William Goodman, 49, middle child of Donald and Norma of Baldwinville, N.Y., is a lawyer by calling. He is a board member of the EcoVillage in Ithaca where he lives.
Goodman says of the house where he grew up, “When I was 6 years old, my family moved to live in a house they inherited from Grandfather Goodman—who built the house in 1926, and my father was born in the house five years later; my mother still lives there.
“There was a stream near our woods where we children played with others, and we used the gully at the back of the house to sled down the slope—going up and sledding down the gully.
“In my teens I was influenced by two books: “Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird”, and Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons”.
“These two generational books influenced my choice of profession of being a lawyer, fine-tuned my credo as a Roman Catholic in a manner that continues to resonate.
“Like Atticus Finch, I have tried to help people who needed the help of a lawyer against injustice, and the case of Thomas More, “Man for all Seasons”, may have made me go in for Religious Studies, after trying out English Lit.
“A Man for all Seasons” taught me ‘No Man Is Above the Law’ as an equalizing principle. Here is what I learned thinking of Sir Thomas More in the play: If he were to sign for the King’s divorce, and go against certain laws, he would have sided with the devil.
“Sir Thomas More argued that if he were to go to the devil’s side, where would he hide, if the Devil came after him?”
This reminded the interviewer, of the Kantian argument for the moral imperative. Looking at Thou Shalt Not Kill, a Kantian would see that if killing were permitted, would he not be the first to be killed? Self-interest prompts us to choose the moral imperative against killing.
Similarly, More’s syllogism argues: There is evil in the world, if we are not against evil, where would we hide if evil came after us?
Though Literature was Goodman’s first choice, he said, “The English Department at Yale drew too many people, because of the fame of faculty like Harold Bloom, or John Hollander. I moved to the smaller Department of Religious Studies with just 14 students. This gave me a chance to study in-depth, seminar style; we were just 14 participants.
“I saw that the sacred texts, The Bible, the great Hindu texts—The Upanishads, and The Gita—and Great Literature, Dickens’ Bleak House, Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, and great poetry, the sonnets of Shakespeare ... have changed mankind.
“As a lawyer and as a Roman Catholic, I would describe myself as an Utilitarian Pragmatist. I have read John Stuart Mill and have been influenced by his social, political, and economic theory.
“I think in practicalities. I meditate on the ethical dilemmas of our time, place, and moment in history. I try to be as pragmatic as possible with the fewest detriments to the fewest people.
“I have chosen to live in EcoVillage as I feel Mother Earth needs us to conserve and protect her.
“In my view, we need Atticus Finch to protect the powerless, we need to make room for the ones who are invisible but who work like Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and who was the savior of the children in the book. Atticus Finch is a hero for social justice. Thomas More found moral clarity and courted martyrdom.
“To answer your question: Do I have the moral clarity to court martyrdom? I would say, I do not have principles I would die for, but I am willing to die for others, if I can help others. This is what I mean when I describe myself as a Utilitarian Pragmatist. I inherited my Catholicism from my mother.”
At this point, the interviewer asked Goodman to write four lines of verse. His scribbled verse read:
I went to town on a coal black mare
To sell some corn to my friends all there
They gathered around for a glass of beer
We drank till dusk; for we had no care
The interviewer said, “These lines are the very opposite of anything in the interview,” and Goodman said, “That will be the subject of another interview.”
Goodman says of the house where he grew up, “When I was 6 years old, my family moved to live in a house they inherited from Grandfather Goodman—who built the house in 1926, and my father was born in the house five years later; my mother still lives there.
“There was a stream near our woods where we children played with others, and we used the gully at the back of the house to sled down the slope—going up and sledding down the gully.
“In my teens I was influenced by two books: “Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird”, and Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons”.
“These two generational books influenced my choice of profession of being a lawyer, fine-tuned my credo as a Roman Catholic in a manner that continues to resonate.
“Like Atticus Finch, I have tried to help people who needed the help of a lawyer against injustice, and the case of Thomas More, “Man for all Seasons”, may have made me go in for Religious Studies, after trying out English Lit.
“A Man for all Seasons” taught me ‘No Man Is Above the Law’ as an equalizing principle. Here is what I learned thinking of Sir Thomas More in the play: If he were to sign for the King’s divorce, and go against certain laws, he would have sided with the devil.
“Sir Thomas More argued that if he were to go to the devil’s side, where would he hide, if the Devil came after him?”
This reminded the interviewer, of the Kantian argument for the moral imperative. Looking at Thou Shalt Not Kill, a Kantian would see that if killing were permitted, would he not be the first to be killed? Self-interest prompts us to choose the moral imperative against killing.
Similarly, More’s syllogism argues: There is evil in the world, if we are not against evil, where would we hide if evil came after us?
Though Literature was Goodman’s first choice, he said, “The English Department at Yale drew too many people, because of the fame of faculty like Harold Bloom, or John Hollander. I moved to the smaller Department of Religious Studies with just 14 students. This gave me a chance to study in-depth, seminar style; we were just 14 participants.
“I saw that the sacred texts, The Bible, the great Hindu texts—The Upanishads, and The Gita—and Great Literature, Dickens’ Bleak House, Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, and great poetry, the sonnets of Shakespeare ... have changed mankind.
“As a lawyer and as a Roman Catholic, I would describe myself as an Utilitarian Pragmatist. I have read John Stuart Mill and have been influenced by his social, political, and economic theory.
“I think in practicalities. I meditate on the ethical dilemmas of our time, place, and moment in history. I try to be as pragmatic as possible with the fewest detriments to the fewest people.
“I have chosen to live in EcoVillage as I feel Mother Earth needs us to conserve and protect her.
“In my view, we need Atticus Finch to protect the powerless, we need to make room for the ones who are invisible but who work like Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird” and who was the savior of the children in the book. Atticus Finch is a hero for social justice. Thomas More found moral clarity and courted martyrdom.
“To answer your question: Do I have the moral clarity to court martyrdom? I would say, I do not have principles I would die for, but I am willing to die for others, if I can help others. This is what I mean when I describe myself as a Utilitarian Pragmatist. I inherited my Catholicism from my mother.”
At this point, the interviewer asked Goodman to write four lines of verse. His scribbled verse read:
I went to town on a coal black mare
To sell some corn to my friends all there
They gathered around for a glass of beer
We drank till dusk; for we had no care
The interviewer said, “These lines are the very opposite of anything in the interview,” and Goodman said, “That will be the subject of another interview.”
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