STUDY CONVENTION

"SCIENCE, ETHICS AND COMMUNICATION"
MILAN, 17-18 MAY 1996

ETHICS AND FREEMASONRY

BY VIRGILIO GAITO
GRAND MASTER OF THE GRAND ORIENT OF ITALY

Since ancient times Man has been faced with the dilemma of being and necessity of being, and he has always questioned himself on how to draw near and, hopefully, conform to a model of perfection, that is considered as existing beyond this earthly dimension, which by definition is limited and misleading, which is like a barrier that only the chosen few can overcome.
All the choices of Mankind in fact, must be inspired by ethic principles that lend themselves to supply a valid and acceptable guide, if not for all, al least for the majority.
What's more, today this indispensable need is felt more than ever. Wherever, from the highest qualified gatherings to the mass media to the daily conversations of housewives at the market, the use of the word morality is used more and more frequently as the longing for catharsis, a redemption not only from material and environmental degradation, in view of reaching a new City of the Sun which is much more desirable considering that it is seen as utopian.
In effect morality is a word that is much more easily understood by the general public that ethics, legacy of the learned, and it is believed to be the synonym for the last mentioned. However for the insiders, ethics derives from the Greek word etos which means customs, the science of morals, that is, those norms of conduct approved and accepted by the community.

Morality - declares Nicola Abbagnano - is not unique: peoples and civilisations have different morals and even in the context of the same civilisation, morality changes with time. As customs (mores) change, so do the accepted standards of general conduct and the evaluation that these customs give according to the categories of good and evil.
However, even though one cannot speak about a universal human morals, the various cultures consider them as answers to fundamental human needs and, above all, to the need of survival of the individual and of the community that they constitute.
Ethics, or the science of morals, can therefore have the task of determining the general conditions and the foundations that make it possible for man to coexist and collaborate.
Such morality, which in the strict sense is humanistic - in order to distinguish it from theological morality - is articulated into norms or laws intended to regulate man's conduct in relation with himself and with others: that is, to operate in such a way as to safeguard one's own life in a better world without making the same conduct impossible for others.

Emanuele Kant, whose ideas are still fundamental today, was driven to theorise the absolute necessity for moral norms in that they constitute commands of reason, which is the universal faculty par excellence: all that it prescribes is valid for everyone, throughout the ages. The Kantian ethic is based on two fundamental points: the universality of morality, which distinguishes itself from all other norms and the dignity of man, for which no one can be treated as a means or an instrument, that is, as an object. There is an expression which is famous as it sums up Kantian thought: Morality is within me, the starry sky above me.
The process of maturity of the conscience and a greater sensibility towards the problems that modern-day society faces, has caused legions of individuals to focus their attention on ethics as the science of a universal morality indissolubly linked with the dignity of man.
Every consociate and public institution believes it has the right of complete observance of the strictest norms of conduct that are fixed by sanctions set out in penal laws, that are changeable according to the time, place and ruling government.
In other words, the need is felt that the behaviour of individuals, single or associated, should not be influenced by the fear of sanctions but rather, stimulated by the desire to live an honest life (honeste vivere), which presupposes an innermost conviction of the validity of unalterable moral principles.
At this point it is necessary to recall the well known distinction between theological and humanistic ethics in order to go to the heart of the analysis of Masonic morality.
Theological morality refers back to Aristotle's belief that every thing in the world has an ultimate aim which is God, pure activity, in such a way that the purpose of man is a contemplative life which permits some form of participation to divine life.
And, in the footsteps of Aristotle, the Stoics took on the moral of living according to nature as their foundation, a maxim that directs man towards this participation, since nature is, for the Stoics, the rational and perfect order of the world, the order of God himself.
Humanistic ethics instead, bases morality not on the relationship between man and a superior reality, but rather on the needs of man himself, the first of these being survival. Therefore humanistic ethics attributes the function of guaranteeing the survival of man and the community to morality, but not the survival of man seen as an animal but rather as a conscious being who reasons, and the community as the peaceful coexistence and free collaboration of these subjects.
What's more, this conception which is basically utilitarian was, as we have seen above, raised to the status of commands of reason which is the essence of human nature. In this way, man is reason but also sensibility and with moral law, reason commands him to set aside those sensible impulses and adapt himself to universality which is particular to it.
But, since the sensible nature of Man can never be annulled, conforming to laws is never complete, in that Man can legitimately aspire to happiness, where upon he is worthy of it because of his respect for morality, but in this world he can never achieve a perfect moral life, only vaguely draw near it.
So now we have arrived at the moral conception that lies beneath the essence of Freemasonry. This is an institution of initiatic nature that only accepts free and decent men, who are desirous of improving themselves and of working for the good and progress of Mankind.
The initiation ceremony marks an impassable gulf in the life of the initiate because he irreversibly leaves the so-called profane life behind him, with all its impurities and imperfections to project himself in a luminous dimension to which he aspires - and is helped - to free himself from all scoria.
As in all initiatic communities including Freemasonry, faith in a Supreme Being from which everything comes and to which everything returns is fundamental, in that the conscience of the Mason cannot but place in an indissoluble relation with this Entity.
And the means of drawing near to this Supreme Being is through knowledge, that is placed at the peak of human happiness, because it allows Man to contemplate the highest truths which make his life similar to that of God.
But knowledge is attainable only through knowledge that the initiate can acquire by freeing himself from the darkness of vice, ignorance, egoism and the snares of his own earthly condition. As on the pediments of Greek temples the words Know yourself also stand out on those of the Masonic Temples.
Universal Freemasonry is in fact aimed at the perfectioning oneself and at the moral and spiritual elevation of Man and the Human family. To reach such a sublime objective, it has its own methods, through the use of Rituals and symbols with which it expresses and interprets the principles, ideals, aspirations, ideas and intentions of its own initiatic essence (Point IV of the Principles of Identity of the Grand Orient of Italy).
Having passed the four tests of the symbolic journey of purification across earth, water, air and fire, carried out in a ritual that renews an age-old tradition, the initiate is placed in a condition to embark on a search for the Truth in a complete freedom, making use of reason that has been finally freed from the remnants of prejudice.
And this work of analysing of one's own being, origins and supreme destination, the initiate is comforted by several moral principles that were made clear to him before undergoing the four tests so that he could decide freely and spontaneously.
In the ritual of initiation to the degree of Apprentice of the Grand Orient of Italy of Palazzo Giustiniani the Worshipful Master in fact explains to the profane what concepts Freemasonry has of several moral principles and makes it clear that,

