Building a more moral world

7. Keep your promises

8. Do not cheat

9. Obey the law

10. Do your duty

And finally, John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism is clearly against harming others. He repeats this injunction several times:

•The moral rules which forbid mankind to hurt one another… are more vital to human well-being than any maxims, however important, which only point out the best mode of managing some department of human affairs..

Mill also uses the word "pain" in a very wide sense, although perhaps not always clearly. He includes "mental suffering" as one of the contributors to unhappiness. The Asian philosophies also support this definition.

"Do no harm, help others" as the universal guideline is supported by social developments over history. The abolition of slavery, the ending of duelling, the abolition of foot binding, the stopping of imprisonment or even the execution of homosexuals, the introduction of sickness, old age and unemployment social welfare programs have all been aimed at relieving a harm that was then being experienced. Each, incidentally, was also resisted by conservative thinking.

One final reason for proposing "Do no harm, help others" as an overriding theory is that the injunction is in the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Parable of the Good Samaritan supports it completely, as, to a large extent, does the Sermon on the Mount.

Current ethical conflicts

"Do no harm, help others" is universally applicable to all moral problems.

Same sex marriage. Such marriages are morally acceptable on the basis that we are inflicting a harm if we discriminate against any group. Also, increasing acceptance of homosexuality has been a noticeable development in most modern democracies. It has not been that long since we sent homosexuals to prison, or even castrated them. Same sex marriage only continues a trend of eliminating discrimination against homosexuals.