The Golden Rule

Hi,

This week’s email is about a principle that encourages empathy and moral reasoning.

Here are the key practical points you should know (mainly from my article):

• The golden rule is a moral principle which denotes that you should treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.

• For example, if you want people to treat you with respect, then you should treat them with respect too.

• This concept has been formulated in various ways throughout history, and used as a key principle for guiding how people should behave toward each other.

• A key problem with this principle is that others don’t necessarily want to be treated the same way you want to be treated; this can be addressed by also considering the platinum rule, which denotes that we should treat others the way they want to be treated.

• The golden rule can also conflict with other considerations, like the need to punish people for harming others, so it should be viewed as one tool that you use alongside others, rather than an absolute law.

As always, I’m happy to hear your thoughts.

Have a great week,
Itamar