2024/08/23

황금률 - 위키백과, 黄金律(おうごんりつ、英: Golden Rule)

황금률 - 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

황금률

위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.

황금률(黃金律)은 수많은 종교와 도덕, 철학에서 볼 수 있는 원칙의 하나로, '다른 사람이 해 주었으면 하는 행위를 하라'는 윤리 원칙이다. 영어로는 골든룰(Golden Rule)이라고 한다.

종교 및 철학

[편집]

기독교

[편집]

기독교에서는 예수가 산상수훈 가운데 보인 기독교의 기본 윤리관으로 나타난다.

  1. "그러므로 무엇이든지 남에게 대접을 받고자 하는 대로 너희도 남을 대접하라. 이것이 율법이요. 선지자니라"[1]
  2. "남에게 대접을 받고자 하는 대로 너희도 남에게 대접하라"[2]

또, 레위기 19장 18절에 따르면 "네 이웃 사랑하기를 네 자신과 같이 사랑하라"라는 표현이 있다. '이웃을 사랑하는 일'은 일반적으로 기독교 윤리의 핵심이며, 근본적인 특징으로 되어 있다. 예수는 하느님의 최대 요구(계명)로서 '신에 대한 사랑'과 함께 '인인애'를 역설하고 있으며, 바울 또한 아무리 많은 율법이 있다 해도 "결국 자기를 사랑하듯이 이웃을 사랑하라는 말씀에 귀일한다"고 말한다. 그러나 이 성서가 말하는 인인애는 인류애나 인류평등사상과는 다른 기반 위에 서 있는 것으로 알려져 있다. 즉, 성서적인 인인애는 하느님의 말씀과 사랑으로 싸여 있고, 지탱되고 있는 질서 속에서만 일어날 수 있는 것이라고 할 수 있다.

하느님의 사랑, 즉 인간이 신에게 사랑을 받는 것은 인간이 착하다든가 혹은 인간의 공적(功績) 때문이 아니라 자기중심적인 존재(죄인)로서 신을 배반한 자임에도 불구하고 신은 인간을 사랑하는 것이라고 성서는 역설하고 있다. '이웃 사람'이란 이와같이 신의 사랑을 자기에게 가져다 주는 자를 말하며, 따라서 '이웃을 자기처럼 사랑한다'는 것은 그 자체로는 '무(無)'와도 같은 자신이 신에게서 사랑을 받는 것과 마찬가지로 남을 사랑하는 것을 의미한다. 다시 말하면 서로 상대에 대해서 이러한 사랑의 행위를 교환하는 이웃이 되라는 것이며, 인간의 진지한 인격적 공존(共存) 원리를 나타낸 것이라고 할 수 있다.

유교

[편집]
  1. 논어》에서 공자는 자기가 하고싶은 것이 아니면 다른사람에게 시키지 말라고 말한다.

    기소불욕 물시어인(己所不欲勿施於人)

  2. 사서중 하나인 《대학》에서는 혈구지도(絜矩之道) 라는 말로 표현된다.

    所惡於上,毋以使下;所惡於下,毋以事上;所惡於前,毋以先後;所惡於後,毋以從前;所惡於右,毋以交於左;所惡於左,毋以交於右。此之謂絜矩之道

같이 보기

[편집]

각주

[편집]
  1.  신약성서 마태복음 7장 12절
  2.  누가복음 6장 31절

===

黄金律(おうごんりつ、Golden Ruleは、多くの宗教道徳哲学で見出される「他人から自分にしてもらいたいと思うような行為を人に対してせよ」という内容の倫理学言明である。通例、イエス・キリストの山上の垂訓の一節「何事でも人々からしてほしいと望むことは、人々にもそのとおりにせよ」[1]をさす。黄金律という言葉は実際には聖書に載っていない。[2]

また、黄金律の派生として、白銀律(Silver Rule。「自分がされたくないことを人にしてはいけない」)や白金律(Platinum Rule。「人があなたからしてもらいたいと思っていることを人にしなさい」。気配り、気遣い)といったものがある[3]。黄金律以外の派生系の方は、マゾヒスト自爆犯、人による感覚の違いなどを想定して、黄金律が行き詰まる場合の先手を打って考えられたものである[3]

[編集]
イエス・キリスト
人にしてもらいたいと思うことは何でも、あなたがたも人にしなさい(『マタイによる福音書』7章12節,『ルカによる福音書』6章31節)
孔子
己の欲せざるところ、他に施すことなかれ(『論語』巻第八衛霊公第十五 二十四)
ユダヤ教
あなたにとって好ましくないことをあなたの隣人に対してするな。ダビデの末裔を称したファリサイ派ラビヒルレルの言葉)、自分が嫌なことは、ほかのだれにもしてはならない(『トビト記』4章15節)
ヒンドゥー教
人が他人からしてもらいたくないと思ういかなることも他人にしてはいけない(『マハーバーラタ』5:15:17)
イスラム教
自分が人から危害を受けたくなければ、誰にも危害を加えないことである。(ムハンマドの遺言)
文学者
戯曲家のジョージ・バーナード・ショー黄金律というのはないというのが黄金律だ"the golden rule is that there are no golden rules".といい、別の人にしてもらいたいと思うことは人にしてはならない。人の好みというのは同じではないからである "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same" (Maxims for Revolutionists; 1903). という言葉を残している。

科学における黄金律

[編集]

公平感と黄金律が神経的基盤を持つことを示唆する研究がある[要出典]。また互恵的利他主義ゲーム理論は黄金律がどのようにして進化しうるかを説明する。

===

Golden Rule

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Golden Rule Sign" that hung above the door of the employee's entrance to the Acme Sucker Rod Factory in Toledo, Ohio, 1913. The business was owned by Toledo Mayor Samuel M. Jones.
"Golden Rule Sign" that hung above the door of the employees' entrance to the Acme Sucker Rod Factory in Toledo, Ohio, 1913.

The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. It is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that you should reciprocate to others how you would like them to treat you (not necessarily how they actually treat you). Various expressions of this rule can be found in the tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages.[1]

The maxim may appear as a positive or negative injunction governing conduct:

  • Treat others as you would like others to treat you (positive or directive form)[1]
  • Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form)
  • What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathetic or responsive form)

Etymology

[edit]

The term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", began to be used widely in the early 17th century in Britain by Anglican theologians and preachers;[2] the earliest known usage is that of Anglicans Charles Gibbon and Thomas Jackson in 1604.[3]

Ancient history

[edit]

Ancient Egypt

[edit]

Possibly the earliest affirmation of the maxim of reciprocity, reflecting the ancient Egyptian goddess Ma'at, appears in the story of "The Eloquent Peasant", which dates to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to make him do."[4][5] This proverb embodies the do ut des principle.[6] A Late Period (c. 664–323 BCE) papyrus contains an early negative affirmation of the Golden Rule: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."[7]

Ancient India

[edit]

Sanskrit tradition

[edit]

In Mahābhārata, the ancient epic of India, there is a discourse in which sage Brihaspati tells the king Yudhishthira the following about dharma, a philosophical understanding of values and actions that lend good order to life:

One should never do something to others that one would regard as an injury to one's own self. In brief, this is dharma. Anything else is succumbing to desire.

— Mahābhārata 13.114.8 (Critical edition)[citation needed]

The Mahābhārata is usually dated to the period between 400 BCE and 400 CE.[8][9]

Tamil tradition

[edit]

In Chapter 32 in the Book of Virtue of the Tirukkuṛaḷ (c. 1st century BCE to 5th century CE), Valluvar says:

Do not do to others what you know has hurt yourself.

