The universal duty to alleviate inflicted suffering: An ethical grounding for Siu's new discipline of Panetics

Abstract

Dr. Ralph G. H. Siu has challenged the intellectual community with a call for a new academic discipline that he calls Panetics (from the Pali word paneti meaning 'to inflict'). Panetics is the study of humanly engendered suffering, its causes and methods of alleviation. Suffering is measured in units called dukkhas (from the Pali word dukkha meaning suffering), which are the product of the intensity of pain and the amount of time the pain is endured. The result will be in terms of units of suffering, i.e. the dukkha. Dr. Siu has argued that this new academic discipline is not a forum for the discussion of theoretical ethics nor is there any implied moral precept which prescribes moral action. It will be shown that not only are there prescriptions for moral action embedded in panetic talk but that the entire discipline rests on moral presuppositions. In addition, a normative ethic is implied in the purpose of the Panetic Calculus, and this will be clarified. It will be shown that Dr. Siu's approach to the "New Utilitarianism" constitutes a form of negative utilitarianism, which may provide an 'ethical ground' upon which to rest what will be called the Principle of Least Inflicted Suffering. It will be argued that this Principle can be universalized because the 'ethical ground' upon which it rests is composed of a human universal (viz, human suffering), a component of all human 'forms of life.'