Delphic Maxim 86: Judge incorruptibly
I’ve set myself the challenge of responding to each Delphic Maxim for 15 minutes a day.
86. Judge incorruptibly
Corruption is weighing on my mind after this weekend’s election result. Not because I think that the Coalition is especially corrupt (although Barnaby Joyce and Angus Taylor demonstrably have something to answer for), but because in an election as polarising as that one, it is more important than ever that people’s judgement isn’t corrupted.
The word ‘corruption’ has lost some of its vividness over time. It is so strongly linked to politics and the law now that the sense of decay, of rot, of a deviation from proper function sees to have been lost. When something is corrupted, it means that it has broken down, that it is now serving a purpose that is faulty and destructive. Pure function is broken, replaced by a disrupted, distorted, possibly nefarious alternative.
Judgement is a part of our daily lives, fundamental to the rational processes of thinking that help us make decisions. So for the maxim to call on us to judge incorruptibly, it asks that we not only be conscious of influences and diversions that can affect our judgement — but that we understand what pure judgement looks like in the first place.
Context is king, of course, and what is appropriate in one environment may not be the best judgement in another. Having a sense of objective and purpose is vital for this kind of clear-minded decision making. That’s why it’s such an ethical failure when individuals who serve in public office allow their decision making to become corrupted. In that context, the objective is the service of the community, not the enrichment of self. When someone makes the judgement that their own interests can be put before those of the people they were elected to serve, then their judgement is corrupt.
For the rest of us plebs who don’t serve in positions of power, this maxim is a reminder that we should strive to be objective. When making a judgement, we need all of the facts, or as many of the facts and arguments as we can get. And we need to properly understand the context and implications of a decision. The occasions where a judgement has an effect on others are the times when it is most important that we judge incorruptibly. Our sense of purpose, and our decision-making, shouldn’t be degraded by corruption.
This may not be a problem if your only purpose is the service of self and your own interests — but I would argue that a person with that kind of motive shouldn’t put themselves in a position where they are supposed to serve the interests of others. Even if your context and motivation is self interest, a position where you are required to work in the interests of others is a corruption of your own intent. Judging incorruptibly cuts both ways: it is about context and intent, as much as it is the just and fair application of judgement.
