THINKING 101, Lesson 7: An Example of "Meaning" and "Value"

Here are Gandhi's Seven Deadly Sins:

Wealth without Work
Pleasure without Conscience
Science without Humanity
Knowledge without Character
Politics without Principle
Commerce without Morality
Worship without Sacrifice

If you prefer, these could all be put in the positive sense by changing "without" to "with."

This list can be used for many purposes, such as analyzing the status of a society, but that's another subject. In this essay, we're just using them as examples of "meaning," the level of reality easily accessible by mind, and "value," the level of reality only accessible by the higher functions of mind (sometimes called "spirit").

Each of Gandhi's sins contains 2 "meanings," 2 concepts that most human minds can understand. For example, the first one speaks of "wealth" and "work," and we know what those are, even if we all have slightly different experiences with them.

But when we put in the word "with" or "without," we create a phrase that expresses a deep and complex "value." Gandhi called them "sins" so "Wealth without Work" was, in his opinion, bad, and "Wealth with Work" was good.

Keep in mind that a "value" is seldom just good or bad, or any other pair of extreme opposites. It can be somewhere in between, or even completely off the scale in any direction.

Happy thinking!