The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is an ethical code, or a morality
Walter Terence Stace argued that the Golden Rule is much more than simply an ethical code. Instead, he posits, it "express[es] the essence of a universal morality." The rationale for this crucial distinction occupies much of his book The Concept of Morals (1937): – 
 
,
that states (in four forms, see table below) the following:
# One should treat others according to how one would like others to treat one's self (positive, passive form) 
# Treat others as you would like to be treated (positive, active form)
# One should not treat others in ways one would not like to be treated (prohibitive, passive form) 
# Do not treat others in ways you would not like to be treated (prohibitive, active form. Also called the Silver Rule) 
The Golden Rule has a long history, and a great number of prominent religious figures and philosophers have restated the above four forms of the Rule in various ways. 
The Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, in which each individual has a right to just treatment, and a responsibility to ensure justice for others.Defined another way, it "refers to the balance in an interactive system such that each party has both rights and duties, and the subordinate norm of complementarity states that one's rights are the other's obligation." See also: 
A key element of the Golden Rule is that a person attempting to live by this rule treats all people, not just members of his or her in-group, with consideration. The Golden Rule has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard which different cultures use to resolve conflicts.
 
The Golden Rule, as a concept, has a history that long predates the term "Golden Rule" (or "Golden law," as it was called from the 1670s). 
The concept was present in certain forms in the philosophies of ancient Babylon, Egypt, India, Greece, Judea, and China. Principal philosophers and religious figures have stated it in different ways, but its most common Modern English phrasing first appeared in a Catholic catechism around 1567 (certainly in the reprint of 1583
 
): That English phrasing is a translation of ancient Greek manuscripts; and in the original Greek it is attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in the Biblical book of Matthew: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12, Matthew 22:39, Luke 6:31)
==Summary table of four forms==
This summary table shows four distilled forms of the Golden Rule. (Each form has two separate lines to display the bilateral, reciprocal nature of the Golden Rule).
 	Positive 	Prohibitive (also called the Silver Rule)
Passive	One should treat others... how one would like others to treat one's self	One should not treat others... in ways one would not like to be treated
Active 	Treat others... as you would like to be treated 	Do not treat others... in ways you would not like to be treated
==Antiquity==
===Ancient Babylon===
The early incarnations of the Golden Rule, found in the Code of Hammurabi, (1780 BCE)Quote from Kenneth Bond: "...Code of Hammurabi (1780 BC). I used a translation by L.W. King with Commentary by Charles F. Horne (1915). My version was a 1996 electronically enhanced version of the 1910 Encyclopedia Britannica." (end quote). , and in the Torah, dealt less with ethical reciprocity as they did concepts of retribution ("an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth").
=== Ancient Egypt ===
An early example of the Golden Rule that reflects the Ancient Egyptian concept of Maat appears in the story of The Eloquent Peasant which is dated to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040 – 1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do.""The Culture of Ancient Egypt", John Albert Wilson, p. 121, University of Chicago Press, 1956, ISBN 0-226-90152-1 An example from a Late Period (c. 1080 – 332 BCE) papyrus: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.""A Late Period Hieratic Wisdom Text: P. Brooklyn 47.218.135", Richard Jasnow, p. 95, University of Chicago Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-918986-85-6
=== Ancient Greek philosophy ===
The Golden Rule in its prohibitive form was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include:
*"Do not do to your neighbor what you would take ill from him." – PittacusPittacus, Fragm. 10.3 (c. 640–568 BCE)
*"Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – ThalesDiogenes Laërtius, "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", I,36
*"What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. " – Sextus the PythagoreanThe Sentences of Sextus The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origin in the third century of the common era.The Sentences of Sextus Article
*"Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others." – IsocratesIsocrates, "Nicocles",6
*"What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others." – EpictetusEpictetus, "Encheiridion"
*"It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly (agreeing 'neither to harm nor be harmed'Tim O'Keefe, Epicurus on Freedom, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.134), and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life." – EpicurusEpicurus Principal Doctrines tranls. by Robert Drew Hicks (1925)
*"One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him." – Plato's Socrates (Crito, 49c) (c. 469 BC–399 BCE)
== Religion and philosophy ==
=== Global ethic ===
The "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic"Towards a Global Ethic urbandharma.org from the Parliament of the World’s ReligionsThe Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions. (1993) proclaimed the Golden Rule (both in negative and positive form) as the common principle for many religions.Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration) ReligiousTolerance.org The Initial Declaration was signed by 143 leaders from different faith traditions and spiritual communities.