— Kural 316[10]

Why does one hurt others knowing what it is to be hurt?

— Kural 318[10]

Furthermore, in verse 312, Valluvar says that it is the determination or code of the spotless (virtuous) not to do evil, even in return, to those who have cherished enmity and done them evil. According to him, the proper punishment to those who have done evil is to put them to shame by showing them kindness, in return and to forget both the evil and the good done on both sides (verse 314).[11]

Ancient Greece

[edit]

The Golden Rule in its prohibitive (negative) form was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include:

  • "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – Thales[12] (c. 624 – c. 546 BCE)
  • "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either." – Sextus the Pythagorean.[13] The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origen in the third century of the common era.[14]
  • "Ideally, no one should touch my property or tamper with it, unless I have given him some sort of permission, and, if I am sensible I shall treat the property of others with the same respect." – Plato[15] (c. 420 – c. 347 BCE)
  • "Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you." – Isocrates[16] (436–338 BCE)
  • "It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living pleasantly." – Epicurus (341–270 BC) where "justly" refers to "an agreement made in reciprocal association ... against the infliction or suffering of harm."[17]

Ancient Persia

[edit]

The Pahlavi Texts of Zoroastrianism (c. 300 BCE – 1000 CE) were an early source for the Golden Rule: "That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself." Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5, and "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others." Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29[18]

Ancient Rome

[edit]

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE), a practitioner of Stoicism (c. 300 BCE – 200 CE) expressed a hierarchical variation of the Golden Rule in his Letter 47, an essay regarding the treatment of slaves: "Treat your inferior as you would wish your superior to treat you."[19]

Religious context

[edit]
The golden rule, as described in numerous world religions

According to Simon Blackburn, the Golden Rule "can be found in some form in almost every ethical tradition".[20] A multi-faith poster showing the Golden Rule in sacred writings from 13 faith traditions (designed by Paul McKenna of Scarboro Missions, 2000) has been on permanent display at the Headquarters of the United Nations since 4 January 2002.[21] Creating the poster "took five years of research that included consultations with experts in each of the 13 faith groups."[21] (See also the section on Global Ethic.)

Abrahamic religions

[edit]

Judaism

[edit]

A rule of reciprocal altruism was stated positively in a well-known Torah verse (Hebrew: ואהבת לרעך כמוך‎):

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

— Leviticus 19:18[22]

Rashi commented what constitutes revenge and grudge, using the example of two men. One man would not lend the other his ax, then the next day, the same man asks the other for his ax. If the second man should say, "“I will not lend it to you, just as you did not lend to me," it constitutes revenge; if "Here it is for you; I am not like you, who did not lend me," it constitutes a grudge. Rashi concludes his commentary by quoting Rabbi Akiva on love of neighbor: "This is a fundamental [all-inclusive] principle of the Torah."[23]

Hillel the Elder (c. 110 BCE – 10 CE),[24] used this verse as a most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, he was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted under the condition that the Torah be explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, briefed the man:

What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.

Hillel recognized brotherly love as the fundamental principle of Jewish ethics. Rabbi Akiva agreed, while Simeon ben Azzai suggested that the principle of love must have its foundation in Genesis chapter 1, which teaches that all men are the offspring of Adam, who was made in the image of God.[26][27] According to Jewish rabbinic literature, the first man Adam represents the unity of mankind. This is echoed in the modern preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[28][29] And it is also taught, that Adam is last in order according to the evolutionary character of God's creation:[27]

Why was only a single specimen of man created first? To teach us that he who destroys a single soul destroys a whole world and that he who saves a single soul saves a whole world; furthermore, so no race or class may claim a nobler ancestry, saying, 'Our father was born first'; and, finally, to give testimony to the greatness of the Lord, who caused the wonderful diversity of mankind to emanate from one type. And why was Adam created last of all beings? To teach him humility; for if he be overbearing, let him remember that the little fly preceded him in the order of creation.[27]

The Jewish Publication Society's edition of Leviticus states:

Thou shalt not hate thy brother, in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. 18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.[30]

This Torah verse represents one of several versions of the Golden Rule, which itself appears in various forms, positive and negative. It is the earliest written version of that concept in a positive form.[31]

At the turn of the era, the Jewish rabbis were discussing the scope of the meaning of Leviticus 19:18 and 19:34 extensively:

The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.

— Leviticus 19:34[32]

Commentators interpret that this applies to foreigners (= Samaritans), proselytes (= 'strangers who reside with you')[33] and Jews.[34]

On the verse, "Love your fellow as yourself", the classic commentator Rashi quotes from Torat Kohanim, an early Midrashic text regarding the famous dictum of Rabbi Akiva: "Love your fellow as yourself – Rabbi Akiva says this is a great principle of the Torah."[35]

In 1935, Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits explained in his work "What is the Talmud?" that Leviticus 19:34 disallowed xenophobia by Jews.[36]

Israel's postal service quoted from the previous Leviticus verse when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.[37]

Christianity

[edit]
The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877) portrays Jesus teaching during the Sermon on the Mount
New Testament
[edit]

The "Golden Rule" was proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth[38] during his Sermon on the Mount and described by him as the second great commandment. The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". A similar form of the phrase appeared in a Catholic catechism around 1567 (certainly in the reprint of 1583).[39] Various applications of the Golden Rule are stated positively numerous times in the Old Testament: "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."[40] Or, in Leviticus 19:34: "But treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.".[41]

Two passages in the New Testament quote Jesus of Nazareth espousing the positive form of the Golden rule:

Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

— Luke 6:31[42]

A similar passage, a parallel to the Great Commandment, is Luke 10:25.[43]

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?"

He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself."

He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live."

— Luke 10:25, World English Version

The passage in the book of Luke then continues with Jesus answering the question, "Who is my neighbor?", by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, which John Wesley interprets as meaning that "your neighbor" is anyone in need.[44]

Jesus' teaching goes beyond the negative formulation of not doing what one would not like done to themselves, to the positive formulation of actively doing good to another that, if the situations were reversed, one would desire that the other would do for them. This formulation, as indicated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, emphasizes the needs for positive action that brings benefit to another, not simply restraining oneself from negative activities that hurt another.[45]

In one passage of the New TestamentPaul the Apostle refers to the golden rule, restating Jesus' second commandment:

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

— Galatians 5:14[46]

St. Paul also comments on the golden rule in the book of Romans:

The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery", "You shall not murder", "You shall not steal", "You shall not covet", and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."[47]

Deuterocanon
[edit]

The Old Testament Deuterocanonical books of Tobit and Sirach, accepted as part of the Scriptural canon by Catholic ChurchEastern Orthodoxy, and the Non-Chalcedonian Churches, express a negative form of the golden rule:

Do to no one what you yourself dislike.

— Tobit 4:15

Recognize that your neighbor feels as you do, and keep in mind your own dislikes.

