The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that one should reciprocate to others how one would like them to treat the person (not necessarily how they actually treat them). Various expressions of this rule can be found in the tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages.
The maxim may appear as a positive or negative injunction governing conduct: Treat others as one would like others to treat them (positive or directive form) Do not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form) What one wishes upon others, they wish upon themselves (empathetic or responsive form)
The negative form is sometimes called the Silver Rule in order to distinguish it from the positive form.
Etymology The term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", began to be used widely in the early 17th century in Britain by Anglican theologians and preachers;Thomas Jackson: First Sermon upon Matthew 7,12 (1615; Werke Band 3, S. 612); Benjamin Camfield: The Comprehensive Rule of Righteousness (1671); George Boraston: The Royal Law, or the Golden Rule of Justice and Charity (1683); John Goodman: The Golden Rule, or, the Royal Law of Equity explained (1688; ); dazu Olivier du Roy: The Golden Rule as the Law of Nature. In: Jacob Neusner, Bruce Chilton (Hrsg.): The Golden Rule – The Ethics of Reprocity in World Religions. London/New York 2008, S. 94. the earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.
Ancient history
Ancient Egypt Possibly the earliest affirmation of the maxim of reciprocity, reflecting the ancient Egyptian goddess Ma'at, appears in the story of "The Eloquent Peasant", which dates to the Middle Kingdom (): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to make him do." This proverb embodies the do ut des principle. A Late Period () papyrus contains an early negative form of the Golden Rule: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."
Ancient China Confucianism
Possibly the earliest idea of the prohibitive form of the Golden Rule is proposed by Confucius (c. 551 – c. 479 BCE):
The same idea is also presented in V.12 and VI.30 of the Analects (), which can be found in the online Chinese Text Project. The phraseology differs from the Christian version of the Golden Rule. It does not presume to do anything unto others, but merely to avoid doing what would be harmful. It does not preclude doing good deeds and taking moral positions.
In relation to the Golden Rule, Confucian philosopher Mencius said "If one acts with a vigorous effort at the law of reciprocity, when he seeks for the realization of perfect virtue, nothing can be closer than his approximation to it."Plaks, A. H. (2015). "Shining Ideal and Uncertain Reality: Commentaries on the 'Golden Rule' in Confucianism and Other Traditions". Journal of Chinese Humanities, 1(2), 231–240.
Taoism
Mohism
Mozi regarded the Golden Rule as a corollary to the cardinal virtue of impartiality, and encouraged egalitarianism and selflessness in relationships.
Ancient India Sanskrit tradition In Mahābhārata, the ancient epic of India, Vyasa says:
The Mahābhārata is usually dated to the period between 400 BCE and 400 CE.Cush, D., Robinson, C., York, M. (eds.) (2008) "Mahābhārata" in Encyclopedia of Hinduism . Abingdon: Routledge, p 469van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1973) The Mahābhārata, Book 1: The Book of the Beginning . Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, p xxv
Tamil tradition In Chapter 32 in the Book of Virtue of the Tirukkuṛaḷ (), Valluvar says:
Furthermore, in verse 312, Valluvar says that it is the determination or code of the spotless (virtuous) not to do evil, even in return, to those who have cherished enmity and done them evil. According to him, the proper punishment to those who have done evil is to put them to shame by showing them kindness, in return and to forget both the evil and the good done on both sides (verse 314).
Ancient Greece The Golden Rule in its prohibitive (negative) form was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include: "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – ThalesDiogenes Laërtius, "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", I:36 ( – ) "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either." – Sextus the Pythagorean. The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origen in the third century of the common era.The Sentences of Sextus Article "Ideally, no one should touch my property or tamper with it, unless I have given him some sort of permission, and, if I am sensible I shall treat the property of others with the same respect." – PlatoPlato, Laws, Book XI (Complete Works of Plato, 1997 edited Cooper ISBN 978-0-87220-349-5) ( – ) "Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you." – IsocratesIsocrates, Nicocles or the Cyprians, Isoc 3.61 (original text in Greek); cf. Isoc. 1.14 , Isoc. 2.24, 38 , Isoc. 4.81 . (436–338 BCE) "It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly." – Epicurus (341–270 BC) where "justly" refers to "an agreement made in reciprocal association ... against the infliction or suffering of harm.""Principal Doctrines 5 and 33" , Principal Doctrines by Epicurus, Translated by Robert Drew Hicks, The Internet Classics Archive, MIT.