=== Bahá'í Faith ===
From the scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith:
=== Buddhism ===
=== Christianity ===
Christianity adopted the golden rule from two edicts, found in ("Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.", see also Great Commandment) and ("But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God"). Crucially, Leviticus 19:34 universalizes the edict of Leviticus 19:18 from "one of your people" to all of humankind.
The Old Testament Deuterocanonical books of Tobit and Sirach, accepted as part of the Scriptural canon by Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Non-Chalcedonian Churches, also express a negative form of the golden rule:
At the time of Hillel, an elder contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, the negative form of the golden rule already must have been proverbial, because of the accordances with Tobit 4:15. When asked to sum up the entire Torah concisely, he answered:
Several passages in the New Testament quote Jesus of Nazareth espousing the golden rule, including the following:
The passage in the book of Luke then continues with Jesus answering the question, "Who is my neighbor?", by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, indicating that "your neighbour" is anyone in need.John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on Luke 10 Jesus' teaching, however, goes beyond the negative formulation of not doing what one would not like done to themselves, to the positive formulation of actively doing good to another that, if the situations were reversed, one would desire that the other would do for them. This formulation, as indicated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, emphasises the needs for positive action that brings benefit to another, not simply restraining oneself from negative activities that hurt another. Taken as a rule of judgement, both formulations of the golden rule, the negative and positive, are equally applicable.Moore: Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era; Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1927–1930; Vol.2, p.87, Vol.3, p.180.
=== Confucianism ===
The same idea is also presented in V.12 and VI.30 of the Analects.
=== Hinduism ===
=== Humanism ===
Many different sources claim the Golden Rule as a humanist principleUBC.ca:
=== Islam ===
Jeffrey Wattles holds that the golden rule appears in the following statements attributed to MuhammadJeffrey Wattles, The Golden Rule (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) 4, 191–192, Questia, 24 July 2007:
The Qur'an commends:
=== Jainism ===
In Jainism, the golden rule is firmly embedded in its entire philosophy and can be seen in its clearest form in the doctrines of Ahimsa and Karma
Following quotation from the Acaranga Sutra sums up the philosophy of Jainism:
Saman Suttam of Jinendra Varni* gives further insight into this percepts:-
=== Judaism ===
The concept of the Golden Rule originates most famously in a Torah verse (Hebrew: "ואהבת לרעיך כמוך"):
This Torah verse represents one of several version of the Golden Rule, which itself appears in various forms, positive and negative. It is seemingly the oldest written version of that concept in a positive form.Plaut: The Torah — A Modern Commentary; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York 1981; pp.892. All versions and forms of the proverbial Golden Rule have one aspect in common, they all call for others the equal manner and respect we want for ourselves.
At the turn of the eras, the Jewish rabbis were discussing the scope of the meaning of Leviticus 19:18 and 19:34 extensively:
Some deputized the excluding opinion, "neighbor" only refers to Jews and proselytes. Others summed up Samaritans unto the proselytes (= 'strangers who resides with you') (Rabbi Akiba, bQuid 75b) or Jews (Rabbi Gamaliel, yKet 3,1; 27a).
The Sage Hillel, an elder contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, formulated a negative form of the golden rule. When asked to sum up the entire Torah concisely, he answered:
On the verse, "Love your fellow as yourself," the classic commentator Rashi quotes from Torat Kohanim, an early Midrashic text regarding the famous dictum of Rabbi Akiva: "Love your fellow as yourself — Rabbi Akiva says this is a great principle of the Torah."Kedoshim 19:18, Toras Kohanim, ibid. See also Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4; Bereishis Rabbah 24:7.
The Hassidic perspective of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi based on the teachings of the Zohar implores one to "repay the offenders with favors":
Israel's postal service quoted from the previous Leviticus verse when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica – Emory University
=== Mohism ===
Mozi regarded the golden rule as a corollary to the cardinal virtue of impartiality, and encouraged egalitarianism and selflessness in relationships.
=== Sikhism ===
=== Taoism ===
== Criticisms and responses to criticisms ==
Many people have criticized the golden rule; George Bernard Shaw once said that "The golden rule is that there are no golden rules". Shaw also criticized the golden rule, "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same." (Maxims for Revolutionists; 1903). "The golden rule is a good standard which is further improved by doing unto others, wherever reasonable, as they want to be done by." Karl Popper (The Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. 2) This concept has recently been called "The Platinum Rule"The Busybody: The Platinum Rule Philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell, have objected to the rule on a variety of grounds.Only a Game: The Golden Rule The most serious among these is its application. How does one know how others want to be treated? The obvious way is to ask them, but this cannot be done if one assumes they have not reached a particular and relevant understanding.