— Sirach 31:15
Church Fathers
[edit]

As prolific commentators on the Bible, multiple Church Fathers, including the Apostolic Fathers, wrote on the Golden Rule found in both Old and New Testaments.[48] The early Christian treatise the Didache included the Golden Rule in saying "in everything, do not do to another what you would not want done to you."[49]

Clement of Alexandria, commenting on the Golden Rule in Luke 6:31, calls the concept "all embracing" for how one acts in life.[50] Clement further pointed to the phrasing in the book of Tobit as part of the ethics between husbands and wives. Tertullian stated that the rule taught "love, respect, consolation, protection, and benefits."[51]

While many Church Fathers framed the Golden Rule as part of Jewish and Christian Ethics, Theophilus of Antioch stated that it had universal application for all of humanity.[52] Origen connected the Golden Rule with the law written on the hearts of Gentiles mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans, and had universal application to Christian and non-Christian alike.[53]

Basil of Caesarea commented that the negative form of the Golden Rule was for avoiding evil while the positive form was for doing good.[54]

Islam

[edit]

The Arabian peninsula was known to not practice the golden rule prior to the advent of Islam. According to Th. Emil Homerin: "Pre-Islamic Arabs regarded the survival of the tribe, as most essential and to be ensured by the ancient rite of blood vengeance."[55] Homerin goes on to say:

Similar examples of the golden rule are found in the hadith of the prophet Muhammad. The hadith recount what the prophet is believed to have said and done, and traditionally Muslims regard the hadith as second to only the Qur'an as a guide to correct belief and action.[56]

From the hadith, the collected oral and written accounts of Muhammad and his teachings during his lifetime:

A Bedouin came to the prophet, grabbed the stirrup of his camel and said: O the messenger of God! Teach me something to go to heaven with it. Prophet said: "As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them. Now let the stirrup go! [This maxim is enough for you; go and act in accordance with it!]"

— Kitab al-Kafi, Volume 2, Book 1, Chapter 66:10[57]

None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.

— An-Nawawi's Forty Hadith 13 (p. 56)[58]

Seek for mankind that of which you are desirous for yourself, that you may be a believer.

— Sukhanan-i-Muhammad (Teheran, 1938)[59]

That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind.[59]

The most righteous person is the one who consents for other people what he consents for himself, and who dislikes for them what he dislikes for himself.[59]

Ali ibn Abi Talib (4th Caliph in Sunni Islam, and first Imam in Shia Islam) says:

O my child, make yourself the measure (for dealings) between you and others. Thus, you should desire for others what you desire for yourself and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others as you would like good to be done to you. Regard bad for yourself whatever you regard bad for others. Accept that (treatment) from others which you would like others to accept from you ... Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you.

— Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 31[60]

Muslim scholar Al-Qurtubi looked at the Golden Rule of loving your neighbor and treating them as you wish to be treated as having universal application to believers and unbelievers alike.[61] Relying upon a Hadith, exegist Ibn Kathir listed those "who judge people the way they judge themselves" as people who will be among the first to be Resurrected.[62]

Hussein bin Ali bin Awn al-Hashemi (102nd Caliph in Sunni Islam), repeated the Golden rule in the context of the Armenian genocide, thus, in 1917, he states:[63]

Winter is ahead of us. Refugees from the Armenian Jacobite Community will probably need warmth. Help them how you would help your brothers. Pray for these people who have been expelled from their homes and left homeless and devoid of livestock and all their property.

Baháʼí Faith

[edit]

The writings of the Baháʼí Faith encourage everyone to treat others as they would treat themselves and even prefer others over oneself:

O SON OF MAN! Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face; be then abashed before Me.

Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.

— Bahá'u'lláh[65][66]

And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.

— Bahá'u'lláh[67][68]

Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.

— Bahá'u'lláh[69][70][71]

Indian religions

[edit]

Hinduism

[edit]

One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires.

— BrihaspatiMahabharata 13.113.8 (Critical edition)[72]

By making dharma your main focus, treat others as you treat yourself[73]

Also,

श्रूयतां धर्मसर्वस्वं श्रुत्वा चाप्यवधार्यताम्।
आत्मनः प्रतिकूलानि परेषां न समाचरेत्।।

If the entire Dharma can be said in a few words, then it is—that which is unfavorable to us, do not do that to others.

— Padmapuraana, shrushti 19/357–358[failed verification]

Buddhism

[edit]

Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama, c. 623–543 BCE)[74][75] made the negative formulation of the golden rule one of the cornerstones of his ethics in the 6th century BCE. It occurs in many places and in many forms throughout the Tripitaka.

Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill.

— Sutta Nipata 705

One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.

— Dhammapada 10. Violence

Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

— Udanavarga 5:18

Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.[76]

Jainism

[edit]

The Golden Rule is paramount in the Jainist philosophy and can be seen in the doctrines of ahimsa and karma. As part of the prohibition of causing any living beings to suffer, Jainism forbids inflicting upon others what is harmful to oneself.

The following line from the Acaranga Sutra sums up the philosophy of Jainism:

Nothing which breathes, which exists, which lives, or which has essence or potential of life, should be destroyed or ruled over, or subjugated, or harmed, or denied of its essence or potential. In support of this Truth, I ask you a question – "Is sorrow or pain desirable to you?" If you say "yes it is", it would be a lie. If you say, "No, It is not" you will be expressing the truth. Just as sorrow or pain is not desirable to you, so it is to all which breathe, exist, live or have any essence of life. To you and all, it is undesirable, and painful, and repugnant.[77]

A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.

— Sutrakritanga1.11.33

In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.

— Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara

Sikhism

[edit]

Precious like jewels are the minds of all. To hurt them is not at all good. If thou desirest thy Beloved, then hurt thou not anyone's heart.

— Guru Arjan Dev Ji 259, Guru Granth Sahib

Chinese religions

[edit]

Confucianism

[edit]

The same idea is also presented in V.12 and VI.30 of the Analects (c. 500 BCE), which can be found in the online Chinese Text Project. The phraseology differs from the Christian version of the Golden Rule. It does not presume to do anything unto others, but merely to avoid doing what would be harmful. It does not preclude doing good deeds and taking moral positions.

In relation to the Golden Rule, Confucian philosopher Mencius said "If one acts with a vigorous effort at the law of reciprocity, when he seeks for the realization of perfect virtue, nothing can be closer than his approximation to it."[79]

Taoism

[edit]

The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.

— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 49

Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.

Mohism

[edit]

If people regarded other people's states in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own state to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself. If people regarded other people's cities in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own city to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself. If people regarded other people's families in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own family to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself. And so if states and cities do not attack one another and families do not wreak havoc upon and steal from one another, would this be a harm to the world or a benefit? Of course one must say it is a benefit to the world.

— Mozic. 400 BCE[80]

Mozi regarded the golden rule as a corollary to the cardinal virtue of impartiality, and encouraged egalitarianism and selflessness in relationships.

Iranian religions

[edit]

Zoroastrianism

[edit]

Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.

— Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29

New religious movements

[edit]

Wicca

[edit]

Hear ye these words and heed them well, the words of Dea, thy Mother Goddess, "I command thee thus, O children of the Earth, that that which ye deem harmful unto thyself, the very same shall ye be forbidden from doing unto another, for violence and hatred give rise to the same. My command is thus, that ye shall return all violence and hatred with peacefulness and love, for my Law is love unto all things. Only through love shall ye have peace; yea and verily, only peace and love will cure the world, and subdue all evil."

— The Book of Ways, Devotional Wicca

Scientology

[edit]

Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you.
Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you.

Traditional African religions

[edit]

Yoruba

[edit]

One who is going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.

— Yoruba Proverb

Odinani

[edit]

Secular context

[edit]

Global ethic

[edit]

The "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic"[82] from the Parliament of the World's Religions[83][84] (1993) proclaimed the Golden Rule ("We must treat others as we wish others to treat us") as the common principle for many religions.[85] The Initial Declaration was signed by 143 leaders from all of the world's major faiths, including Baháʼí Faith, Brahmanism, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous, Interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Neo-Pagan, Sikhism, Taoism, Theosophist, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian.[85][86] In the folklore of several cultures the Golden Rule is depicted by the allegory of the long spoons.

