The
Golden Rule is an ethical statement which is found in nearly every
religion. It is also called the "ethic of reciprocity".
Christianity: The Gospel of Matthew Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31
- "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
Confucianism: the Analects of Confucius
- "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire."
Bahai: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 30
- "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself."
Islam: Hadith
- "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself."
Buddhism: Udana-Varga
- "Hurt not others with that which pains yourself."
Zoroastrianism?: Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29
- "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others."
Judaism: The Talmud
- "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary."
Hinduism: The Mahabharata
- "This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain."
A somewhat similar basis for ethic behaviour is often found also in non-religious ethical systems as, for instance, in
Immanuel Kant's
Critique of Practical Reason: "The rule of the judgement according to laws of pure practical reason
is this: ask yourself whether, if the action you propose were to
take place by a law of the system of nature of which you were yourself
a part, you could regard it as possible by your own will. (...)
If the maxim of
the action is not such as to stand the test of the form of a universal
law of nature, then it is morally impossible" (trans. T.K. Abbott).
/Talk