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Golden Rule
The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim,[1] ethical code or morality[2] that essentially states either of the following:
- One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (directive form).[1]
- One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (cautionary form, also known as the Silver Rule).[1]
This concept describes a "reciprocal", or "two-way", relationship between one's self and others that involves both sides equally, and in a mutual fashion.[3][4]
This concept can be explained from the perspective of psychology, philosophy, sociology and religion. Psychologically, it involves a person empathizing with others. Philosophically, it involves a person perceiving their neighbor as also an "I" or "self".[3][4] Sociologically, this principle is applicable between individuals, between groups, and also between individuals and groups. (For example, a person living by this rule treats all people with consideration, not just members of his or her in-group.) Religions figure prominently in the history of this concept.[1][5]
As a concept, the Golden Rule has a history that long predates the term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", as it was called from the 1670s in England and Europe.[1][6] As a concept of "the ethic of reciprocity," it has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard way that different cultures use to resolve conflicts.[1][5] It has a long history, and a great number of prominent religious figures and philosophers have restated its reciprocal, "two-way" nature in various ways (not limited to the above forms).[1]
Rushworth Kidder notes that the Golden Rule can be found in the early contributions of Confucianism. Kidder notes that this concept's framework appears prominently in many religions, including "Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions".[7] According to Greg M. Epstein, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely."[8] Simon Blackburn also states that the Golden Rule can be "found in some form in almost every ethical tradition".[9] All versions and forms of the proverbial Golden Rule have one aspect in common: they all demand that people treat others in a manner in which they themselves would like to be treated.
- 1 Antiquity
- 2 Religion and philosophy
- 3 Other contexts
- 4 Criticisms and responses to criticisms
- 5 Scientific research
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Ancient Babylon
The Code of Hammurabi (1780 BC)[10] dealt with the reciprocity of the Lex talionis in ways such as limiting retribution, as they did concepts of retribution (literally "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth").
Ancient China
The Golden Rule existed among all the major philosophical schools of Ancient China: Mohism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Examples of the concept include:
- "Zi Gong asked, saying, "Is there one word that may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?" The Master said, "Is not reciprocity such a word?" – Confucius[11][12]
- "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." – Confucius[13]
- "If people regarded other people's families in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own family to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself." – Mozi
- "The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful." – Laozi[14]
- "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." – Laozi[15]
Ancient Egypt
An early example of the Golden Rule that reflects the Ancient Egyptian concept of Maat appears in the story of The Eloquent Peasant, which dates to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BC): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do thus to you."[16] An example from a Late Period (c. 664 BC – 323 BC) papyrus: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."[17]
Ancient Greece
The Golden Rule in its prohibitive form was a common principle in ancient Greek philosophy. Examples of the general concept include:
- "Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing." – Thales[18] (c. 624 BC – c. 546 BC)
- "What you do not want to happen to you, do not do it yourself either. " – Sextus the Pythagorean.[19] The oldest extant reference to Sextus is by Origen in the third century of the common era.[20]
- "Do not do to others that which angers you when they do it to you." – Isocrates[21](436–338 BC)
- "It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly (agreeing 'neither to harm nor be harmed'),[22] and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life." – Epicurus[23]
- "...it has been shown that to injure anyone is never just anywhere." – Socrates, in Plato's Republic. Plato is the first person known to have said this.[24]
Ancient Rome
Seneca, maybe following Publilius Syrus,[25] told "ab alio expectes alteri quod feceris" ("expect from others what you did to them")[26][27] and "non est quod credas quemquam fieri aliena infelicitate felicem" ("it is not so, as you might believe, that one is made happy through the unhappiness of others").[28][29]
Sanskrit tradition
In Mahābhārata, the ancient epic of India, comes a discourse where the wise minister Vidura advises the King Yuddhiśhṭhira thus, "Listening to wise scriptures, austerity, sacrifice, respectful faith, social welfare, forgiveness, purity of intent, compassion, truth and self-control — are the ten wealth of character (self). O king aim for these, may you be steadfast in these qualities. These are the basis of prosperity and rightful living. These are highest attainable things. All worlds are balanced on dharma, dharma encompasses ways to prosperity as well. O King, dharma is the best quality to have, wealth the medium and desire (kāma) the lowest. Hence, (keeping these in mind), by self-control and by making dharma (right conduct) your main focus, treat others as you treat yourself."