Humanism

[edit]

In the view of Greg M. Epstein, a Humanist chaplain at Harvard University, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely. But not a single one of these versions of the golden rule requires a God".[87] Various sources identify the Golden Rule as a humanist principle:[88][89]

Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathise with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn't possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn't difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others. For this reason many people find the Golden Rule's corollary – "do not treat people in a way you would not wish to be treated yourself" – more pragmatic.[88]

— Maria MacLachlan, Think Humanism[90]

Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. [is] (…) the single greatest, simplest, and most important moral axiom humanity has ever invented, one which reappears in the writings of almost every culture and religion throughout history, the one we know as the Golden Rule. Moral directives do not need to be complex or obscure to be worthwhile, and in fact, it is precisely this rule's simplicity which makes it great. It is easy to come up with, easy to understand, and easy to apply, and these three things are the hallmarks of a strong and healthy moral system. The idea behind it is readily graspable: before performing an action which might harm another person, try to imagine yourself in their position, and consider whether you would want to be the recipient of that action. If you would not want to be in such a position, the other person probably would not either, and so you should not do it. It is the basic and fundamental human trait of empathy, the ability to vicariously experience how another is feeling, that makes this possible, and it is the principle of empathy by which we should live our lives.

— Adam Lee, Ebon Musings, "A decalogue for the modern world"[91]

Existentialism

[edit]

When we say that man chooses for himself, we do mean that every one of us must choose himself; but by that we also mean that in choosing for himself he chooses for all men. For in effect, of all the actions a man may take in order to create himself as he wills to be, there is not one which is not creative, at the same time, of an image of man such as he believes he ought to be. To choose between this or that is at the same time to affirm the value of that which is chosen; for we are unable ever to choose the worse. What we choose is always the better; and nothing can be better for us unless it is better for all.

Classical Utilitarianism

[edit]

John Stuart Mill in his book, Utilitarianism (originally published in 1861), wrote, "In the golden rule of Jesus of Nazareth, we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility. 'To do as you would be done by,' and 'to love your neighbour as yourself,' constitute the ideal perfection of utilitarian morality."[93]

Other contexts

[edit]

Human rights

[edit]

According to Marc H. Bornstein, and William E. Paden, the Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, in which each individual has a right to just treatment, and a reciprocal responsibility to ensure justice for others.[94]

However, Leo Damrosch argued that the notion that the Golden Rule pertains to "rights" per se is a contemporary interpretation and has nothing to do with its origin. The development of human "rights" is a modern political ideal that began as a philosophical concept promulgated through the philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau in 18th century France, among others. His writings influenced Thomas Jefferson, who then incorporated Rousseau's reference to "inalienable rights" into the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. Damrosch argued that to confuse the Golden Rule with human rights is to apply contemporary thinking to ancient concepts.[95]

Science and economics

[edit]

There has been research published arguing that some 'sense' of fair play and the Golden Rule may be stated and rooted in terms of neuroscientific and neuroethical principles.[96]

The Golden Rule can also be explained from the perspectives of psychology, philosophy, sociology, human evolution, and economics. Psychologically, it involves a person empathizing with others. Philosophically, it involves a person perceiving their neighbor also as "I" or "self".[97] Sociologically, "love your neighbor as yourself" is applicable between individuals, between groups, and also between individuals and groups. In evolution, "reciprocal altruism" is seen as a distinctive advance in the capacity of human groups to survive and reproduce, as their exceptional brains demanded exceptionally long childhoods and ongoing provision and protection even beyond that of the immediate family.[98] In economics, Richard Swift, referring to ideas from David Graeber, suggests that "without some kind of reciprocity society would no longer be able to exist."[99]

Study of other primates provides evidence that the Golden Rule exists in other non-human species.[100]

Criticism

[edit]

Philosophers such as Immanuel Kant[101] and Friedrich Nietzsche[102] have objected to the rule on a variety of grounds. One is the epistemic question of determining how others want to be treated. The obvious way is to ask them, but they might give duplicitous answers if they find this strategically useful, and they might also fail to understand the details of the choice situation as you understand it. We might also be biased to perceiving harms and benefits to ourselves more than to others, which could lead to escalating conflict if we are suspicious of others. Hence Linus Pauling suggested that we introduce a bias towards others into the golden rule: "Do unto others 20 percent better than you would have them to unto you-to correct for subjective bias."[103]

One religion that officially rejects the Golden Rule is the Neo-Nazi religion of the "Creativity Movement" founded by Ben Klassen.[104] Followers of the religion believe that the Golden Rule doesn't make sense and is a "completely unworkable principle."[105]

Differences in values or interests

[edit]

George Bernard Shaw wrote, "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same."[106] This suggests that if your values are not shared with others, the way you want to be treated will not be the way they want to be treated. Hence, the Golden Rule of "do unto others" is "dangerous in the wrong hands",[107] according to philosopher Iain King, because "some fanatics have no aversion to death: the Golden Rule might inspire them to kill others in suicide missions."[108]

Walter Terence Stace, in The Concept of Morals (1937) argued that Shaw's remark

...seems to overlook the fact that "doing as you would be done by" includes taking into account your neighbour's tastes as you would that he should take yours into account. Thus the "golden rule" might still express the essence of a universal morality even if no two men in the world had any needs or tastes in common.[109]

Differences in situations

[edit]

Immanuel Kant famously criticized the golden rule for not being sensitive to differences of situation, noting that a prisoner duly convicted of a crime could appeal to the golden rule while asking the judge to release him, pointing out that the judge would not want anyone else to send him to prison, so he should not do so to others.[101] On the other hand, in a critique of the consistency of Kant's writings, several authors have noted the "similarity"[110] between the Golden Rule and Kant's Categorical Imperative, introduced in Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals (See discussion at this link).

This was perhaps a well-known objection, as Leibniz actually responded to it long before Kant made it, suggesting that the judge should put himself in the place, not merely of the criminal, but of all affected persons and then judging each option (to inflict punishment, or release the criminal, etc.) by whether there was a “greater good in which this lesser evil was included.”[111]

Other responses to criticisms

[edit]

Marcus George Singer observed that there are two importantly different ways of looking at the golden rule: as requiring (1) that you perform specific actions that you want others to do to you or (2) that you guide your behavior in the same general ways that you want others to.[112] Counter-examples to the golden rule typically are more forceful against the first than the second.

In his book on the golden rule, Jeffrey Wattles makes the similar observation that such objections typically arise while applying the golden rule in certain general ways (namely, ignoring differences in taste or situation, failing to compensate for subjective bias, etc.) But if we apply the golden rule to our own method of using it, asking in effect if we would want other people to apply the golden rule in such ways, the answer would typically be no, since others' ignoring of such factors will lead to behavior which we object to. It follows that we should not do so ourselves—according to the golden rule. In this way, the golden rule may be self-correcting.[113] An article by Jouni Reinikainen develops this suggestion in greater detail.[114]

It is possible, then, that the golden rule can itself guide us in identifying which differences of situation are morally relevant. We would often want other people to ignore any prejudice against our race or nationality when deciding how to act towards us, but would also want them to not ignore our differing preferences in food, desire for aggressiveness, and so on. This principle of "doing unto others, wherever possible, as they would be done by..." has sometimes been termed the platinum rule.[115]

[edit]

Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies (1863) includes a character named Mrs Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By (and another, Mrs Be-Done-By-As-You-Did).[116]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. Jump up to:a b Antony Flew, ed. (1979). "golden rule". A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Pan Books in association with The MacMillan Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-330-48730-6.
  2. ^ Thomas JacksonFirst Sermon upon Matthew 7,12 (1615; Werke Band 3, S. 612); Benjamin Camfield: The Comprehensive Rule of Righteousness (1671); George Boraston: The Royal Law, or the Golden Rule of Justice and Charity (1683); John Goodman: The Golden Rule, or, the Royal Law of Equity explained (1688; Titelseite als Faksimile at Google Books); dazu Olivier du Roy: The Golden Rule as the Law of Nature. In: Jacob Neusner, Bruce Chilton (Hrsg.): The Golden Rule – The Ethics of Reprocity in World Religions. London/New York 2008, S. 94.
  3. ^ Gensler, Harry J. (2013). Ethics and the Golden Rule. Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-80686-2.
  4. ^ Eloquent Peasant PDF Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine "Now this is the command: do to the doer to make him do"
  5. ^ "The Culture of Ancient Egypt", John Albert Wilson, p. 121, University of Chicago Press, 1956, ISBN 0-226-90152-1 "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do"
  6. ^ Eloquent Peasant PDF Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine "The peasant quotes a proverb that embodies the do ut des principle"
  7. ^ "A Late Period Hieratic Wisdom Text: P. Brooklyn 47.218.135" Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Richard Jasnow, p. 95, University of Chicago Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-918986-85-6.
  8. ^ Cush, D., Robinson, C., York, M. (eds.) (2008) "Mahābhārata" in Encyclopedia of Hinduism Archived 17 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Abingdon: Routledge, p 469
  9. ^ van Buitenen, J.A.B. (1973) The Mahābhārata, Book 1: The Book of the Beginning Archived 30 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press, p xxv
  10. Jump up to:a b Sundaram, P. S. (1990). Tiruvalluvar Kural. Gurgaon: Penguin. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-14-400009-8.
  11. ^ Aiyar, V. V. S. (2007). The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar (1 ed.). Chennai: Pavai. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-81-7735-262-7.
  12. ^ Diogenes Laërtius, "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", I:36
  13. ^ "The Sentences of Sextus -- The Nag Hammadi Library"www.gnosis.orgArchived from the original on 11 October 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  14. ^ The Sentences of Sextus Article
  15. ^ Plato, Laws, Book XI (Complete Works of Plato, 1997 edited Cooper ISBN 978-0-87220-349-5)
  16. ^ Isocrates, Nicocles or the CypriansIsoc 3.61 Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine (original text in Greek); cf. Isoc. 1.14 Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback MachineIsoc. 2.24, 38 Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback MachineIsoc. 4.81 Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ^ "Principal Doctrines 5 and 33" Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback MachinePrincipal Doctrines by Epicurus, Translated by Robert Drew Hicks, The Internet Classics Archive, MIT.
  18. ^ Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer (2008). Pahlavi Texts of Zoroastrianism, Part 2 of 5: The Dadistan-i Dinik and the Epistles of Manuskihar. Forgotten Books. ISBN 978-1-60620-199-2.
  19. ^ Lucius Annaeus Seneca (1968). The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters of Seneca. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-00459-5.
  20. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
  21. Jump up to:a b Mezei, Leslie (May 2002). "The Golden Rule Poster - A History: Multi-faith Sacred Writings and Symbols from 13 Traditions". Spiritan Missionary News / Scarboro Missions. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  22. ^ BibleLeviticus 19:18
  23. ^ "Chabad: Leviticus 19:18"Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  24. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Hillel Archived 17 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine: "His activity of forty years is perhaps historical; and since it began, according to a trustworthy tradition (Shab. 15a), one hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem, it must have covered the period 30 BCE–10 CE"
  25. ^ Shabbath folio:31a
  26. ^ (Sifra, Ḳedoshim, iv.; Yer. Ned. ix. 41c; Genesis Rabba 24
  27. Jump up to:a b c "ADAM". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  28. ^ "Mishnah Seder Nezikin Sanhedrin 4.5". sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  29. ^ "Tosefta on Mishnah Seder Nezikin Sanhedrin 8.4–9 (Erfurt Manuscript)". toseftaonline.org. 21 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  30. ^ "Leviticus"The Torah. Jewish Publication Society. p. 19:17. Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  31. ^ PlautThe Torah – A Modern Commentary; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York 1981; p. 892.
  32. ^ BibleLeviticus 19:34
  33. ^ Rabbi Akiva, bQuid 75b
  34. ^ Rabbi Gamaliel, yKet 3, 1; 27a
  35. ^ Kedoshim 19:18, Toras Kohanim, ibid. See also Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4; Bereishis Rabbah 24:7.
  36. ^ Eliezer Berkovits; "What is the Talmud" 1935, VIII What is not written in the Talmud? Jew and Gentile, 4 Xenophobia?, 3
  37. ^ "Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica"Emory University. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008.
  38. ^ Matthew 7:12; see also Luke 6:31
  39. ^ Vaux, Laurence (1885) [1583]. "What is the sum of the ten Commandments?". A Catechisme, or, Christian Doctrine. Manchester, England: The Chetham Society. p. 48. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. The sum of the ten Commandments does consist in the love towards god [sic], and our neighbor (Ephe. 4., Matt. 7). In the first Table be three Commandments: which take away and forbid sin and vice against the worshipping of God. They forbid idolatry, apostasy, heresy, superstition, perjury, blasphemy, and move us to the pure and true worshipping of God in heart, word and deed. In the Second table be seven Commandments, which command us to give reverence and honor to every man in his degree, to profit all, and hurt none: to do unto others, as we would be done to ourselves.
  40. ^ Leviticus 19:18
  41. ^ Leviticus 19:34
  42. ^ Luke 6:31
  43. ^ Luke 10:25-28
  44. ^ "John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on Luke 10". Christnotes.org. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  45. ^ Moore: Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era; Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1927–1930; Vol. 2, p. 87, Vol. 3, p. 180. [dead link]
  46. ^ Galatians 5:14
  47. ^ Romans 13:8–9
  48. ^ THE PROBLEM OF THE NEGATIVE VERSION OF THE GOLDEN RULE IN EARLY CHRISTIAN ETHICS - Johannes Aakjær Steenbuch PhD - 2019
  49. ^ Didache 1.2, in: Bart D. Ehrman, The Apostolic Fathers: Volume I. I Clement. II Clement. Ignatius. Polycarp. Didache. Barnabas, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003
  50. ^ Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 3.12.88.1
  51. ^ Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem 4.16
  52. ^ Theophilus, Ad Autolycum 2.34
  53. ^ Origen, Commentaria in Epistolam B. Pauli ad Romanos 2.9.9
  54. ^ Basil of Caesarea, In Hexaemeron 9.3
  55. ^ Th. Emil Homerin (2008). Neusner, Jacob (ed.). The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 99ISBN 978-1-4411-9012-3.
  56. ^ Th. Emil Homerin (2008). Neusner, Jacob (ed.). The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. p. 102ISBN 978-1-4411-9012-3.
  57. ^ Kitab al-KafiArchived from the original on 25 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  58. ^ Wattles (191), Rost (100)
  59. Jump up to:a b c "Sukhanan-i-Muhammad" [Conversations of Muhammad], Wattles (192); Rost (100); Donaldson Dwight M. (1963). Studies in Muslim Ethics, p. 82. London: S.P.C.K.
  60. ^ Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn Sharīf al-Raḍī and ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (eds.), Nahj Al-balāghah: Selection from Sermons, Letters and Sayings of Amir Al-Muʼminin, Volume 2. Translated by Syed Ali Raza. Ansariyan Publications ISBN 978-9644383816 p. 350
  61. ^ Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Qurṭubī, Jamiʻ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʼan (al-Qāhirah: Dār al-Kutūb alMiṣrīyah, 1964), 5:184
  62. ^ Ismā’īl ibn ’Umar ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurān al-‘Aẓīm (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 1998), 8:6
  63. ^ Avetisyan, Vigen (3 April 2019). "The Unique Document of the Emir of Mecca from 1917: "Help the Armenians How You Would Help Your Brothers""Art-A-TsolumArchived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  64. ^ "Baháʼí Reference Library – The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 11". Reference.bahai.org. 31 December 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  65. ^ "The Golden Rule Baháʼí Faith". Replay.waybackmachine.org. 11 April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  66. ^ Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 71
  67. ^ "The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh – Part II". Info.bahai.org. Archived from the original on 13 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  68. ^ Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 30
  69. ^ Words of Wisdom See: The Golden Rule
  70. ^ Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, LXVI:8
  71. ^ Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 10
  72. ^ "Mahabharata Book 13". Mahabharataonline.com. 13 November 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  73. ^ tasmād dharma-pradhānéna bhavitavyam yatātmanā | tathā cha sarva-bhūtéṣhu vartitavyam yathātmani ||