for us, Freedom is the power to carry out or not carry out certain actions according to the assessments of our will: and the right to do all that is not contrary to the moral laws and freedom of others.
Morality is the natural, universal and eternal law that guides every intelligent and free man. It allows us to learn what our duties are as well the rational use of our rights; and it turns to the purest of sentiments of the heart to ensure the triumph of reason and virtue.
Virtue - which according to the etymology of the word means strength, is the strength of fulfilling the duties of one's own position towards society and family on every occasion: it is to be exercised with disinterest and must not come to a halt in the face of sacrifice or death.
On the other hand, Vice is every concession made to interests and passion at the expense of one's duty; it is a danger against which it is necessary to arm oneself with all one's strength of reason and all the energy of one's character. And we gather in our Temples to put a halt to our passions, to raise ourselves above vile interests, and to learn to calm the ardour of our anti-social and anti-moral desires. We must work without letting up in order to improve ourselves, because it is only by controlling our inclinations and our customs that we can arrive at giving ourselves the proper balance that constitutes wisdom, that is the science of life.

It is this contraposition between virtue and vice that is called to the minds of Brethren every time they open the works in the Temple in the Room of the Apprentice when the Worshipful Master asks: For what reason have we gathered? And the Senior Warden replies: To build Temples of Virtue, to dig deep and dark prisons for vice and to work for the good and the progress of Mankind.
Therefore we can see the Kantian command of reason, that is used to free us from the remnants of profanity (in the Masonic symbolic language this idea is represented by the image of smoothing the rough stone), in order to acquire wisdom, that science of life that is given substance in the precept solemnly taught by the Worshipful Master to the profane at the end of the four preparatory tests of initiations.
During the second test, that of water, the Worshipful Master reminds the profane that only moral strength obtained through determination and sacrifice will allow him to fight against adversity. Upon completion of the final test of fire, the Worshipful Master pronounces a sublime entreaty: May your heart be inflamed with love for your fellow man; may this love - symbolised by Fire - mark your words, your actions and your future!
This is immediately followed by the moral memento: Never forget the universal and eternal precept: Do not do onto others what you would not wish to be done on to you, and do onto others as you would have others do onto you.
And so here we have the particular characteristic of Masonic ethics which admirably combines theological and humanistic ethics. The Mason - in the Temples and in his profane life always works for the glory of the Great Architect of the Universe, that is to say, that Supreme Being who is the origin and destination of everything - must characterise his life with self respect and respect for others, wisely exalting the sentiment of egoism, that is deeply rooted in every man, towards his own purification.
In other words, the objective of the Mason's search for his very being is to reach perfection that is to be found in none other than in the Supreme Being; nevertheless, conscious of his own nature as a man belonging to a distresses community which has its own existential dramas, he exalts egoism - that has finally become a positive quality - in the comforting altruism of donating one's own spiritual victories to one's fellow man.
In this way the extraordinary message of Love which the Worshipful Master entrusted to him to spread is put into action, which in contrast to Vice, allows him to help the rest of humanity to live peacefully according to the moral laws of respects and dignity for all, and to project himself in a new dimension of light and truth, that is divine.
The spiritual path of the Mason in his own conscious and in his commitment of Love towards Humanity is therefore a difficult one, but he knows that, beyond the wall of the Temple, where he gathers with his own Brethren in an invisible chain of energy that enriches him through purification, there is the starry sky, that mysterious dimension towards which Pythagoras urged us to look at, and in which only the conscience of a pure Man is allowed to nest.

VIRGILIO GAITO
GRAND MASTER