Roots and principles of organizational development

Roots and Principles

Socrates was an illustrious thinker, one of the greatest minds the world has even produced. He is traditionally known as the father of modern day logic, ethics and the overall western culture and way of thinking. Socrates urged the individuals to seek reason and to base their decisions on judgment and solid thinking. The philosopher was nevertheless blamed as a heretic for his teachings. He was found guilty of having poisoned the minds of the Greek youth and for not believing in the rightful Gods. In 339 before our era, Socrates was condemned to death by poisoning. He accepted his death, in spite of the efforts made by his close ones to retract his beliefs and subscribe to the belief in Gods (Cooper, 2010).

The life of Socrates remains a well preserved mystery through today. It is accepted that several roots of modern day politics, logics and ethics can be traced back to him, but his actual works and biography are uncertain. Most of the information now accessible about Socrates is offered by his disciple, Plato. And the most relevant source is constituted by the Apology, or Plato's dialogues with Socrates. The information is centralized in the last days of Socrates, in which the author militates for the rights of Socrates' way.

In other words, the book is a means of expanding the good and not letting Socrates' death be in vain. Plato once again restated the cause and importance of Socrates' work in an effort to promote his ideas to a larger scale. Through this, the objective was that of supporting rational thought and as such ensuring the expansion of the good.

One of the dialogues in Plato's collection is that between Socrates and Euthyphro. Euthyphro is a religious expert who does not agree with Socrates' understanding of piety and the two strive to find common grounds. The scope is that of helping Socrates make his case in front those who accused him of impiety. Throughout their conversation, Euthyphro reveals that his father had committed manslaughter and that it is as such pious of him to prosecute his own father.

Socrates nevertheless argues that such a context is irrelevant as it only represents a mere situation, an example. Additionally, it cannot provide a general, standard and universally acceptable definition of piety. Euthyphro then offers a second definition of piety:

Piety, then, is that which is dear to the gods, and impiety is that which is not dear to them.

Socrates also rejects this definition as the desires of gods can change. Specifically, he argues that what pleases a certain god, might displease another. And even in a circumstance as manslaughter, the gods would reveal different perceptions of causality and justification. Euthyphro then offers the third definition, derived from the second one:

I should say that what all the gods love is pious and holy, and the opposite which they all hate, impious.

Socrates then replies with the creation of a dilemma -- would the things and people be considered pious because they are loved by gods, or would the gods all love them because they are pious. After a deeper process of thought, Socrates himself defines piety as a species of the genus 'justice, but Euthyphro insists on defining piety based on what the gods like. Piety is eventually described as knowledge and prayer, to the benefit of the gods (Plato).

It is often argued that ethics has its origins in religion, which means that whenever an individual is facing a moral dilemma, they would be able to find the answer in invoking the Divinity. Nevertheless, religion is often conflicting and history has provided numerous examples in this sense, such as the Crusades for the Holly Grail or the tortures of the Inquisition.

A relevant situation of ethical dilemma is represented by the act of taking life. Under normal circumstances, such an action is forbidden, but the Church has also accepted the killing of the enemy during war time. Additionally, killing to defend one self is often forgiven by the Church, as the worldly impersonation of the Divinity.

In such a context then, the problem raised when invoking the gods, or God, is represented by the relativity of each situation. And this relativity becomes more obvious and more challenging when religious differences occur. For instance, while in Christianity it is forbidden to take one's life, in Buddhism, suicide is accepted for the enlightened ones, who leave the planet free from anger, hate and fear and who are prepared for reincarnation (BBC, 2009).