Humanity, which as a topic is so difficult to define, is a creation of everyday life, of which we are not always sufficiently and consciously aware. Yes, it involves all of us collectively, but especially every one of us individually. This global community is the fundamental issue that must gather all men and women in a single worldwide project because it is a referral for unity and inclusivity.

It is naive to try to make us believe in the immediate feasibility and unimpeded achievement of such ambition. The contribution of Humanity is also the result of advanced progress: that of the sciences, whether physical or mathematical, natural or environmental, technological or philosophical.

This last philosophical dimension confronts us with deep thinking: it is an invitation to give a meaning to the progress of technology, that only morality and ethics can bring.

There is no greater task than trying to confront human beings with themselves. Although human nature has always been invited by man and science to progress, it is clear that evolution has not systematically followed natural courses, which in any case are harmonious and inclusive. The risk that humanity runs is that of perverting itself in a vision that goes beyond the highest interest of the community, to serve only that of individual destinies. Subjugation emerges under this condition.

The principles of good ethical conduct depend on postures which do not appear to be simply “spontaneous” and which call for a real awareness of the actions generated and the indirect consequences resulting from them.

We are therefore dealing with the question of what can constitute intangible principles related to the matter of foundations in morality: this is a means of having a strong source of inspiration and reference values.

It is therefore natural that Pierre Massotte invites each of us to discover the Ethics of Responsibility, outlined in the essential registries of good conduct of people in the world of business. Therefore, we have a code of conduct that crosschecks and merges all the implications of human beings in their relationships within a global societal framework.

There is certainly a difficulty in formalizing a modeling framework in this subject matter. Indeed, forging vital reference values naturally leads to creating and defining the conditions for the necessary in-depth elaboration, before a given action, of the elements that will be used in different inherited situations. It provides an inspiration based on the values of virtue, coming to question societal relationships, either socially or business oriented. Finally, they form only one whole, as soon the implied behavior of anybody, at this level of involvement, is to be virtuous.

It is not by chance that many of the references quoted in this book come from large companies or social organizations across many fields. Among the organizations, the Rotary plays an important role that cannot be ignored because, for more than a century, it has created the conditions for a global involvement in ethics, to provide an active contribution to working towards peace, and therefore working for humanity as a whole.

Through its programs, and its members’ requests for impartiality and integrity, both on a personal and vocational level, the Rotary calls on its members to adopt an ethical conduct in all of their actions. The goal is thus to set up a reference framework with which to bring together or interconnect people, in order to lead a noble novation. There is a distinction to be made between what makes cohesion possible and what enables the resilience of this cohesion. The humanitarian challenge is thus converging toward the principle of necessity in ethics.

The Rotary’s four-way test urges its members (Rotarians) to ask themselves the following questions before making a decision and putting it into action:

• – Is it the truth?
• – Is it fair to all concerned?
• – Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
• – Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

It is not enough to be convinced in order to assert an ethical posture. Each of us must be responsible for this, which inevitably refers to the question of “public affairs”, in the sense in which the Romans understood it; that is to say, in the so-called res-publica, which corresponds much more to the common domain of the society rather than the public domain.

This is the strength of Pierre Massotte’s invitation in this book, for which he did me the honor of writing this foreword. The best intent is to serve the development thus produced at the level of humanity, convincing us that this development is an incentive to go even further.

The acceleration of time we are currently experiencing, due to the arrival of new information and communication technologies, gives an even greater dimension to this issue. We must continue believing that it is sometimes necessary and important to take a break and make time for a period of thought and analysis.

Thus, it is up to us to answer and live up to this invitation, and to make the aspirations and dreams which arise from this more real, in order to make Ethics a good deal, but above all an ambition to be shared and realized.

Régis ALLARD

Past Governor D1780

Rotary International President’s Representative

President of leRotarien magazine