What Is Meant
Shahrur presents honesty, trustworthiness, and not harming people as basic human values that are innate and universal, shared among human beings Therefore, in his view, they do not need external proof and are not left to a vote
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: value-based
- Argument movement: considering honesty, trustworthiness, and non-harm as innate universal values.
- Key terms: honesty, trustworthiness, non-harm, innate, universal.
- Degree of centrality: central.
It establishes a general ethics prior to sectarian debate, and assumes that some values are shared among human beings and do not need voting or external proof, thereby elevating them to the level of a general human principle.
Links That Help Reading
Basis
- Supporting text: «It emphasizes that basic human values such as honesty, trustworthiness, and not harming people are innate universal values that do not need proof, and are not put to a vote».
Degree of Documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom rests on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Limits of reading: the formulation above is an analytical summary, and is not treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is transmitted literally.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is declarative; it establishes a conclusion on which what follows depends in the course of the argument.
Editorial Note
This helps build the ethical dimension within Shahrur’s conception of religion and faith.