    तस्माद्धर्मप्रधानेन भवितव्यं यतात्मना। तथा च सर्वभूतेषु वर्तितव्यं यथात्मनि॥|title = Mahābhārata Shānti-Parva 167:9)
  74. ^ Singleton, Esther. "Gautama Buddha (B.C. 623-543)" by T.W. Rhys-Davids, The World's Great Events, B.C. 4004–A.D. 70 (1908). pp. 124–135.
  75. ^ "The Buddha (BC 623–BC 543) – Religion and spirituality Article – Buddha, BC, 623". Booksie. 8 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  76. ^ Detachment and Compassion in Early Buddhism Archived 21 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine by Elizabeth J. Harris (enabling.org)
  77. ^ Jacobi, Hermann (1884). Ācāranga Sūtra, Jain Sutras Part I, Sacred Books of the East. Vol. 22. Sutra 155–156. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  78. ^ Chinese Text ProjectConfucianism, The Analects, Section 15: Wei Ling Gong, (see number 24)Chinese Text ProjectArchived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  79. ^ Plaks, A. H. (2015). Shining Ideal and Uncertain Reality: Commentaries on the “Golden Rule” in Confucianism and Other Traditions. Journal of Chinese Humanities1(2), 231-240. https://brill.com/view/journals/joch/1/2/article-p231_2.xml
  80. ^ Ivanhoe and Van Norden translation, 68–69
  81. ^ Gensler, Harry J. (2013). Ethics and the Golden Rule. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-136-57793-2Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  82. ^ Towards a Global Ethic Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Urban Dharma – Buddhism in America (This link includes a list of 143 signatories and their respective religions.)
  83. ^ "Parliament of the World's Religions". Parliamentofreligions.org. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  84. ^ "The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions". Parliamentofreligions.org. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  85. Jump up to:a b Towards a Global Ethic Archived 16 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine (An Initial Declaration) ReligiousTolerance.org. – Under the subtitle, "We Declare," see third paragraph. The first line reads, "We must treat others as we wish others to treat us."
  86. ^ "Parliament of the World's Religions – Towards a Global Ethic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  87. ^ Esptein, Greg M. (2010). Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York: HarperCollins. p. 115ISBN 978-0-06-167011-4. Italics in original.
  88. Jump up to:a b "Thinkhumanism.com". Thinkhumanism.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  89. ^ "UBC.ca". 15 March 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2002. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  90. ^ "Think Humanism". Think Humanism. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  91. ^ "A decalogue for the modern world". Ebonmusings.org. 1 January 1970. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  92. ^ Sartre, Jean-Paul (2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale University Press. pp. 291–292. ISBN 978-0-300-11546-8.
  93. ^ Mill, John Stuart (1979) [1861]. "Chapter 2 - What Utilitarianism Is". In Sher, George (ed.). Utilitarianism. Indianapolis - Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company. p. 16. ISBN 0-915144-41-7.
  94. ^ Defined another way, it "refers to the balance in an interactive system such that each party has both rights and duties, and the subordinate norm of complementarity states that one's rights are the other's obligation."Bornstein, Marc H. (2002). Handbook of Parenting. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8058-3782-7. See also: Paden, William E. (2003). Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion. Beacon Press. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-8070-7705-4.
  95. ^ Damrosch, Leo (2008). Jean Jacques Russeau: Restless Genius. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-44696-4.
  96. ^ Pfaff, Donald W., "The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (Usually) Follow the Golden Rule", Dana Press, The Dana Foundation, New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-932594-27-0
  97. ^ Wattles, Jeffrey (1996). The Golden Rule. Oxford University Press.
  98. ^ Vogel, Gretchen. "The Evolution of the Golden Rule". Science303 (Feb 2004).
  99. ^ Swift, Richard (July 2015). "Pathways & possibilities". New Internationalist484 (July/August 2015).
  100. ^ Smith, Kerri (June 2005). "Is it a chimp-help-chimp world?"Nature484 (Online publication). Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  101. Jump up to:a b Kant, Immanuel Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, footnote 12. Cambridge University Press (28 April 1998). ISBN 978-0-521-62695-8
  102. ^ "Only a Game: The Golden Rule". Onlyagame.typepad.com. 24 May 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  103. ^ Pauling, Linus (1960). Fallout: Today's Seven-Year Plague. New York: Mainstream Publishers.
  104. ^ "The Creativity Movement | Southern Poverty Law Center". Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  105. ^ "World Church of the Creator". Archived from the original on 12 December 2006.
  106. ^ Shaw, George Bernard (1903). Man and Superman. Archibald Constable & Co. p. 227. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  107. ^ Source: p. 76 of How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the TimeIain King, 2008, Continuum, ISBN 978-1-84706-347-2.
  108. ^ Source: p. 76 of How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time, Iain King, 2008, Continuum, ISBN 978-1-84706-347-2.
  109. ^ Stace, Walter T. (1937). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company; (reprinted 1975 by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc.); (also reprinted by Peter Smith Publisher Inc, January 1990). p. 136. ISBN 978-0-8446-2990-2.
  110. ^ Alston, William P.; Brandt, Richard B., eds. (1978). The Problems of Philosophy. Boston, London, Sydney, Toronto: Allyn and Bacon. p. 139. ISBN 978-0205061105.
  111. ^ Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. (1989) [1702]. "Reflections on the Common Concept of Justice". In Leroy E. Loemker. (ed.). Philosophical Papers and Letters. Boston: Kluwer. p. 568.
  112. ^ M. G. Singer, The Ideal of a Rational Morality, p. 270
  113. ^ Wattles, p. 6
  114. ^ Jouni Reinikainen, "The Golden Rule and the Requirement of Universalizability." Journal of Value Inquiry. 39(2): 155–168, 2005.
  115. ^ Karl PopperThe Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. 2 (1966 [1945]), p. 386. Dubbed "the platinum rule" in business books such as Charles J. Jacobus, Thomas E. Gillett, Georgia Real Estate: An Introduction to the Profession, Cengage Learning, 2007, p. 409 and Jeremy Comfort, Peter Franklin, The Mindful International Manager: How to Work Effectively Across Cultures, Kogan Page, p. 65.
  116. ^ "Mary Wakefield: What 'The Water Babies' can teach us about personal"The Independent. 22 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
[edit]

인류사적 비극 속 ‘나다움’ ‘자유’ 외친 명랑소녀 ‘안네’

인류사적 비극 속 ‘나다움’ ‘자유’ 외친 명랑소녀 ‘안네’

인류사적 비극 속 ‘나다움’ ‘자유’ 외친 명랑소녀 ‘안네’
성지연 에세이스트, 국문학 박사2023. 1. 16. 10:01
=====


‘안네의 일기’는 홀로코스트의 폭력을 보여주는 대표 저서다. 일기장에 써 내려간 안네의 고백에는 인류사적 비극뿐 아니라 “나는 나로 존재하고 싶다”고 외쳤던 명랑한 소녀의 이야기가 담겨 있다.

