Positive and negative formulations of the Golden Rule

[FarCenter]

A positive formulation of the Golden Rule would be "Do to others as you would have them do to you." A negative formulation would be "Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you".

These are not exactly equivalent, and the positive formulation would appear to require a more solicitous attitude towards others. The negative formulation would appear to require only forebearance.

The older religions use the negative formulation, while the younger religions use the positive formulation. Does this represent moral progress, increasingly dense and complex societies, or some other factors at work?

Note that there is some variation in the specific religion's formulations regarding the scope of "others".

I put the Taoist formulation between them, since it seems to contain both positive and negative elements.

A list of formulations of the Golden Rule has been given as:

Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." -- Udana-Varga 5,1.

Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state." -- Analects 12:2.

Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty; do naught unto others what thou would not have them do unto you." -- Mahabharata 5,1517.

Judaism: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary." -- Talmud, Shabbat 3id

Zoroastrianism: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself." -- Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5.

Taoism: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." -- Tai Shang Kan Yin P'ien, Chapter 49

Baha'i: "And if thine eyes be truned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbor that which thou chooses for thyself." -- Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 30

Christianity: "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you." -- Luke 6:31

Islam: "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." -- Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 13

Jainism: "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himslef would be treated." -- Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

[patrice]

1. Emanuel Kant's (RATIONAL) Categorical Imperative

"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.

[Bad Thoughts]

2. Both "negative" and "positive" require ...

... that the individual "put themselves in the other's shoes," understand the situation as if their roles were reversed. In essence, all require approaching interrelationships empathetically. Since all these traditions contain further explorations of ethics beyond these sayings, the golden rule allows, but does not limit, more idealistic actions with regards to other people.

[wandy]

3. Sadley, we appear to live in a time where the golden rule reads..

Do unto others before the buggers can do it to you.

[CrispyQ]

4. This atheist's Golden Rule:

Do no harm.

[ManyShadesOf]

8. shared with Buddhists and Wiccans

First Do No Harm


An It Harm Non, Do What Ye Will


oh and M.D.s

[AlbertCat]

10. Is "re-legalize it" part of your golden rule?

I hope so!

[meow2u3]

5. You forgot the corporate golden rule

Whoever has the gold makes the rules.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Interesting

I think it's generally considered in most philosophies that causing active harm to others ('sins of commission') is worse than failing to do good to others ('sins of omission') - though there is often no clear dividing line between them.

[laconicsax]

7. The negative formulation requires more compassion.

The positive formulation requires only an evaluation of how one believes they are behaving while the negative formulation requires that one consider how their behavior may be received.

[ManyShadesOf]

9. the trick is

to remember that the receiver may not do back unto you as you have done

[AlbertCat]

11. All utterly secular notions

requiring no supernatural elements at all.