(Dd.1) All societies living by a code
of ethics require an agency and/or agent of
authority to enforce their code of ethics. Lacking
such an authority a society will eventually revert
back to the uncivilized state of anarchy from which societies evolved.
(Dd.1.1) An agency of authority is a
system of management to which power of enforcement is
granted. These include forms of government such
as democracy, communism, socialism,
oligarchy, aristocracy, monarchy, theocracy, oligarchy and
colonialism.
(Dd.1.2) An agent of authority is
an individual who either seizes power of enforcement or is
willfully given the sole power of enforcement. These include
dictators, tyrants, monarchs and conquerors as well as charismatic, ordained,
appointed and elected religious leaders.
(Dd.2) Agents and agencies of authority may or may not
have the power to decide any or all societal morals
within a code of ethics. In a democracy, the individuals in a society decide
the morals and their method of be enforced by
the government. In a dictatorship, the agent of authority
is the dictator who not only decides the morals to be
enforced but also enforces them, often against the wishes of the
individuals in that society. Similarly, an elected religious
leader like the Roman Catholic pontiff is an agent of authority
with absolute ecclesiastical power, often
against the wishes of the individuals in that religious society.
(Dd.3) The currency of agents and agencies of
authority is power which may be in the form of law,
wealth, military, religion, tradition, skill, knowledge, charisma, presence,
conformity, fear, desire, reward, punishment, acquiescence, physical
strength or anything else that might be used to influence the behavior of
individuals in a society.
(Dd.3.1) The ultimate power of authority is
that over life and death of the individuals in a society.
(Dd) All societies use agents and/or agencies of authority having the power to manage codes of ethics and codes of laws reflecting those ethics of their society which they may or may not have created by the agent or agency. The power may be freely granted by the wishes of the societies or obtain by forceful seizure of an individual within the society. Lacking an agent and/or an agency of authority, societies will revert to the state of anarchy that preceded the evolution of societies.