"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.
" – Confucius
"What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others." – Epictetus
"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful" - Udanavarga 5:18
"Do to others what you would want them to do to you" - Luke 6:31
The Golden Rule is probably the most well known ethical code of all time. It was used by the
Romans, the Chinese, the Greeks and adopted by every major religion imaginable. And at first
glance it does seem like a good ethical code to hold by as a society. However i think that the
golden rule is not only flawed and selfish, but it can also justify immoral acts.
The main reason why i think the golden rule is flawed is because the moral standard and criteria is
not based on others desires and preferences, no it's solely focused on what your own preferences
and desires are. The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be
treated the way that you would like to be treated. And with that we are inevitably lead to moral
relativism, whatever your moral standard and desires are, is what is morally good for others.
Now such moral thinking can be counter-productive and used to justify immoral acts. Consider a
suicide bomber, a suicide bomber has no regard for his own life, he is literally killing himself.
According to the golden rule treating someone should be based on how you want to be treated
and since the suicide bomber is treating himself with death is it therefor justified that he can kill
others?
In the end it is fallacious to base your moral criteria on your own capacity to suffer, in the words of
Karl Popper: "The golden rule is a good standard which is further improved by doing unto others,
wherever reasonable, as they want to be done by"
I realized that this translation requires us to understand the heart of another, so that they can
properly be treated as they wanted to be treated, regardless of how we would want to be treated.
Obedience to this version of the Golden Rule requires compassion and EMPATHY to have the
discernment to get it right
Accounting for the wishes of others
The main criticism that people mention when it comes to the golden rule, and particularly when it
comes to its implementation in practice, is the fact that the golden rule suggests that others would
like to be treated the same way you would like to be treated, which is not necessarily true.
This can lead to problematic situations, where one person might mistreat someone else under the
guidance of the golden rule. For example, this problem could lead someone to make an overt
romantic gesture toward someone that isn’t interested in it, simply because the person making
the gesture wishes that someone would do the same for them.
This issue has been described by writer George Bernard Shaw, who famously said:
“Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may be not be the
same.”
To address this issue, a variant of the golden rule has been developed, which is called the platinum
rule, and which denotes that you should treat others the way they want to be treated.
However, this principle has also been criticized, for example because it can lead to issues in cases
where it prompts you to act toward someone in a way that contradicts your own values.
Furthermore, there are cases where it’s not possible to use the platinum rule, for example when
you have no way of knowing what the other person wants, or where the golden rule leads to
better outcomes, for example when it prompts someone to display more empathy in practice. As
such, the platinum rule is not inherently better than the golden rule, and there are cases where it’s
preferable to use the two rules together, or to use the golden rule by itself.
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A variant, which is sometimes called The Platinum Rule, states that you
should treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. Simply
put, the platinum rule means that instead of assuming that other people want to
be treated the same way you do, you should aim to discover how people
actually want to be treated, and then treat them that way.
The Golden Rule is probably the most well known ethical code of all time. It was used by the
Romans, the Chinese, the Greeks and adopted by every major religion. And at first glance it does
seem like a good ethical code to hold by as a society. However i think that the golden rule is
flawed and selfish.
The main reason why i think the golden rule is flawed is because the moral standard and criteria is
not based on others desires and preferences, no it's solely focused on what your own preferences
and desires are. The Golden Rule implies the basic assumption that other people would like to be
treated the way that you would like to be treated. And with that we are inevitably lead to moral
relativism and this can lead to problematic situations, where one person might mistreat someone
else under the guidance of the golden rule. For example, this problem could lead someone to
make an overt romantic gesture toward someone that isn’t interested in it, simply because the
person making the gesture wishes that someone would do the same for them.
A variant, which is sometimes called The Platinum Rule, states that you should treat others the
way they themselves would like to be treated. Simply put, the platinum rule means that instead of
assuming that other people want to be treated the same way you do, you should aim to discover
how people actually want to be treated, and then treat them that way.
