Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Machiavelli · 01-04-2006, 11:19 AM

Seems to me that the Golden Rule and Moral Relativism are very closely related. And being that the Golden Rule is central to Christianity, I wonder why relativism has gotten such a bad rap.

I'm very fond of the Golden Rule because it proides a methodology to morality as opposed to some ideology.

Am I wrong about the similarities in the two? Or do Christians just not know what the hell they are talking about again?

premjan · 01-04-2006, 11:32 AM

returning something of equal mass = physics
returning something of equal value = economics
returning something of equal meaning = morality/ethics?

Machiavelli · 01-04-2006, 11:35 AM

Whoosh, right over my head.

JamesBannon · 01-04-2006, 12:15 PM

You are right that the Golden Rule is central to Christianity, as it is in so many other ethical systems, but I want to see a demonstration that it is necessarily relativistic.

Machiavelli · 01-04-2006, 12:33 PM

OK,

This seems simple enough.

"as you would have them do unto you"

That's it, relativism. There is no external measure to what the morally correct thing is. It all goes back to you.

JamesBannon · 01-04-2006, 01:42 PM

Nope because the Golden Rule requires that you do not view the situation through your own eyes but through the eyes of your neighbour and this is not relativistic because you must take into account the point-of-view of the other being judged. Not doing so raises all sorts of problems. E.g., as a racist you might, being placed in the situation where the prejudice is directed at you, conclude that it is fair but this is not precisely what the Golden Rule asks of you. It asks, would the target of racist hatred view it is as just which is rather different.

Machiavelli · 01-04-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesBannon

Nope because the Golden Rule requires that you do not view the situation through your own eyes but through the eyes of your neighbour

No it doesn't. The only consideration I have to make is how I would like to be treated. That would be the same no matter who I take into consideration.

JamesBannon · 01-04-2006, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

No it doesn't. The only consideration I have to make is how I would like to be treated. That would be the same no matter who I take into consideration.

There are different formulations of GR as it depends on how you "read" it. I'll have to look them up as i can't remeber which ones are which off the top of my head. I'll get back to you later.

P.S. BTW: I agree with one thing. Christianity is relativistic in some senses especially when it comes to biblical interpretation and defence of God's action.

Yggdrasill · 01-04-2006, 05:10 PM

If there is a universal morality that everyone adheres to, the golden rule isn't relativistic, because what you would want is what everyone else would want, but if there isn't a universal morality, it's relativistic.

01-04-2006, 11:19 AM	#1
Machiavelli Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: South Georgia Posts: 1,676	The Golden Rule = Applied Relativism Seems to me that the Golden Rule and Moral Relativism are very closely related. And being that the Golden Rule is central to Christianity, I wonder why relativism has gotten such a bad rap. I'm very fond of the Golden Rule because it proides a methodology to morality as opposed to some ideology. Am I wrong about the similarities in the two? Or do Christians just not know what the hell they are talking about again?

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01-04-2006, 11:32 AM	#2
premjan Obsessed Contributor Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: NJ Posts: 61,538	returning something of equal mass = physics returning something of equal value = economics returning something of equal meaning = morality/ethics?

01-04-2006, 11:35 AM	#3
Machiavelli Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: South Georgia Posts: 1,676	Whoosh, right over my head.

01-04-2006, 12:15 PM	#4
JamesBannon Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Paisley, Scotland Posts: 5,819	You are right that the Golden Rule is central to Christianity, as it is in so many other ethical systems, but I want to see a demonstration that it is necessarily relativistic.

01-04-2006, 12:33 PM	#5
Machiavelli Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: South Georgia Posts: 1,676	OK, This seems simple enough. "as you would have them do unto you" That's it, relativism. There is no external measure to what the morally correct thing is. It all goes back to you.

01-04-2006, 01:42 PM	#6
JamesBannon Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Paisley, Scotland Posts: 5,819	Nope because the Golden Rule requires that you do not view the situation through your own eyes but through the eyes of your neighbour and this is not relativistic because you must take into account the point-of-view of the other being judged. Not doing so raises all sorts of problems. E.g., as a racist you might, being placed in the situation where the prejudice is directed at you, conclude that it is fair but this is not precisely what the Golden Rule asks of you. It asks, would the target of racist hatred view it is as just which is rather different.

01-04-2006, 05:10 PM	#9
Yggdrasill Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kongsberg, Norway. I'm a: Skeptic Posts: 7,597	If there is a universal morality that everyone adheres to, the golden rule isn't relativistic, because what you would want is what everyone else would want, but if there isn't a universal morality, it's relativistic.

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