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Single Idea 19768

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / B. Contract Ethics / 2. Golden Rule ]

Full Idea

Instead of the sublime maxim of reasoned justice 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you', pity inspires a less perfect but perhaps more useful one: 'Do what is good for you with as little harm as possible to others'.

Gist of Idea

The better Golden Rule is 'do good for yourself without harming others'

Source

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Discourse on the Origin of Inequality [1754], Part I)

Book Ref

Rousseau,Jean-Jacques: 'The Basic Political Writings', ed/tr. Cress,Donald A. [Hackett 1987], p.55

A Reaction

His revised maxim is like J.S. Mill's formula for liberalism. The first maxim seems more contractarian, the second more utilitarian.

The 14 ideas with the same theme [treat others as you would like to be treated]:

7360 Do not do to others what you would not desire yourself [Kongzi (Confucius)]
23394 If people regarded other states as they did their own, they would never attack them [Mozi]
7350 The Torah just says: do not do to your neighbour what is hateful to you [Hillel the Elder]
5356 Treat others as you would have them treat you [Jesus]
5337 For Hobbes the Golden Rule concerns not doing things, whereas Jesus encourages active love [Hobbes, by Flanagan]
12934 We can't want everyone to have more than their share, so a further standard is needed [Leibniz]
7844 The Golden Rule is accepted everywhere, and gives a fixed target for morality [Voltaire]
19768 The better Golden Rule is 'do good for yourself without harming others' [Rousseau]
23675 We shouldn't do to others what would be a wrong to us in similar circumstances [Reid]
3733 The 'golden rule' cannot be a universal law as it implies no duties [Kant]
20246 If you feel to others as they feel to themselves, you must hate a self-hater [Nietzsche]
4560 The Golden Rule prohibits harmful actions, with the premise that actions will be requited [Nietzsche]
21030 The categorical imperative is not the Golden Rule, which concerns contingent desires [Sandel]
2856 Universal moral judgements imply the Golden Rule ('do as you would be done by') [Hooker,B]