tasmād_dharma-pradhānéna bhavitavyam yatātmanā | tathā cha sarva-bhūtéṣhu vartitavyam yathātmani || (तस्माद्धर्मप्रधानेन भवितव्यं यतात्मना। तथा च सर्वभूतेषु वर्तितव्यं यथात्मनि॥ Mahābhārata Shānti-Parva 167:9)
Tamil tradition
In the Section on Virtue, and Chapter 32 of the Tirukkuṛaḷ (c. 200 BC – 500 AD), Tiruvaḷḷuvar says: Why does a man inflict upon other creatures those sufferings, which he has found by experience are sufferings to himself ? (K. 318) Let not a man consent to do those things to another which, he knows, will cause sorrow. (K. 316) He furthermore opined that it is the determination of the spotless (virtuous) not to do evil, even in return, to those who have cherished enmity and done them evil. (K. 312) The (proper) punishment to those who have done evil (to you), is to put them to shame by showing them kindness, in return and to forget both the evil and the good done on both sides. (K. 314)
Religion and philosophy
Global ethic
The "Declaration Toward a Global Ethic"[30] from the Parliament of the World's Religions[31][32] (1993) proclaimed the Golden Rule ("We must treat others as we wish others to treat us") as the common principle for many religions.[33] The Initial Declaration was signed by 143 leaders from all of the world's major faiths, including Baha'i Faith, Brahmanism, Brahma Kumaris, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous, Interfaith, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Native American, Neo-Pagan, Sikhism, Taoism, Theosophist, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian.[33][34] In the folklore of several cultures{31} the Golden Rule is depicted by the allegory of the long spoons.
Bahá'í Faith
The Writings of the Bahá'í Faith while encouraging everyone to treat others as they would treat themselves, go further by introducing the concept of preferring others before oneself:
O SON OF MAN! Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face; be then abashed before Me.—Bahá'u'lláh[35]
Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.
And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.
Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.
Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he known to you or a stranger, be he friend or foe.
Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama, c. 623 – c. 543 BC)[44][45] made this principle one of the cornerstones of his ethics in the 6th century BC. It occurs in many places and in many forms throughout the Tripitaka.
Comparing oneself to others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I," he should neither kill nor cause others to kill.—Sutta Nipata 705
One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.—Dhammapada 10. Violence
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.—Udanavarga 5:18
Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.[46]
According to Simon Blackburn, although the Golden Rule "can be found in some form in almost every ethical tradition", the rule is "sometimes claimed by Christianity as its own".[47] The "Golden Rule" has been attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, though he himself uses it to summarize the Torah: "Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets"[48] (Matthew 7:12 NCV, see also Luke 6:31). The common English phrasing is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". A similar form appeared in a Catholic catechism around 1567 (certainly in the reprint of 1583).[49]
The Golden Rule also has roots in the two old testament edicts, found in [[s:Bible (New Century Version)/Leviticus#19:18#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Leviticus 19:18]] ("Forget about the wrong things people do to you, and do not try to get even. Love your neighbor as you love yourself."; see also Great Commandment) and [[s:Bible (New Century Version)/Leviticus#19:34#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Leviticus 19:34]] ("But treat them just as you treat your own citizens. Love foreigners as you love yourselves, because you were foreigners one time in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.").
The Old Testament Deuterocanonical books of Tobit and Sirach, accepted as part of the Scriptural canon by Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Non-Chalcedonian Churches, also express a negative form of the golden rule:
"Do to no one what you yourself dislike."—Tobit 4:16
"Recognize that your neighbor feels as you do, and keep in mind your own dislikes."—Sirach 31:15
At the time of Hillel, an elder contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, the negative form of the golden rule already must have been proverbial, perhaps because of Tobit 4:15. When asked to sum up the entire Torah concisely, he answered:
"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn."—Talmud, Shabbat 31a
Two passages in the New Testament quote Jesus of Nazareth espousing the golden rule:
Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets.
[[s:Bible (King James)/Luke#6:31#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Luke 6:31]]
Do to others what you would want them to do to you.
A similar passage, a parallel to the Great Commandment, is [[s:Bible (New International Readers Version)/Luke#10:25#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Luke 10:25-28]]
25And one day an authority on the law stood up to put Jesus to the test. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to receive eternal life?"
26What is written in the Law?" Jesus replied. "How do you understand it?" 27He answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength and with all your mind.'(Deuteronomy 6:5) And, 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' " 28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do that, and you will live.".
The passage in the book of Luke then continues with Jesus answering the question, "Who is my neighbor?", by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, indicating that "your neighbor" is anyone in need.[50] This extends to all, including those who are generally considered hostile.
Jesus' teaching, however, goes beyond the negative formulation of not doing what one would not like done to themselves, to the positive formulation of actively doing good to another that, if the situations were reversed, one would desire that the other would do for them. This formulation, as indicated in the parable of the Good Samaritan, emphasises the needs for positive action that brings benefit to another, not simply restraining oneself from negative activities that hurt another. Taken as a rule of judgment, both formulations of the golden rule, the negative and positive, are equally applicable.[51]
In one passage of the New Testament Paul the Apostle refers to the golden rule:
[[s:Bible (King James)/Galatians#5:14#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Galatians 5:14]]
14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
In the view of John Topel, Jesus' formulation of the golden rule was unprecedented in the thought world of his day and remains unique. 'Among most exegetes it has become commonplace that the golden rule as a general moral maxim existed before Jesus, not only in the negative form, but also in the positive formulation. [..] A careful study of the texts usually cited as predecessors of Jesus' usage does not support this contention. What emerges rather is the originality of his positive formulation'.[52]
It was the first clear positive formulation of the general moral maxim of altruistic mutuality. Its uniqueness finds its ground in the literary context in which Jesus' rule is located in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:27-36); the command to love one's enemies (Luke 6:27-30); the rejection of the Greek ethic of reciprocity (Luke 6:32-34) and the disciples' Imitatio Dei (Luke 6:35c-36)
- 己所不欲,勿施於人。
- "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others."
