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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
15 ideas
with the same theme
[treat others as you would like to be treated]:
7360
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Do not do to others what you would not desire yourself
[Kongzi (Confucius)]
|
23394
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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
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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
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If you feel to others as they feel to themselves, you must hate a self-hater
[Nietzsche]
|
4560
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The Golden Rule prohibits harmful actions, with the premise that actions will be requited
[Nietzsche]
|
24196
|
Loving others as ourselves implies varied love, and varied suffering
[Weil]
|
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]
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