In Plato’s story about the ring of Gyges there is a question posed about a ring that makes the wearer invisible. Glaucon states that if there were such a ring, and everyone had one, then there would be no way to know the just from the unjust. He also posed that man would be at the mercy of the unjust. This is in a world where man is assumed to be mostly evil.
I think that a world where we had no rules to govern our behavior would be similar to the scenario that Glaucon poses. The similarity is only that the ring would create a world where the rules don’t apply; however there are still rules. I think that the outcome in a world completely devoid of rules would be different, because I don’t think it is in mans’ best interest to be evil.
If rules were to disappear from our society I think there would be factions who knew the old rules that would band together, and try to keep those values alive.
If we were to assume that we as a species would lose all memory of our rules that govern behavior then we would see a drastic de-evolution of man. It would be similar to the early days of the species, but rules would slowly introduce themselves into our world.
Darwin suggests that our ethics have evolved along with our societies. I think it is in the best interest of people to work together towards a goal. In order to work together they must have boundaries. Upon these agreements we start to build a code of ethics for a group of people. In our scenario, in a world without rules, there may be those that would run amuck. It could also be argued that these same people would run amuck even if there were rules in place. However, people would band together for safety. One of our needs as humans is safety. I think that having a group of people you trust is part of that safety. As more and more people begin to band together governments would start to be built.
I think that survival, or at least progress, as a species would be impossible with out some sort of rules that govern our behavior. Even the cells in our body must behave under some rules. When they get out of line the other cells in the body either destroy them, or they will eventually destroy the organism and themselves. A world without rules could be the end of the species.
A world without rules may be possible, but it would not remain that way for long. Eventually rules would begin to come into existence again. Since we are intelligent beings and have the ability to look back at our past, and imagine our own futures; it is only natural that we would evolve with the most complex rules that govern our own behaviors.
