Forget the Golden Rule, Says Philosopher A.C. Grayling

RandomVortex Says:

Sep 20, 2011 - Not too big on irony you lot are you?(that joke just went straight over your brainwashed little noggin.)Jesus/Yeshua is mythical and therefore the point you seem to be attempting to make is therefore quite simply redundant.You may do better if you were talking to somebody who shares your particular set of delusions.Hail Ceaser!

RandomVortex Says:

Sep 20, 2011 - The point is that the Golden rule is obviously contingent.(you dig?)

VonStierlitz Says:

Sep 21, 2011 - Perhaps I'm "a moralist and a puritan", but I still refuse to be "tolerant",when some totalitarian collectivist group threatens my liberty and my wealth, or when some religious fanatics declare that I must be killed for rejecting and criticizing their idiotic irrational cult, or when some cannibal savages express their desire to eat me.

MightyMessenger777 Says:

Sep 22, 2011 - Jesus taught his followers to manifest fatherly love rather than brotherly love. Brotherly love would love your neighbor as you love yourself, and that would be adequate fulfillment of the Golden Rule. But fatherly affection would require that you should love your fellow mortals as our Father in Heaven loves you.

onehairybuddha Says:

Sep 22, 2011 - 14 years of Labour government had already done that, have you forgotten already, or are you so blinkered that you never noticed?

viridismonasteriense Says:

Sep 23, 2011 - Bernard Shaw's objection to the golden rule is valid.And why the hell are people talking about Jesus? The Golden rule dates back to ancient Babylon and Egypt and even ancient China. The writers of the gospels were just parroting something that was known for thousands of years and then pretended they coined the phrase.

ghostgate82 Says:

Oct 1, 2011 - Contingent? Oh holy shit! Really? EVERYTHING is contingent on God as He is the Necessary that allows everything else to be. And yes, I "get" the joke and it's actually funny you bring that up because I thought of that very concept as a teenager and thought I was so clever. Then I found out it had been a joke for a long time. So you don't really have a good sense of who I am as a person. My "noggin" works just fine, but I understand your issue with modern Christians (hypocrites).

RandomVortex Says:

Oct 2, 2011 - I was unfortunate enough to be raised as a Christian(it did not take!)so I am not unfamiliar with both the Bible and Christianity.Your God does not exist!(it is merely one of many tragically over established myths with no more relevance to actual fact than Zeus or Santa.)Christianity is by its very nature hypocritical(including your particular version.)We will doubtless never agree on the issue of God,however the point of discussion was the golden rule.

RandomVortex Says:

Oct 14, 2011 - I agree that your stated overall concept is for many practical purposes a good starting point.However....It is not really a rule then is it?(maybe I'm being a little pedantic here but they do not call it - the Golden good starting point or even the Golden handy little life tip that will apply in probably the vast majority of cases but ...etc....)You make the excellent point that there are certain contingencies to the so called "rule."

ZF1000 Says:

Oct 28, 2011 - You miss his point which is that the Golden Rule is subjective. If course he wants other people to treat him well therefore he treats them well, but many people have different interpretations of how they want to be treated.

aadrian13 Says:

Oct 28, 2011 - If you want other people to learn how to treat you also learn how they would like to be treated and the golden rule still applies. I find his argument sophomoric (at best). He is challenging a core human moral belief with no real line of reasoning - that all people have feelings just like you and deserve the same treatment that you long for.

TheArthkm Says:

Nov 4, 2011 - ''However....It is not really a rule then is it?(maybe I'm being a little pedantic here but they do not call it - the Golden good starting point or even the Golden handy little life tip that will apply in probably the vast majority of cases but ...etc....)''That was just brilliant.

veganath Says:

Jan 3, 2012 - Moral Axiom: - Thou shalt not cause UNNECESSARY suffering

yvrei Says:

Jan 5, 2012 - that is a loop argument, the goleden rule is about at one level respecting difference, ( i would not like a person not to notice and respect my difference so i will respect theirs.

TadEatsPeople Says:

Feb 28, 2012 - I don't think that's an axiom...

veganath Says:

Feb 28, 2012 - Probably not, whats sad is that we have to be told not to be violent(excepting the case of self defence) especially religious folks

logician360 Says:

Mar 31, 2012 - I prefer the Taoist expression of the golden rule: treat your neighbour's success as your own, and your neighbour's loss as your own. That takes into account the differences between people, since what benefits my neighbour may not benefit me, whilst capturing the universality of the rule, since it implies that we should all work for the benefit of each other.

Mike10four Says:

Apr 28, 2012 - A good follow up to Grayling's discussion is in the book: "Scientific Proof of Our Unalienable Rights."

peteryeng Says:

May 5, 2012 - Your depiction of the golden rule is a caricature. the golden rule deals with principles not specific actions. it was never about imposing our likes on others. instead, the golden rule would be: "as much i wish others to respect my preference, i will respect other people's preferences." the ideal advocated for tolerance has its limits too. It is usually the most intolerant who demand (e.g. Muslim extremists), the tolerant who concede (the dumb liberal west), and as a result, evil triumph.

peteryeng Says:

May 5, 2012 - Can all tolerance be good? What about tolerance for what you consider evil? Is that good also?

robinhorulz56 Says:

May 21, 2012 - He looks like robin williams!

megaead69 Says:

May 28, 2012 - This is pretty silly... Part of understanding the Golden Rule is getting to know the other and acting accordingly..

lfzadra Says:

May 28, 2012 - That´s not the Golden Rule. The rule says that we ought not do to others what we don´t want for ourselves. Usually it works because we humans have lot of preferences in common and you can think about what you like and act accordingly toward others. This rule will fail when you meet somebody with different preferences. What you think is good for you may not be what is good for another person.

megaead69 Says:

May 29, 2012 - I understand where the misunderstanding- and misapplication- of the Golden Rule stem. But, like I said, a part of the historical- and complete- application of the Golden Rule has always been: getting to know the 'other' and acting accordingly. The fact that many- perhaps a majority - of those claiming to follow the Golden Rule do not do so in its full and proper context, does not change what I mentioned.