- 子貢問曰:"有一言而可以終身行之者乎"?子曰:"其恕乎!己所不欲、勿施於人。"
- Zi gong (a disciple of Confucius) asked: "Is there any one word that could guide a person throughout life?"
The Master replied: "How about 'shu' [reciprocity]: never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself?"
- --Confucius, Analects XV.24, tr. David Hinton (another translation is in the online Chinese Text Project)[53]
The same idea is also presented in V.12 and VI.30 of the Analects, which can be found in the online Chinese Text Project
When we say that man chooses for himself, we do mean that every one of us must choose himself; but by that we also mean that in choosing for himself he chooses for all men. For in effect, of all the actions a man may take in order to create himself as he wills to be, there is not one which is not creative, at the same time, of an image of man such as he believes he ought to be. To choose between this or that is at the same time to affirm the value of that which is chosen; for we are unable ever to choose the worse. What we choose is always the better; and nothing can be better for us unless it is better for all.—Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism, pgs. 291–292[54]
One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one's own self. This, in brief, is the rule of dharma. Other behavior is due to selfish desires.—Brihaspati, Mahabharata (Anusasana Parva, Section CXIII, Verse 8)[55]
- श्रूयतां धर्मसर्वस्वं श्रुत्वा चाप्यवधार्यताम्।
- आत्मनः प्रतिकूलानि परेषां न समाचरेत्।।
If the entire "Dharma" (spiritual and moral laws) can be said in a few words, then it is — that which is unfavorable to us, do not do that to others. (Padmapuraana, shrushti 19/357–358)
In Mahābhārata, the ancient epic of India, comes a discourse where the wise minister Vidura advices the King Yuddhiśhṭhira thus, "Listening to wise scriptures, austerity, sacrifice, respectful faith, social welfare, forgiveness, purity of intent, compassion, truth and self-control — are the ten wealth of character (self). O king aim for these, may you be steadfast in these qualities. These are the basis of prosperity and rightful living. These are highest attainable things. All worlds are balanced on dharma, dharma encompasses ways to prosperity as well. O King, dharma is the best quality to have, wealth the medium and desire (kāma) the lowest. Hence, (keeping these in mind), by self-control and by making dharma (right conduct) your main focus, treat others as you treat yourself."
"tasmād dharma-pradhānéna bhavitavyam yatātmanā | tathā cha sarva-bhūtéṣhu vartitavyam yathātmani ||" (तस्माद्धर्मप्रधानेन भवितव्यं यतात्मना। तथा च सर्वभूतेषु वर्तितव्यं यथात्मनि॥ Mahābhārata Shānti-Parva 167:9)
Many different sources claim the Golden Rule as a humanist principle:[56][57]
Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathise with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn't possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn't difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others. For this reason many people find the Golden Rule's corollary – "do not treat people in a way you would not wish to be treated yourself" – more pragmatic.[56]—Maria MacLachlan, Think Humanism[58]
Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you. [is] (...) the single greatest, simplest, and most important moral axiom humanity has ever invented, one which reappears in the writings of almost every culture and religion throughout history, the one we know as the Golden Rule. Moral directives do not need to be complex or obscure to be worthwhile, and in fact, it is precisely this rule's simplicity which makes it great. It is easy to come up with, easy to understand, and easy to apply, and these three things are the hallmarks of a strong and healthy moral system. The idea behind it is readily graspable: before performing an action which might harm another person, try to imagine yourself in their position, and consider whether you would want to be the recipient of that action. If you would not want to be in such a position, the other person probably would not either, and so you should not do it. It is the basic and fundamental human trait of empathy, the ability to vicariously experience how another is feeling, that makes this possible, and it is the principle of empathy by which we should live our lives.—Adam Lee, Ebon Musings, "A decalogue for the modern world"[59]
In the view of Greg M. Epstein, a Humanist chaplain at Harvard University, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely. But not a single one of these versions of the golden rule requires a God".[60]
The Golden Rule is implicitly expressed in some verses of the Quran, but is explicitly declared in the sayings of Muhammad. A common transliteration is: ِAheb li akheek ma tuhibu li nafsik. This can be translated as "Wish for your brother, what you wish for yourself" or "Love your brother as you love yourself".
In Islam the Golden Rule is reserved solely for fellow Muslims. Quran verse 48:29 states: Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.[61] and whilst there may be many verses that state that a Muslim should love their brother, the Quran makes it clear that Muslims are but a single brotherhood.
