Men of Principle

Years ago I met a retired judge who was a recovering alcoholic. The fellow talked about how, after he sobered up in A.A., he made amends to the clients he'd defrauded over the years as a practicing lawyer by returning any illicitly-acquired money.

Ray was his name. He said that when he was still drinking and living the criminal-lawyer life he loved dealing with "men of principle."

"The thing about men of principle," Ray explained, "is that they assume you are too."

It turns out that men of principle are good for business: a lawyer who knows his stuff can bring in a lot of cash working with them.

Ever come across someone who believes that for the truth to prevail it is sufficient merely to introduce it into the field of play amidst all the competing ideas, good or bad, true or false, plausible or incredible? If the creed is "expect the truth to prevail because it is the truth," then the doctrine is it that, given sufficient time, not only will the correct answer percolate to the top, but interested parties will be able to recognize both the veracity of the correct proposition and the erroneousness of the false one.

In a religious context, this kind of naive blind faith would make a zealot blush.

Of course, folks like the still-drinking Ray love the idea that the truth should be promiscuously mixed in with the false: they know how to use that sort of thing to advantage.

"Man's mind is not the supreme good that does not vary" (St. Augustine). Because we are frequently ruled by our passions, are insufficiently illuminated in our thinking, are readily inclined to do what indulges our tastes and even flatters ourselves, on our own and without aid we are seldom competent judges or reliable guardians of truth. As a rule, we need outside help -- we require the authority of the author of Truth.

"There are two things you need to know about God," Ray's friends in A.A. like to say. "There is one, and you're not it."

And, as I suspect Ray might add, there are times when the judge's best friend in the court room is the bailiff.