Having spent some time now studying the work of the secular philosophers, I’m now going to spend some time on the work of those scholars who have made specific study of the golden rule; its place in world religious and ethical study; its strengths and weaknesses as a universal ethic; and, proposals to cure the weaknesses observed.
It could be argued that I should have started at this point but I was actually unaware of some of the more recent work that has been done on the subject and that some of the scholars engaged with it are of very high repute.
(The subject is a bit obscure. And I find that in each source I study I find multiple references to other potentially important sources.)
One of the gratifying findings in this diversion from the secular philosophers has been that the scholars I’m now working on appear to have followed a similar path to the one I have been on.
The Kant, Mill, Wittgenstein trajectory on the secular philosophic path has been the one found and analyzed by others besides me.
On one hand it is disconcerting that my excitement of discovery has been anticipated by at least a few others. On the other hand, it is something of a ratification that the path is one that has been followed by serious scholars with far more academic experience in this area than I.
In any case, being now aware of the work of Jeffrey Wattles, Howard Gensler and Jacob Neusner (and their colleagues) on this subject, I cannot ignore it. I need to study that work and to be open to the possibility that someone else has anticipated the points I am exploring and has already published the ideas in a way that leaves little more for me to say.
I haven’t found that to be true yet, however.
As I continue to study these three sources I’ll post occasional notes on some other issues. And I will, of course, report on and respond to the work of these scholars.
At the end of each section of Talmud study a statement is found in which the editor as interlocutor and study partner says “We will return to you, O (and the name of the section of Talmud is given).” The text is a living thing with which the student has an ongoing relationship.
We will return to you, Ethic of Three Metals.
Charles R. Lightner