Quran 21:92 Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me.[62]
From the Quran: the first verse recommends the positive form of the rule, and the subsequent verses condemn not abiding the negative form of the Golden Rule:
"...and you should forgive And overlook: Do you not like God to forgive you? And Allah is The Merciful Forgiving."— Quran (Surah 24, "The Light", v. 22)
"Woe to those... who, when they have to receive by measure from men, they demand exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due"— Quran (Surah 83, "The Dealers in Fraud", vv. 1–4)
"...orphans and the needy, give them something and speak kindly to them. And those who are concerned about the welfare of their own children after their death, should have fear of God [Treat other people's Orphans justly] and guide them properly."— Quran (Surah 4, "The Women", vv. 8-9)
"O you who believe! Spend [benevolently] of the good things that you have earned... and do not even think of spending [in alms] worthless things that you yourselves would be reluctant to accept."— Quran (Surah 2, "The Calf", v. 267)
From the hadith, the collected oral and written accounts of Muhammad and his teachings during his lifetime:
A Bedouin came to the prophet, grabbed the stirrup of his camel and said: O the messenger of God! Teach me something to go to heaven with it. Prophet said: "As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them. Now let the stirrup go! [This maxim is enough for you; go and act in accordance with it!]"—Kitab al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 146
"None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."—An-Nawawi's Forty Hadith 13 (p. 56)[63]
"Seek for mankind that of which you are desirous for yourself, that you may be a believer."—Sukhanan-i-Muhammad (Teheran, 1938)[64]
"That which you want for yourself, seek for mankind."[64]
"The most righteous person is the one who consents for other people what he consents for himself, and who dislikes for them what he dislikes for himself."[64]
Ali ibn Abi Talib (4th Caliph in Sunni Islam, and first Imam in Shia Islam) says:
"O' my child, make yourself the measure (for dealings) between you and others. Thus, you should desire for others what you desire for yourself and hate for others what you hate for yourself. Do not oppress as you do not like to be oppressed. Do good to others as you would like good to be done to you. Regard bad for yourself whatever you regard bad for others. Accept that (treatment) from others which you would like others to accept from you... Do not say to others what you do not like to be said to you."—Nahjul Balaghah, Letter 31 [65]
Other hadiths calling for the golden rule are:
- Anas related that Muhammad said: "None of you is truly a Muslim until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself". (Reported in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari).
- Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and to enter paradise should treat other people as they wish to be treated themselves. (reported by Sahih Muslim).
- Do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you; and reject for others what you would reject for yourself. (Reported by Abu Dawud)
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam says:
Everyone who looks down upon a brother because he esteems himself more learned, or wiser, or more proficient than him is arrogant, inasmuch as he does not esteem God as the Fountainhead of all intelligence and knowledge and deems himself as something. Has God not the power to afflict him with lunacy and to bestow upon his brother whom he accounts small better intelligence and knowledge and higher proficiency than him? So also he who, out of a mistaken conception of his wealth, or status, or dignity, looks down upon his brother, is arrogant because he forgets that his wealth, status and dignity were bestowed upon him by God. He is blind and does not realize that God has power to so afflict him that in a moment he might be reduced to the condition of the lowest of the low, and to bestow upon his brother whom he esteems low greater wealth than him. In the same way he who takes pride in his physical health, or is conceited of his beauty, or good looks, or strength, or might and bestows a scornful designation on his brother making fun of him and proclaims his physical defects is arrogant, for he is unaware of God Who has power to afflict him with such physical defects as to render him worse than his brother and to bless the latter so that his faculties should not suffer decline or be stultified over a long period, for He has power to do all that He wills. So he who is neglectful of Prayer on account of his dependence upon his faculties is arrogant for he has not recognized the Fountainhead of all power and strength and relies upon himself. Therefore, dear ones, keep all these admonitions in mind lest you should be accounted arrogant in the estimation of God Almighty unknowingly. He who out of pride corrects the pronunciation of a word by his brother partakes of arrogance. He who does not listen courteously to his brother and turns away from him partakes of arrogance. He who resents a brother sitting next to him partakes of arrogance. He who mocks and laughs at one who is occupied in Prayer partakes of arrogance. He who does not seek to render full obedience to a commissioned one and Messenger of God partakes of arrogance. He who does not pay full attention to the directions of such a one and does not study his writings with care also partakes of arrogance. Try, therefore, that you should not partake of arrogance in any respect so that you may escape ruin and you and yours may attain salvation. Lean towards God and love Him to the utmost degree possible and fear Him as much as anyone can be feared in this life. Be pure hearted and pure intentioned and meek and humble and free of all mischief so that you may receive mercy.[66]
In Jainism, the golden rule is firmly embedded in its entire philosophy and can be seen in its clearest form in the doctrines of Ahimsa and Karma.
The following quotation from the Acaranga Sutra sums up the philosophy of Jainism:
Nothing which breathes, which exists, which lives, or which has essence or potential of life, should be destroyed or ruled over, or subjugated, or harmed, or denied of its essence or potential.