안네 프랑크의 11살 모습.
세라, 하이디, 앤…. 어린 시절부터 친숙하게 느껴진 외국 이름이 있었다. 세라는 소공녀이고, 하이디는 알프스 소녀이고, 앤은 빨강 머리 소녀였다. 부모님이 사다 주신 동화책 또는 소설에서 만난 이 주인공 소녀들은 모두 순수하고 꿈이 많았다. 꿈 많은 어린 시절을 보내긴 나 역시 마찬가지였던 듯, 이 이야기들을 무척 재미있게 읽었다.

이 소녀들로부터 멀어지기 시작한 건 고등학교에 들어가면서부터였다. 꿈보다는 대학입시가 먼저였다. 아니 꿈을 이루기 위해선 현실의 입시 공부에 열중해야 했다. 대학에 들어와 페미니즘을 공부하면서 동화와 소설 속 소녀들에게 부여된 고정된 성 역할과 꾸며진 이미지에 불편함을 느꼈다. 나와는 거리가 먼 존재들이었다. 그러면서 이 소녀들 이름이 기억의 저장고에서 희미해졌고, 결국 사라졌다.

네덜란드 소녀 안네도 그 시절 만났던 꿈 많고 순수한 이름들 가운데 하나였다. 물론 세라, 하이디, 앤이 허구의 인물들이라면 안네는 실존의 인물이라는 차이가 있다. 각각의 소녀들 앞에 놓인 삶의 역경이 서로 달랐다. 빨강 머리 앤이 마주한 고난이 고아 출신이라는 개인적 사연이었다면 안네가 마주한 역경은 참혹한 전쟁과 광기의 파시즘이라는 사회적이고 역사적인 사건이었다. 어린 시절 책 속에서 만났던 외국 소녀들 가운데 유독 안네를 다시 기억해내야 하는 이유는 지금도 무척 마음 시리게 하는 그 당시를 강렬하게 기억하기 때문이다.

갑자기 찾아온 결말

안네의 일기 원고.
"안네의 일기는 여기서 끝난다."

1944년 8월 1일 금요일 일기가 끝난 다음에 이런 문장이 붙어 있다. 불쑥 나타난 짧고 담담한 이 말에 정신을 얻어맞았다. 페이지 아래 넓은 빈자리를 봤으면서도 여기서 끝이라고 생각하지 못했다. 책에 두툼한 작품 해설이 붙은 탓이다. 일기가 끝난 후 일어난 일들을 우리는 물론 알고 있다.

출판사 책세상에서 펴낸 ‘안네의 일기’(왼쪽). 제2차 세계대전의 참상을 보여준 ‘안네의 일기’는 70여 개 언어로 번역됐다.
1944년 8월 4일, 네덜란드 암스테르담에 있는 한 건물에 나치 친위대 간부와 네덜란드 경찰이 들이닥쳤다. 안네 프랑크의 아빠 오토 프랑크가 마련해놓은 은신처였다. 프랑크 가족 4명과 판 단 가족 3명, 뒤셀이라는 이름의 독신 남자가 잡혀갔다. 이 8명의 유대인은 박해를 피해 2년 넘게 은신처에 숨어 있었다. 조금만 늦게 발각됐더라면 얼마나 좋았을까. 네덜란드를 점령했던 독일은 1년 후 연합군에 항복했다.

나치에게 끌려간 8명의 유대인 중 7명은 사망했다. 안네와 언니 마르고는 수용소 베스테르부르크와 아우슈비츠를 거쳐 베르겐-벨젠으로 옮겨졌다. 그곳에서 자매는 1945년 3월경, 티푸스로 사망한 것으로 알려졌다. 유일하게 살아남은 안네의 아버지 오토는 1945년 7월 적십자사로부터 딸 마르고와 안네가 베르겐-벨젠에서 사망했다는 최종 연락을 받았다. 은신처 조력자 중 한 사람인 미프 기스는 오토에게 안네가 쓴 일기를 전해줬다. '안네의 일기’는 이렇게 세상 밖으로 나왔다.



1933년 독일에서 국가사회주의독일노동자당(NSDAP), 일명 나치당은 다수당이 되었다. 프랑크 가족은 독일에 살던 유대인이었다. 아빠 오토는 제1차 세계대전에 장교로 참전해 철십자 훈장을 받았다. 독일 국적을 가졌지만 나치가 인종주의를 내세우면서 독일을 떠나야 했다. 가족 모두는 네덜란드 암스테르담으로 이주했다. 1929년생 안네는 네덜란드어를 모국어로 여겼고, '안네의 일기’ 역시 네덜란드어로 쓰였다. 제2차 세계대전이 발발한 이듬해인 1940년 네덜란드는 독일에 항복했고 이 땅에서도 유대인 탄압이 시작됐다.

널리 알려졌듯, 1933년에서 1945년 사이 독일의 나치 정권은 유대인 박해와 집단학살을 자행했다. 이른바 '홀로코스트’다. 나치 정권은 독일과 점령지에서 유대인들의 권리를 박탈했고, 강제로 수용소에 감금했다. '최종 해결책’이라는 이름으로 조직적인 살해도 자행했다. 그 기간 600만 명의 유대인이 희생된 것으로 추산된다. 홀로코스트는 20세기 최대 비극 가운데 하나다. 결코 망각할 수 없는, 망각돼서는 안 될 범죄다.

1942년 7월 6일, 언니 마르고를 수용소로 추방하라는 소환장이 떨어지자 프랑크 가족은 은신처로 향했다. 오토가 자신의 회사 건물 뒤편에 마련한 거처였다. 그 시절 독일이 네덜란드를 점령한 후 생긴 유대인 처치법은 그들의 자유를 날마다 축소시키고 있었다. 이제 그 자유는 건물 뒤편의 숨은 공간으로 쪼그라들었다.

"세상이 몇 번이나 뒤집힌 듯한 기분이야. 그러나 키티, 너도 알다시피 난 지금 살아 있어. 그게 가장 중요한 핵심이라고 아빠도 말했지. 그래, 이미 말한 대로 나는 살아 있는데, 어디서 어떤 상태로 살아 있는 걸까?"

인간의 참모습을 발견하게 만든 은신처

안네 프랑크가 은신처 내 자신의 방에서 사용하던 책상
안네는 그날의 기억을 일기장에 이렇게 옮긴다. 안네는 1942년 6월 12일 생일 선물로 받은 일기장에 글을 쓰기 시작한다. '키티’라는 이름을 붙여줬다. 평범한 열세 살 소녀의 고민이 담겼다. 유급을 결정하는 회의를 앞둔 날의 불안과 술렁이는 반 분위기, 수업 시간에 너무 떠든다고 계속 작문 숙제를 내주시는 선생님, 세상에 태어나서 그만큼 좋아해본 적이 없다는 남자 친구. 일기 전체에서 아주 짧은 분량일 수밖에 없는 평범한 날들이, 열세 살 짜리의 세상에서 가장 소중한 것들이, 친구와 학교가 사라졌다.

