26 Apr 2017

Direct Path Project, Ethics Project
In an earlier post (See below, "The Ethic of Three Metals; February 22 2017), I cited the Platinum Rule as formulated by the philosopher Karl K. Popper in his book “The Open Society and Its Enemies”. Popper’s reference was somewhat offhand, embedded in the making of a larger point on standards of behavior: “But although we have no criterion of absolute rightness, we certainly can m...
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24 Apr 2017

Ethics Project
What does it mean to restrict the definition of "doing" to acts in the physical realm? Doing clearly includes direct physical action with the intent to affect another. The example cited previously of giving food to the hungry person is direct physical action. How about telling the hungry person where he can get food? Yes, I think the telling is also a doing. If directly communic...
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21 Apr 2017

Direct Path Project, Ethics Project
In my post of March 1 on the issue of commanded love I noted that some have identified the Ethic of Reciprocity as actually being: “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” I emphasize being as opposed to, say, proceeding from. And the question of the identification of that (seeming) command as being the Ethic is as opposed to the Ethic being: “Do unto others as you wou...
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12 Apr 2017

Ethics Project
I’ve been studying the work of some of the more influential Enlightenment-era philosophers lately. Brilliant thinkers, linguists, logicians; they still arrive at conclusions that are seemingly inescapable while inescapably flawed in my view. Why is that? How can it be? A few thoughts: The fundamental purpose of language is to communicate, but language communicates because it discri...
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04 Apr 2017

Ethics Project, Judaic Topics
It is often said that the laws of ritual sacrifice that dominate the early chapters of the book of Leviticus (or VaYikra in Hebrew), are among the most difficult to relate to in our day. That is largely because of our discomfort with the idea of animal sacrifice (even though not all sacrifices are of animals). If we ignore for the moment the issue of what is to be sacrificed and focus...
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14 Mar 2017

Ethics Project
If we restrict the question of "doing" or "not doing" to acts in the physical realm, as we've suggested, a critical distinction between the two can be drawn. It is (for practical purposes) always in my power to refrain from purposely acting. No agreement or connection between us is needed for me to act towards you in accordance with the Silver Rule. My forbearance does not need your k...
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09 Mar 2017

Ethics Project
If we look at a variety of definitions of the term “ethic” or “ethics” the first definition provided most often relates to action. The second is typically related to the moral code or set of values from which the action derives. In Part 2 we concluded that in terms of the Ethic of Reciprocity the critical issue is “do or don’t do”. In part, we are driven to that conclusion by the name...
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01 Mar 2017

Ethics Project
In both Jewish and Christian traditions, commentary on the Ethic of Reciprocity treats two quite different statements as essentially interchangeable: 1. You shall love your neighbor (or fellow) as yourself, and 2. Do (or don’t do) unto others…. Sometimes the “you shall love” statement is identified being the Ethic. Sometimes it is the “Do unto” statement. Does it matter? I th...
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23 Feb 2017

Ethics Project
I've been interested for a long time in the implications of the two principal statements of the Ethic of Reciprocity. The Golden Rule is usually stated as: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In western culture it is usually said to be based on the injunction in Leviticus 19:18: (and again in verse 34) "...Love your neighbor as yourself..." Or in the Chris...
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14 Jan 2017

Ethics Project
Wattles’ wonderful book on the Golden Rule, published in 1996 by the Oxford University Press, is the product of ten years of research stimulated by his work on the subject for a 1985 Stanford University Golden Rule seminar. Harry J. Gensler, the noted Golden Rule scholar, termed Wattles' book "the first scholarly book on the GR in English since the 17th century". The bulk of the bo...
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