In support of this Truth, I ask you a question – "Is sorrow or pain desirable to you ?" If you say "yes it is", it would be a lie. If you say, "No, It is not" you will be expressing the truth. Just as sorrow or pain is not desirable to you, so it is to all which breathe, exist, live or have any essence of life. To you and all, it is undesirable, and painful, and repugnant.[67]
Saman Suttam of Jinendra Varni[68] gives further insight into this precept:-
All the living beings wish to live and not to die; that is why unattached saints prohibit the killing of living beings.—Suman Suttam, verse 148
Just as pain is not agreeable to you, it is so with others. Knowing this principle of equality treat other with respect and compassion.—Suman Suttam, verse 150
Killing a living being is killing one's own self; showing compassion to a living being is showing compassion to oneself. He who desires his own good, should avoid causing any harm to a living being.—Suman Suttam, verse 151
The earliest known text of the positive form of the Golden Rule is the following Biblical verse, written c. 1300 BCE:[69]
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.—[[s:Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)/Leviticus#19:18#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Leviticus 19:18]][70], Tanakh
Hillel the Elder (c. 110 BCE – 10 CE),[71] used this verse as a most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, he was challenged by a gentile who asked to be converted under the condition that the Torah be explained to him while he stood on one foot. Hillel accepted him as a candidate for conversion to Judaism but, drawing on Leviticus 19:18, briefed the man:
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.—[[s:Babylonian Talmud/Shabbath#folio:31a#REDIRECTmw:Help:Magic words#Other
This page is a soft redirect.Shabbath folio:31a]], Babylonian Talmud
Hillel recognized brotherly love as the fundamental principle of Jewish ethics. Rabbi Akiba agreed and suggested that the principle of love must have its foundation in Genesis chapter 1, which teaches that all men are the offspring of Adam who was made in the image of God (Sifra, Ḳedoshim, iv.; Yer. Ned. ix. 41c; Genesis Rabba 24).[72] According to Jewish rabbinic literature, the first man Adam represents the unity of mankind. This is echoed in the modern preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[citation needed] And it is also taught, that Adam is last in order according to the evolutionary character of God's creation:[72]
"Why was only a single specimen of man created first?[72] To teach us that he who destroys a single soul destroys a whole world and that he who saves a single soul saves a whole world;[72] furthermore, so no race or class may claim a nobler ancestry, saying, 'Our father was born first'; and, finally, to give testimony to the greatness of the Lord, who caused the wonderful diversity of mankind to emanate from one type.[72] And why was Adam created last of all beings?[72] To teach him humility; for if he be overbearing, let him remember that the little fly preceded him in the order of creation."[72]
The Golden Rule originates in a well-known Torah verse (Hebrew: "ואהבת לרעך כמוך"):
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
The Jewish Publication Society's edition of Leviticus:
- Thou shalt not hate thy brother. in thy heart; thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. 18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.[73]
This Torah verse represents one of several versions of the Golden Rule, which itself appears in various forms, positive and negative. It is the earliest written version of that concept in a positive form.[69]
At the turn of the eras, the Jewish rabbis were discussing the scope of the meaning of Leviticus 19:18 and 19:34 extensively:
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.
Commentators summed up foreigners (= Samaritans), proselytes (= 'strangers who resides with you') (Rabbi Akiba, bQuid 75b) or Jews (Rabbi Gamaliel, yKet 3,1; 27a) to the scope of the meaning.
The Sage Hillel formulated a negative form of the golden rule. When asked to sum up the entire Torah concisely, he answered:[74]
That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn it.—Talmud, Shabbat 31a, the "Great Principle"
On the verse, "Love your fellow as yourself," the classic commentator Rashi quotes from Torat Kohanim, an early Midrashic text regarding the famous dictum of Rabbi Akiva: "Love your fellow as yourself — Rabbi Akiva says this is a great principle of the Torah."[75]
Israel's postal service quoted from the previous Leviticus verse when it commemorated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on a 1958 postage stamp.[76]
If people regarded other people's families in the same way that they regard their own, who then would incite their own family to attack that of another? For one would do for others as one would do for oneself.
Mozi regarded the golden rule as a corollary to the cardinal virtue of impartiality, and encouraged egalitarianism and selflessness in relationships.
The Golden Rule appears to be present in at least one of Plato's dialogues:
One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him.
Consistent with the observation by Walter Terence Stace "that 'doing as you would be done by' includes taking into account your neighbor's tastes as you would that he should take yours into account" (see Criticisms and responses to criticisms), Scientology addresses the issue concerning differences in values or interests by focusing on the values and interests of the recipient of the conduct:
Thus today we have two golden rules for happiness: 1. Be able to experience anything; and 2. Cause only those things which others are able to experience easily.
Whom should I despise, since the one Lord made us all.—p.1237, Var Sarang, Guru Granth Sahib, tr. Patwant Singh
The truly enlightened ones are those who neither incite fear in others nor fear anyone themselves.—p.1427, Slok, Guru Granth Sahib, tr. Patwant Singh
I am a stranger to no one, and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.—p.1299, Guru Granth Sahib
The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.—Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49
Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.—T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien
The Way to Happiness
The Way to Happiness expresses the Golden Rule both in its negative/prohibitive form and in its positive form. The negative/prohibitive form is expressed in Precept 19 as:
19. Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you.—The Way to Happiness, Precept 19[80][81]
The positive form is expressed in Precept 20 as:
20. Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you.—The Way to Happiness, Precept 20[82][83]
These eight words the Rede fulfill, 'an ye harm none do as ye will.
