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J Value Inquiry (2015) 49:221236
DOI 10.1007/s10790-014-9471-8
Daniel Rnnedal
Published online: 6 December 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
1 Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between the so-called golden rule and the so-called platinum rule. According to the golden rule (GR) you ought to treat others as you want to be treated by them; and according to the platinum rule (PR), you ought to treat others as they want to be treated by you. In this essay I argue for the following propositions. (1) (GR) and (PR) are logically independent. (2) (PR) can be derived from (GR) given that you want to be treated by others as they want to be treated by you. (3) (GR) is derivable from (PR) given that others want to be treated by you as you want to be treated by them. And (4) (GR) and (PR) are equivalent given that you want to be treated by others as they want to be treated by you, and others want to be treated by you as you want to be treated by them. I consider some possible interpretations of (GR) and (PR), and I also address the question of whether (GR) is more plausible than (PR) or vice versa, or whether they are complementary. I discuss one argument for the view that (PR) is better than (GR) and mention several arguments for the view that (GR) is better than (PR). The discussion suggests that (GR) and (PR) are complementary.1
1 For some nice introductions to the philosophy of (GR), see e.g.: Thomas L. Carson, Lying and Deception: Theory and Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), ch. 6; Thomas L. Carson, Golden Rule, in Hugh LaFollette (ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, (2013), pp. 21862192; Harry J. Gensler, Formal Ethics (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), ch. 5; Harry J. Gensler, Ethics and the Golden Rule (New York and London: Routledge, 2013); Jeffrey Wattles, The Golden Rule (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
D. Rnnedal (&)
Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden e-mail: [email protected]
The Golden Rule and The Platinum Rule
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222 D. Rnnedal
Most religions seem to contain some version of (GR).2 The rule is also included in many ethical...