University of Virginia Library

New University

So it is then that today we must
accommodate the Honor System to
the new University of Virginia, or
we must reject it. For that reason, I
have sought to articulate three
justifications for the system in
1970. There is a moral rational, a
pragmatic rationale, and what I
shall refer to as an idealistic
rationale. This attempted three-fold
distinction should not be allowed
to obscure the fact that the three
concepts I will discuss are
interrelated.

Whitebread The Advisor: Caught Climbing The Wall

I have thought a great deal
about moral systems and codes of
conduct. It is common knowledge
that many of the rigid moralistic
systems of the past have lost their
dominance in the twentieth
century. Many men have invested a
great deal of time in trying to
devise new guides for personal
conduct. For me, however, there
appears only one sufficient guide
for personal relations—only one
valid moral principle: that I should
fulfill myself as I please without
dictation from others so long as
what I do does not affirmatively
harm someone else.