Here ye these words and heed them well, the words of Dea, thy Mother Goddess, "I command thee thus, O children of the Earth, that that which ye deem harmful unto thyself, the very same shall ye be forbidden from doing unto another, for violence and hatred give rise to the same. My command is thus, that ye shall return all violence and hatred with peacefulness and love, for my Law is love unto all things. Only through love shall ye have peace; yea and verily, only peace and love will cure the world, and subdue all evil."—The Book of Ways, Devotional Wicca
Other contexts
Human rights
According to Marc H. Bornstein, and William E. Paden, the Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, in which each individual has a right to just treatment, and a reciprocal responsibility to ensure justice for others.[84]
However Leo Damrosch argued that the notion that the Golden Rule pertains to "rights" per se is a contemporary interpretation and has nothing to do with its origin. The development of human "rights" is a modern political ideal that began as a philosophical concept promulgated through the philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau in 18th century France, among others. His writings influenced Thomas Jefferson, who then incorporated Rousseau's reference to "inalienable rights" into the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. Damrosch argued that to confuse the Golden Rule with human rights is to apply contemporary thinking to ancient concepts.[85]
If the negative/prohibitive form of the Golden Rule would stand alone, it would simply serve as a proactive motivation against wrong action. But the Golden Rule in general actually serves as a motivation toward proactive action. As Dr. Frank Crane put it, "The Golden Rule is of no use to you whatsoever unless you realize that it's your move!"[86]
Children's stories
Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies (1863) includes a character named Mrs Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By (and another, Mrs Be-Done-By-As-You-Did).[87]
Criticisms and responses to criticisms
Many people have criticized the golden rule; George Bernard Shaw once said that "the golden rule is that there are no golden rules". Shaw suggested an alternative rule: "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same" (Maxims for Revolutionists; 1903). Karl Popper wrote: "The golden rule is a good standard which is further improved by doing unto others, wherever reasonable, as they want to be done by" (The Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. 2). This concept has recently been called "The Platinum Rule."[88] Philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Bertrand Russell,[citation needed] have objected to the rule on a variety of grounds.[89] The most serious among these is its application. How does one know how others want to be treated? The obvious way is to ask them, but this cannot be done if one assumes they have not reached a particular and relevant understanding.
One satirical version the Golden Rule makes a political and economic point: "Whoever has the gold, makes the rules."[90]
Differences in values or interests
Shaw's comment about differing tastes suggests that if your values are not shared with others, the way you want to be treated will not be the way they want to be treated. Hence, the Golden Rule is "dangerous in the wrong hands,"[91] according to philosopher Iain King, because "some fanatics have no aversion to death: the Golden Rule might inspire them to kill others in suicide missions."[92]
Differences in situations
Immanuel Kant famously criticized the golden rule for not being sensitive to differences of situation, noting that a prisoner duly convicted of a crime could appeal to the golden rule while asking the judge to release him, pointing out that the judge would not want anyone else to send him to prison, so he should not do so to others.[93] Kant's Categorical Imperative, introduced in Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, is often confused with the Golden Rule.
Cannot be a sole guide to action
Philosopher Iain King has argued that "(although) the idea of mirroring your treatment of others with their treatment of you is very widespread indeed… most ancient wisdoms express this negatively – advice on what you should not do, rather than what you should." [94] He argues this creates a bias in favour of inertia which allows bad actions and states of affairs to persist. The positive formulation, meanwhile, can be "incendiary",[95] since it "can lead to cycles of tit-for-tat reciprocity," unless it is accompanied by a corrective mechanism, such as a concept of forgiveness.[95] Therefore, he concludes that there can be no viable formulation of the Golden Rule, unless it is heavily qualified by other maxims.[96]
Responses to criticisms
Walter Terence Stace, in The Concept of Morals (1937), wrote:
Mr. Bernard Shaw's remark "Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may be different" is no doubt a smart saying. But it seems to overlook the fact that "doing as you would be done by" includes taking into account your neighbor's tastes as you would that he should take yours into account. Thus the "golden rule" might still express the essence of a universal morality even if no two men in the world had any needs or tastes in common.[97]
Marcus George Singer observed that there are two importantly different ways of looking at the golden rule: as requiring (1) that you perform specific actions that you want others to do to you or (2) that you guide your behavior in the same general ways that you want others to.[98] Counter-examples to the golden rule typically are more forceful against the first than the second.