은신처에 갇힌 식구들에게 이제 중요한 건 생존이었다. 들키는 날엔 잡혀가 죽는다. 이웃에게 보이면 안 된다. 불빛 하나, 작은 소리도 새어나가면 안 된다. 캄캄한 한밤중 아래층 사무실에서 조그만 소리가 나도 은신처의 식구들은 목숨의 위협을 느꼈다. 사무실에 도둑이 들면 도둑을 잡는 게 아니라 도둑에게 들키지 않는 게 문제였다.



은신처의 사람들은 잘 지내려고 노력했다. 각자의 흥미에 따라 독서를 했고 어학을 공부했다. 집안일에 어른이나 아이들 모두가 참여했다. 외부에 들키지 않는 것만이 문제가 아니었다. 8명이나 되는 사람이 먹고 씻고 화장실을 쓰는 것만 해도 큰 문제였다. 은신처의 사람들은 세세한 생활 규칙을 만들어 가능한 한 인간적인 생활을 하려고 노력했다.

1944년 1월 15일, 안네가 은신처에 갇혀 산 지 1년 7개월이 됐다. 안네는 뒤셀이 가뜩이나 부족한 소스를 남은 사람을 생각하지 않고 덜어가는 걸 보면서 그를 문밖으로 내던져버리고 싶다고 생각한다. 뒤셀은 오토가 은신처로 옮긴 지 4개월 후 1명 정도는 더 여유가 있다고 생각해서 데리고 온 독신의 치과의사였다. 안네는 뒤셀과 같은 방을 써야 했다. 전쟁 중이었으니 음식이나 물건도 턱없이 부족했다. 배급표가 있어야 물건이나 음식을 살 수 있었고, 누군가 은신처의 유대인들을 대신해 사다 줘야 했다. 갈등은 당연한 수순이었다. 다른 가족 몰래 음식을 숨겨놓는 것과 같은 치사한 일로 서로 힘들어했다.

이런 삶의 현장을 지켜보며 안네는 인간이란 자기밖에 모르는 이기적 존재일지도 모른다고 적어둔다. 그리고 이곳에서 사는 덕분에 인간의 참모습을 발견할 기회가 있었다는 건 좋은 일이라고 한탄스러운 말을 남겨둔다. 어린 소녀에게는 가혹한 시련이었다.

"모든 근심에는 좋은 일이 깃들어 있다"

은신처로 통하는 비밀 통로.
그럼에도 안네는 점차 성장한다. 1944년 3월 7일, 안네는 항상 집에서 야단을 맞고 이리저리 치이다 보니 의지가 꺾이는 것을 느꼈다고 지난해를 회상한다. 안네는 말하는 걸 좋아하는 명랑한 소녀였다. 그런 그가 함께 지내는 어른들에게 "날 좀 내버려 두라"고 호소한다. 한창 활기찬 나이의 소녀가 어른들도 힘든 은신처 생활을 하며 느꼈을 고통은 컸을 것이다. 그래도 안네는 기운을 냈다. 1944년 4월 11일, 안네는 일기에 이렇게 적는다.

"내가 무엇을 하고 싶은지도 알고, 목표도 뚜렷하고, 내 나름의 의견이 있으며, 신을 믿고, 사랑하는 사람도 있어. 내가 그냥 나로 존재할 수 있도록 내버려 둬! 그것만 있으면 난 만족하니까."

안네는 엄마와의 관계가 좋지 않았다. 엄마는 언니 마르고와 훨씬 잘 지냈다. 안네는 대신 아빠와 잘 지내려고 노력했다. 시간이 지날수록 안네는 엄마와 자신이 다른 사람이라는 걸 받아들이고, 객관적 시각으로 엄마의 입장을 이해해보려고 했다.

안네는 엄마보다 긍정적이고 외향적인 사람이었다. 엄마는 우울증에 걸린 사람에게 "이 지구상의 온갖 비참한 사람 중 한 사람이 아님에 감사하라"고 충고하는 스타일이다. 안네의 생각은 다르다. "밖으로 나가 들판을 걷고 자연과 태양을 느껴보라" 말하고, '자신의 내부에서 행복감이 다시 솟아날 수 있도록 조언해야 한다’고 생각한다.


안네는 "세상의 모든 근심에는 최소한 1가지씩의 좋은 일이 깃들어 있다"고 적는다. 비참한 기분이 들 때 어떻게 해야 하는지에 대한 안네의 처방이다. '좋은 일을 발견하기만 한다면 언제 어디서든 기쁨을 누릴 수 있다’고, '행복한 사람은 다른 사람도 행복하게 해줄 수 있다’고, '용기와 신뢰를 잃지 않는 사람은 큰 불행이 닥쳐도 절대 쓰러지지 않을 것’이라고 생각한다. 소녀 안네는 이렇게 조금씩 성장해가고 있었다.

일기가 돌연 중단된 다음 일어난 일들을 알고 있는 독자로서 이런 내용을 읽으면 무척 안타깝다. 안네가 괴로움을 털어놓을 때보다 그의 솔직한 생각을 드러낼 때 더 마음이 시리다. 안네가 기쁠수록 슬프고, 행복할수록 고통스럽다.

제2차 세계대전 이후 홀로코스트에 관한 책과 영화는 숱하게 만들어졌다. 사상가 지그문트 바우만은 '현대성과 홀로코스트’를 통해 이 인류사적 비극을 사회과학적 시각으로 분석했다. 영화감독 스티븐 스필버그는 '쉰들러 리스트’, 로만 폴란스키는 '피아니스트’를 통해 나치의 범죄와 그 속에서 살아간 인간 군상을 보여줬다.

그중에서 '안네의 일기’와 겹쳐 볼 수 있는 책은 신경학자이자 심리학자 빅터 프랭클이 쓴 '죽음의 수용소에서’다. 홀로코스트에서 살아남은 그는 강제수용소에서 사랑하는 사람들이 강제수용소에서 죽었다는 사실을 알게됐다. 이후 프랭클은 '인간은 의미를 찾음으로써 고통을 이겨내는 존재’라는 생각에 기반한 로고테라피(logotheraphy) 치료법을 내놓았다.

과연 한 인간이 슬픔에서 벗어나 희망을 품게 하는 힘은 어디에서 오는 것일까.

"내가 여자라는 것, 내면의 강인함과 무한한 용기를 지닌 여자라는 걸 나는 잘 알아!"

안네의 이 독백을 통해 "모든 걸 앗아간다고 해도 자유만은, 삶의 의미를 추구하는 의지는 빼앗을 수 없다"는 빅터 프랭클의 말이 진실임을 우리는 확인한다. 어린 소녀가 고난 속에서 어쩌면 이렇게 당당할 수 있었을까. 안네가 처한 상황을 생각하면 무척 마음이 시리지만, 다른 한편으로는 같은 인간으로서 작지 않은 위로를 느끼고 살아갈 힘을 받는다. 강인함과 용기에 대한 한 소녀의 자각은 쉰을 넘긴 나에게도 소중하게 여겨진다.

네덜란드 암스테르담은 내게 화가 렘브란트와 소녀 안네가 살았던 곳으로 기억된다. 언젠가 암스테르담에 가면 안네가 숨어 살던 '안네 프랑크의 집’에 꼭 찾아가고 싶다. 안네가 일기를 썼던 그 다락방에 올라가 명랑하고 당당한 소녀를 기억하고, 추모하고 싶다.

#안네프랑크 #안네의일기 #성지연 #다시만난그녀들 #여성동아



성지연의 다시 만난 그녀들
1970년 출생. 연세대 사회학과를 졸업하고 동대학원 국어국문학과 석박사 학위를 받았다. 지은 책으로 '어른의 인생 수업’이 있다.

사진 AP뉴시스
사진제공 책세상 AnneFrankHouse

성지연 에세이스트, 국문학 박사