| Homepage | Imprint |
|
||
 |
Golden Rule (ethics)
This traditional guiding rule was so highly valued that it became known in English at least since the mid-16th century as the "golden" rule.[3] Similar wordings, listed in Ethic of reciprocity, can be found in virtually all written-language cultures, moral codesand religions, from early writings to the present. This suggests that the golden rule may be a fundamental moral principle. Here is President John F. Kennedy's application of the golden rule:[1] In 1963 he had AlabamaNational Guardsmenhelp admit two clearly qualified "Negro" students to the University of Alabama. In his speech that evening JFK appealed to every American to "stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents" throughout America. "If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best public school available, if he cannot vote for the public officialswho will represent him, .... then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place?" .... "The heart of the question is .... whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated."[1b]
This second form of the golden rule is more useful because it mentions how to apply the golden rule, using our knowledge and our imagination: First, we need adequate knowledge of the other's situation and the effect our treatment has on their lives. In the above application, in 1963 United States, one needed to know that Negroes could not eat in many public restaurants, plus the other (school and vote) facts mentioned above, plus additional racismitems. Second, we need to honestly and actively imagine ourselves in the other's exact situation, on the receiving end of the action or treatment. President Kennedy explicitly did this for us in his speech above. The golden rule does not replace all other moral principles. This guiding rule may or may not tell us which actions or treatments are right or wrong. But the golden rule can provide us with moral coherence -- it is a consistency principle: Our actions are to be consistent with what we would desire in the exactly reversed situation. If we violate the golden rule, then we're violating the fairness and concern for others which it gives. Arising as it does in nearly all written-language cultures on our Earth, the golden rule is a tool that such differing cultures can readily use in handling conflicts. Thus, the golden rule may become more useful as the parts of our world interact more and more. Footnotes
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=1}} {{qif
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=1b}} {{qif
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=1c}} JFK's 11 June1963"Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights," transcript from the JFK library. Partly described (and multiply quoted) in the text above. As described in graphic 1963 events, President Kennedy sent his civil rights billto Congresson 19 June1963leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964via the Congressional give-and-take described there.
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=2a}} {{qif
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=2b}} Harry Gensler's essay,The Golden Rule, published in the Blackwell Dictionary of Business Ethics (Routledge 1997 ISBN 1557869421). For more background, and for more information about the golden rule, plus links and lists of books about it, see his website The Golden Rule. His links include his teaching website, Web Exercises. Here he offers the public (and his students) a peek into his books about ethics and logic including the golden rule, plus a chance to practice applying the golden rule. For both of his ethics books, you'll need to select Golden Rule. You'll see whether you can apply the golden rule correctly. Also, the peek allows you to see some of the logic involved in formulating the second, more useful form of the golden rule quoted in the text above. There may be more information available via this "Web Exercises" site (more than 100 enticing links) than most of us could sample in a 40 hour week.
|test={{{3|none}}}
|then={{qif
|test={{{{{{3|}}}}}}
|then=^
|else={{{3|}}}
}}
|else=3}} The source for "at least since the mid-16th century" is Encyclopedia Britannnica, Vol 10 (alphabet letters G-H), 1970 ISBN 852291353, the beginning of its GOLDEN RULE article on p. 542.
External links
Categories: Wikipedia articles needing style editing| Social philosophy| Ethics| Logic
|
