A Hippocratic Oath
In light of the recent Rob Bell fiasco, which was kicked off by a post by Justin Taylor, I present you with a lightly edited (read: condensed) version of Wayne C. Booth’s “Hippocratic Oath for the Pluralist.” It can be found in his book Critical Understanding: The Powers and Limits of Pluralism. I first came across it in Theory’s Empire: An Anthology of Dissent, ed. by Patai and Corral.
1. I will publish nothing, favorable or unfavorable, about books or articles I have not read through at least once. (By “publish” I mean any writing or speaking that “makes public,” including term papers, theses, course lectures, and conference papers.”
2. I will try to publish nothing about any book or article until I have understood it, which is to say, until I have reason to think that I can give an account of it that the author himself will recognize as just. Any attempt at overstanding will follow this initial act of attempted respect.
3. I will take no critic’s word, when he discusses other critics, unless he can convince me that he has abided by the first two ordinances.
4. I will not undertake any project that by its very nature requires me to violate Ordinances 1-3.
5. I will not judge my own inevitable violations of the first four ordinances more leniently than those I find in other critics.
Notes:
1. I know I am getting to this late, I was too depressed about the whole situation to post anything on it sooner.
2. I am not a Rob Bell fan, I disagree with him on many points. I am neither a Justin Taylor hater nor fan, I both agree and disagree with him on many points.
3. The intention of this post is to call us all to greater integrity.
4. I am assuming that these principles should apply to book criticism on blogs. Booth notes in the full version that if these rules were followed, perhaps 75% of all criticism would be eliminated.
