Ethics

Does the exhortation attributed to Jesus that you should treat others as one would like others to treat them stand up to modern philosophical scrutiny?

Comments

Versions of this Golden Rule appear in various cultures, and modern philosophical scrutiny can easily make fun of this Rule. Thus Kant asks what the judge should do with a defendant guilty of murder -- she wouldn't like to be jailed for many years, so she should presumably let him go. Amusing counterexamples could be multiplied endlessly: is the mother obligated to suck the breast of her infant son? Is the greedy adolescent obligated to write a will in favor of his rich aunt? And is one really obligated to bestow upon others all the myriad kindnesses that one would like others to bestow upon oneself?

Much has been written about the Golden Rule -- also about it's "negative" version that you should not treat others as you would not want them to treat you -- in an effort to find an interpretation that is plausible. It is probably not possible to find a formulation that is plausible across the board and still a credible interpretation of the Rule you cite.

Even if the Golden Rule is not workable as a hard-and-fast criterion of right and wrong, it still contains two important insights about morality. First, in acting in ways that affect other people we should take their interests and preferences into account. And, second, we should recognize other people as our equals: as beings whose lives and interests and preference are as important as our own. Contrary to a strict reading of the Golden Rule, this does not mean that we must give the interests of every other person as much weight as, or even more weight than, we give to our own interests. But it does entail that we should have a single standard here about how much priority for one's own interests over those of others is appropriate. Given our fundamental equality, it would be unreasonable to demand of others that they give more weight to my interests than I am giving to theirs.

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