Ancient Persia The Pahlavi Texts of Zoroastrianism ( – 1000 CE) were an early source for the Golden Rule: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadestan-I-denig, 94,5, and "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29
Ancient Rome Seneca the Younger ( – 65 CE), a practitioner of Stoicism ( – 200 CE), expressed a hierarchical variation of the Golden Rule in his Letter 47, an essay regarding the treatment of slaves: "Treat your inferior as you would wish your superior to treat you."
Religious context
According to Simon Blackburn, the Golden Rule "can be found in some form in almost every ethical tradition". A multi-faith poster showing the Golden Rule in sacred writings from 13 faith traditions (designed by Paul McKenna of Scarboro Missions, 2000) has been on permanent display at the Headquarters of the United Nations since 4 January 2002. Creating the poster "took five years of research that included consultations with experts in each of the 13 faith groups." (See also the section on Global Ethic.)
Abrahamic religions
Judaism
A rule of reciprocal altruism was stated positively in a well-known Torah verse (Hebrew: ):
According to John J. Collins of Yale Divinity School, most modern scholars, with Richard Elliott Friedman as a prominent exception, view the command as applicable to fellow Israelites.
Rashi commented what constitutes revenge and grudge, using the example of two men. One man would not lend the other his axe, then the next day, the same man asks the other for his axe. If the second man should say, I will not lend it to you, just as you did not lend to me,' it constitutes revenge; if 'Here it is for you; I am not like you, who did not lend me,' it constitutes a grudge. Rashi concludes his commentary by quoting Rabbi Akiva on love of neighbor: 'This is a fundamental [all-inclusive] principle of the Torah.
Hillel the Elder ( – 10 CE)"Hillel". Jewish Encyclopedia. . "His activity of forty years is perhaps historical; and since it began, according to a trustworthy tradition (Shab. 15a), one hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem, it must have covered the period 30 BCE – 10 CE." used this verse as a most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, he was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted under the condition that the Torah be explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, briefed the man:
Hillel recognized brotherly love as the fundamental principle of Jewish ethics. Rabbi Akiva agreed, while Simeon ben Azzai suggested that the principle of love must have its foundation in Genesis chapter 1, which teaches that all men are the offspring of Adam, who was made in the image of God.(Sifra, Ḳedoshim, iv.; Yer. Ned. ix. 41c; Genesis Rabba 24 According to Jewish rabbinic literature, the first man Adam represents the unity of mankind. This is echoed in the modern preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is also taught that Adam is last in order according to the evolutionary character of God's creation:
The Jewish Publication Society's edition of Leviticus states:
This Torah verse represents one of several versions of the Golden Rule, which itself appears in various forms, positive and negative. It is the earliest written version of that concept in a positive form.Plaut, The Torah – A Modern Commentary; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York 1981; p. 892.
At the turn of the era, the Jewish rabbis were discussing the scope of the meaning of Leviticus 19:18 and 19:34 extensively:
Commentators interpret that this applies to foreigners (e.g. Samaritans), proselytes ('strangers who reside with you')Rabbi Akiva, bQuid 75b and Jews.Rabbi Gamaliel, yKet 3, 1; 27a
On the verse, "Love your fellow as yourself", the classic commentator Rashi quotes from Torat Kohanim, an early Midrashic text regarding the famous dictum of Rabbi Akiva: "Love your fellow as yourself – Rabbi Akiva says this is a great principle of the Torah."Kedoshim 19:18, Toras Kohanim, ibid. See also Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4; Bereishis Rabbah 24:7.
In 1935, Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits explained in his work "What is the Talmud?" that Leviticus 19:34 disallowed xenophobia by Jews.Eliezer Berkovits (1935). What is the Talmud. VIII What is not written in the Talmud? Jew and Gentile, 4 Xenophobia?, 3
Israel's postal service quoted from Leviticus 19:18 when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.
Christianity
New Testament The Golden Rule was proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth; see also during his Sermon on the Mount. The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
The Golden Rule is stated positively numerous times in the Old Testament: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD." Or, in Leviticus 19:34: "The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." These two examples are given in the Septuagint as follows: "And thy hand shall not avenge thee; and thou shalt not be angry with the children of thy people; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; I am the Lord." and "The stranger that comes to you shall be among you as the native, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."
In two passages of the New Testament, Jesus states the positive form of the Golden rule:
A similar passage, a parallel to the Great Commandment, is found later in the Gospel of Luke.
The story then continues with Jesus answering the question, "Who is my neighbor?", by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, which John Wesley interprets as meaning that "your neighbor" is anyone in need.