Charles R. Lightner

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...

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...

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...

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...