In his book on the golden rule, Jeffrey Wattles makes the similar observation that such objections typically arise while applying the golden rule in certain general ways (namely, ignoring differences in taste, in situation, and so forth). But if we apply the golden rule to our own method of using it, asking in effect if we would want other people to apply the golden rule in such ways, the answer would typically be no, since it is quite predictable that others' ignoring of such factors will lead to behavior which we object to. It follows that we should not do so ourselves—according to the golden rule. In this way, the golden rule may be self-correcting.[99] An article by Jouni Reinikainen develops this suggestion in greater detail.[100]
It is possible, then, that the golden rule can itself guide us in identifying which differences of situation are morally relevant. We would often want other people to ignore any prejudice against our race or nationality when deciding how to act towards us, but would also want them to not ignore our differing preferences in food, desire for aggressiveness, and so on. The platinum rule, and perhaps other variants, might also be self-correcting in this same manner.
Scientific research
There has been research published arguing that some 'sense' of fair play and the Golden Rule may be stated and rooted in terms of neuroscientific and neuroethical principles.[101]
See also
- Allegory of the long spoons
- Breaking the rule
- Categorical imperative
- Deontological ethics
- Duty to rescue
- Empathy
- Related ethical codes
- Golden Rule (fiscal policy)
- Harm principle
- Reciprocity
- Norm of reciprocity, social norm of in-kind responses to the behavior of others
- Reciprocity (cultural anthropology), way of defining people's informal exchange of goods and labour
- Reciprocity (evolution), mechanisms for the evolution of cooperation
- Reciprocity (international relations), principle that favours, benefits, or penalties that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another, should be returned in kind
- Reciprocity (social and political philosophy), concept of reciprocity as in-kind positive or negative responses for the actions of others; relation to justice; related ideas such as gratitude, mutuality, and the Golden Rule
- Reciprocity (social psychology), in-kind positive or negative responses of individuals towards the actions of others
- Serial reciprocity, where the benefactor of a gift or service will in turn provide benefits to a third party
- Violence begets violence
- Three Wise Monkeys
- ^ a b c d e f g Antony Flew, ed. (1979). "golden rule". A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Pan Books in association with The MacMillan Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-330-48730-2. This dictionary of philosophy contains the following exact quote under the entry for "golden rule": "The maxim 'Treat others how you wish to be treated'. Various expressions of this fundamental moral rule are to be found in tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages, testifying to its universal applicability." (end quote).
- ^ Walter Terence Stace argued that the Golden Rule was much more than simply an ethical code. Instead, he posits, it "express[es] the essence of a universal morality." The rationale for this crucial distinction occupies much of his book The Concept of Morals (1937): –
Stace, Walter T. (1937, Reprinted 1975 by permission of MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc., Also reprinted January 1990 by Peter Smith Publisher Inc). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company; and also reprinted by Peter Smith Publisher Inc, January 1990. p. 136. ISBN 0-8446-2990-1. Check date values in:
|date=(help) (above quote found p. 136, ch. 6)
- ^ a b Stace, Walter T. (1937, Reprinted 1975 by permission of MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc., Also reprinted January 1990 by Peter Smith Publisher Inc). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company; and also reprinted by Peter Smith Publisher Inc, January 1990. pp. 178, 179 (ch. 7). ISBN 0-8446-2990-1. Check date values in:
- ^ a b Marcus George Singer, "Generalization in Ethics," Mind LXIV (1955), p. 119
- ^ a b
Stace, Walter T. (1937, Reprinted 1975 by permission of MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc.). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company. ISBN 0-8446-2990-1. Check date values in:
|date=(help)(See chapters on Ethical Relativity (pp 1–68), and Unity of Morals (pp 92–107, specifically p 93, 98, 102)
- ^ Douglas Harper. "Entry for "golden"". Online Etymology Dictionary. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ W.A. Spooner, "The Golden Rule," in James Hastings, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 6 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914) pp. 310–12, quoted in Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical Living, Harper, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-688-17590-2. p. 159. Simon Blackburn also notes the connection between Confucious and the Golden Rule. Simon, Blackburn (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
- ^ Esptein, Greg M. (2010). Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York: HarperCollins. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-06-167011-4.
- ^ Simon, Blackburn (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
- ^ Quote from Kenneth Bond: "...Code of Hammurabi. I used a translation by L.W. King with Commentary by Charles F. Horne (1915). My version was a 1996 electronically enhanced version of the 1910 Encyclopædia Britannica." (end quote).Kenneth Bond (1998). "Religious Beliefs as a Basis for Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace". Humboldt State University. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ Chinese Text Project. "(title in Chinese)" [Pre-Qin and Han, Confucianism, The Analects, Wei Ling Gong, XV.24]. Chinese Text Project. Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
- ^ The entry for "golden rule" in A Dictionary of Philosophy, in giving examples, states: "... Confucius, for instance, was asked whether the true way could be summed up in a single word...."Editorial consultant (for seventeen contributors): Antony Flew, ed. (1979). A Dictionary of Philosophy. London: Pan Books in association with The MacMillan Press. p. 134 (entry for "golden rule"). ISBN 0-330-48730-2.
- ^ Analects XV.24 (tr. David Hinton)
- ^ Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49
- ^ T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien (Sacred Books of the East)
- ^ "The Culture of Ancient Egypt", John Albert Wilson, p. 121, University of Chicago Press, 1956, ISBN 0-226-90152-1
- ^ "A Late Period Hieratic Wisdom Text: P. Brooklyn 47.218.135", Richard Jasnow, p. 95, University of Chicago Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-918986-85-6.
