At a recent meeting, the Wilmington Rotary Club invited Wilmington College Philosophy Professor Ron Rembert to share his view of Rotary’s Four-Way Test as a philosopher.
Professor Rembert felt it was “curious” that the mission statement takes the form of four questions. He then shared three thoughts on our use of questions:
Questions are more durable and longer-lived than declaratory statements. Plato, 2,500 years ago, wrote The Dialogues. It is as viable today as then. There are no answers, just questions of moral concepts. What are courage, friendship and virtue? Dialogues do not provide answers. A commitment to questioning is the most important thing we can do as a person.- Questions more than answers are universally shared. Questions bring people together.
- Questions open the way for wisdom to go beyond knowledge. Never claim to know more than you know.
Professor Rembert then reviewed Rotary’s Four-Way Test: 1. Is it the Truth?; 2. Is it fair to all concerned?; 3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?; and, 4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
He possed a series of questions such as “Who are all concerned?” and “ What is the model of friendship?”
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