Do to others as you want others to do to you.
This and similar statements have become known as "the golden rule," which is widely regarded as the core of the wisdom of moral living.
This cluster of documents contains my own writings followed by references to others' works and organizations. I published The Golden Rule at Oxford University Press in 1996 (available for $29.95, e.g., at amazon.com). After indications about the book are links to the text of two presentations on the golden rule. I conclude with some indications of persons, books, organizations, and websites at the forefront of new developments.
A new golden rule movement is arising. Best wishes for your part in it!
For a quick overview of my book, here are selected quotes from the chapters.
"Philosophical Reflections on the Golden Rule," given at the 2008 Bard College conference on the golden rule, adds a number of things, including a rationale for a a wider series of levels of interpretation of the golden rule.
"Living the golden rule fully" (2010) was given in Geneva, Switzerland, to a committee engaged with the United Nations.
The PowerPoint presentation for "Taking the golden rule to the next levels," for the North American Interfaith Network in Phoenix, Arizona, July 26, 2011.
A new golden rule movement: academic and social
Since the last years of the twentieth century, five books on the golden rule have appeared, changing the landscape of informed conversation. In 1996 came my book, The Golden Rule (Oxford University Press) and Formal Ethics by Harry Gensler (Routledge). In 2008 there followed a conference on the rule at Bard College involving twenty one scholars, mostly specialists in the study of religion complemented by a classics professor, a couple of scientists and a few philosophers. The conference was organized by Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton, who then co-edited the conference papers in two volumes: The Golden Rule: The Ethics of Reciprocity in World Religions (New York: Continuum, 2008), and The Golden Rule: Analytical Perspectives (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2000). Finally, one of the presenters, Olivier du Roy, has just published La Règle d’Or: Le retour d’une maxime oubliée (Paris: Les Editions du CERF, 2009). CERF is also due to publish toward the end of 2010 Du Roy’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Paris, La règle d’or : Histoire et portée d’une maxime éthique (written under Paul Ricoeur and Pierre Hadot), which expands many-fold the historical research on the rule. Martin Bauschke, working with Hans Kűng’s Global Ethic Foundation, has written Die Goldene Regel: Staunen, Verstehen, Handeln (Berlin: EB Verlag, 2010). Harry Gensler, a major contributor to golden rule understanding for decades, will publish Ethics and the Golden Rule at Routledge, with material on Hinduism and Buddhism and many other topics, considerably advancing the English language discussion of the rule of living.
The work of Paul McKenna in Toronto—a center, if not the center, of the golden rule movement in North America, is expanding excellently—see his important Scarboro Missions website. Sam Muyskens and his Global Faith in Action Now, based in Wichita, Kansas—in teamwork with Scarboro Missions and their training facilitator Katie Flaherty—are pioneering ways of golden rule education for a city. Paul Eppinger and the Arizona Interfaith Network have gotten “golden rule” on the Arizona license plates and are hosting the North American Interfaith Network in July 2011 for a conference focused on the golden rule. And a major personal boost for me has been the discovery of psychologist and seminar presenter Izzy Kalman, who has been teaching anger management and responses to bullying by using the golden rule. He has found a quick and effective way to teach people to love their enemies. Don't be afraid. Don't get angry. Use humor, and treat the other person as a friend.
All of a sudden, it’s a whole new ball game.