=== Differences in values or interests ===
Shaw's comment about differing tastes suggests that if your values are not shared with others, the way you want to be treated will not be the way they want to be treated. For example, it has been said that a sadist is just a masochist who follows the golden rule. Another often used example of this inconsistency is that of the man walking into a bar looking for a fight.How would you feel, if a million Soviet troops stormed your Reich Capital?
=== Differences in situations ===
Immanuel Kant famously criticized the golden rule for not being sensitive to differences of situation, noting that a prisoner duly convicted of a crime could appeal to the golden rule while asking the judge to release him, pointing out that the judge would not want anyone else to send him to prison, so he should not do so to others.
=== Responses to criticisms ===
Walter Terence Stace, in The Concept of Morals (1937), wrote:
M. G. Singer observed that there are two importantly different ways of looking at the golden rule: as requiring (1) that you perform specific actions that you want others to do to you or (2) that you guide your behavior in the same general ways that you want others to.M.G. Singer, The Ideal of a Rational Morality, p270 Counter-examples to the golden rule typically are more forceful against the first than the second. In his book on the golden rule, Jeffrey Wattles makes the similar observation that such objections typically arise while applying the golden rule in certain general ways (namely, ignoring differences in taste, in situation, and so forth). But if we apply the golden rule to our own method of using it, asking in effect if we would want other people to apply the golden rule in such ways, the answer would typically be no, since it is quite predictable that others' ignoring of such factors will lead to behavior which we object to. It follows that we should not do so ourselves—according to the golden rule. In this way, the golden rule may be self-correcting.Wattles, p6 An article by Jouni Reinikainen develops this suggestion in greater detail.Jouni Reinikainen, "The Golden Rule and the Requirement of Universalizability." Journal of Value Inquiry. 39(2): 155–168, 2005.
It is possible, then, that the golden rule can itself guide us in identifying which differences of situation are morally relevant. We would often want other people to ignore our race or nationality when deciding how to act towards us, but would also want them to not ignore our differing preferences in food, desire for aggressiveness, and so on. The platinum rule, and perhaps other variants, might also be self-correcting in this same manner.
=== Cynical versions ===
"He who has the gold, makes the rules." 
Also, the Tit for tat strategy involves initial use of the golden rule, but, reflecting its name, is mostly focused on the vengeance that should be exacted when another appears to violate the golden rule.
== Scientific research ==
There has been research published arguing that some 'sense' of fair play and the Golden Rule may be stated and rooted in terms of neuroscientific and neuroethical principles.Pfaff, Donald W., "The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (Usually) Follow the Golden Rule", Dana Press, The Dana Foundation, New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-932594-27-0
==See also==
*Harm Principle
*Norm of reciprocity, social norm of in-kind responses to the behavior of others 
*Reciprocity (cultural anthropology), way of defining people's informal exchange of goods and labour
*Reciprocity (evolution), mechanisms for the evolution of cooperation
*Reciprocity (international relations), principle that favours, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind
*Reciprocity (social and political philosophy), concept of reciprocity as in-kind positive or negative responses for the actions of others; relation to justice; related ideas such as gratitude, mutuality, and the Golden Rule 
*Reciprocity (social psychology), in-kind positive or negative responses of individuals towards the actions of others
*Serial reciprocity, where the benefactor of a gift or service will in turn provide benefits to a third party
*Silver Rule
*Tit for tat
== References ==
== External links ==
* Golden Rule Poster in 13 Religions
* A short essay on the Golden Rule
* Golden Rule in a Nutshell, referencing at least 19 religions / belief systems
* Golden Rule Resources and Articles
* Rosicrucians: The Golden Rule
* Shared belief in the Golden Rule
* The Golden Rule as a Global Ethos by Josef Bordat
* The Golden Rule, Ethic of Reciprocity, and the Wiccan Rede
* The Golden Rule in Religion
* The Golden Rule in World Religions
* The Rules of the Game
* The Abolition of Man E-text of the C. S. Lewis book The Abolition of Man, which includes a comparative appendix.
* Let's revive the Golden Rule (video)
Category:Social philosophy
Category:Ethical principles
Category:Philosophy of law
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