this responsibility seriously. He not only tried to do the right thing, he also tried to repair the damage done when his fellow humans acted irresponsibly. When he and his wife Harriet took their daily walk, they collected litter left by others.

The Categorical Imperative can serve as a guide, not only to ethical personal behavior, but also to an ethical standard of behavior for members of the community of nations. For decades our country has been emitting more than its share of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Although we have less than 5% of the Earth's population, we account for 26% of global energy use and 24% of carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, we have refused to join with other nations to acknowledge the threat of global warming, sign the Kyoto Treaty, and begin to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases.

We must ask "What if every country behaved as we do?" For example, what if China expanded its economy to resemble ours? Earth Policy Institute founder Lester Brown warns that the Chinese standard of living could catch up with ours in about 25 years. According to Brown, "If oil consumption per person reaches the U.S. level by 2031, China will use 99 million barrels of oil a day. The world is currently producing 84 million barrels a day and may never produce much more... Or consider cars. If China one day should have three cars for every four people, as the United States now does, its fleet would total 1.1 billion vehicles, well beyond the current world fleet of 800 million."

I think the most important export of the United States is the example we set. For decades we have dangled our high-consumption model of prosperity like a carrot before the rest of the world. Some call it the American Dream. Now China, India, and other developing nations seem poised to copy our example, even though it is unsustainable. What goes around, comes around. It's time to re-think the American Dream before it turns into a global nightmare. I'm sure Dr. Bragg would agree. The first time I saw a hybrid, he was behind the wheel.

--Published in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle, 21 September 2006