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius, "The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", I:36
- ^ "The Sentences of Sextus".
- ^ The Sentences of Sextus Article
- ^ Isocrates, Nicocles or the Cyprians, Isoc 3.61 (original text in Greek); cf. Isoc. 1.14, Isoc. 2.24, 38, Isoc. 4.81.
- ^ Tim O'Keefe, Epicurus on Freedom, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.134
- ^ Epicurus Principal Doctrines, 31, tranls. by Robert Drew Hicks (1925)
- ^ W. H. D. Rouse, translator, Great Dialogues of Plato, Signet Classics, 2008, p. 150 (Republic, 335e).
- ^ Uchenna B. Okeja, Normative Justification of a Global Ethic: A Perspective from African Philosophy, Lexington Books, 2013, page 124.
- ^ Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, 94, 43.
- ^ Publilius Syrus, Sententiae, sententia 2.
- ^ Seneca, Ep., 94, 67.
- ^ Vincent Barletta, Death in Babylon: Alexander the Great and Iberian Empire in the Muslim Orient, The University of Chicago press, 2010, page 31.
- ^ Towards a Global Ethic – Urban Dharma - Buddhism in America (This link includes a list of 143 signatories and their respective religions.)
- ^ "Parliament of the World's Religions". Parliamentofreligions.org. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions". Parliamentofreligions.org. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ a b Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration) ReligiousTolerance.org. - Under the subtitle, "We Declare," see third paragraph. The first line reads, "We must treat others as we wish others to treat us."
- ^ "Parliament of the World's Religions - Towards a Global Ethic" (PDF). Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Bahá'í Reference Library - The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, Page 11". Reference.bahai.org. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "The Golden Rule Bahá'í Faith". Replay.waybackmachine.org. 11 April 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p71
- ^ "The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh – Part II". Info.bahai.org. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p30
- ^ Words of Wisdom See: The Golden Rule
- ^ Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, LXVI:8
- ^ Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh, p10
- ^ Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 73
- ^ ""Gautama Buddha (B.C. 623-543)" by T.W. Rhys-Davids, The World's Great Events, B.C. 4004-A.D. 70 (1908) by Esther Singleton, pp. 124-135". Unz.org. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "The Buddha (BC 623-BC 543) - Religion and spirituality Article - Buddha, Bc, 623". Booksie. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Detachment and Compassion in Early Buddhism by Elizabeth J. Harris (enabling.org)
- ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
- ^ The Holy Bible, New Century Version. 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
- ^ Vaux, Laurence (1583, Reprinted by The Chetham Society in 1885). A Catechisme / or / Christian Doctrine. Manchester, England: The Chetham Society. p. 48 (located in the text just before the title, "Of the Five Commandments of the Church." Scroll up slightly to see a section saying: "The sum of the ten Commandments does consist in the love towards god, and our neighbor (Ephe. 4., Matt. 7.). In the first Table be three Commandments: which take away and forbid sin and vice against the worshipping of God. They forbid idolatry, apostasy, heresy, superstition, perjury, blasphemy, and move us to the pure and true worshipping of God in heart, word and deed. In the Second table be seven Commandments, which command us to give reverence and honor to every man in his degree, to profit all, and hurt none: to do unto others, as we would be done to ourselves."). Check date values in:
- ^ "John Wesley's Explanatory Notes on Luke 10". Christnotes.org. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Moore: Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era; Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1927–1930; Vol.2, p.87, Vol.3, p.180.
- ^ Topel, John 'The Tarnished Golden Rule. The Inescapable Radicalness of Christian Ethics'. Theological Studies 59 (1998) pps 475-485
- ^ Chinese Text Project. "Confucianism, The Analects, Section 15: Wei Ling Gong, (see number 24)". Chinese Text Project. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ Sartre, Jean-Paul (2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale University Press. pp. 291–292. ISBN 0300115466.
- ^ "Mahabharata Book 13". Mahabharataonline.com. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ a b "Thinkhumanism.com". Thinkhumanism.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "UBC.ca". Web.archive.org. 15 March 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Think Humanism". Think Humanism. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "A decalogue for the modern world". Ebonmusings.org. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Esptein, Greg M. (2010). Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York: HarperCollins. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-06-167011-4. Italics in original.
- ^ http://quran.com/48/29
- ^ http://quran.com/21/92
- ^ Wattles (191), Rost (100)
- ^ a b c [English Title: Conversations of Muhammad]
Wattles (192)
Rost (100)
Donaldson Dwight M. 1963. Studies in Muslim Ethics, p.82. London: S.P.C.K
- ^ http://www.hadith.net/english/sources/nahj/letters/31.htm
another translation: "My dear son, so far as your behavior with other human beings is concerned, let your 'self' act as scales to judge its goodness or wickedness: Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you. Whatever you like for yourself, like for others, and whatever you dislike to happen to you, spare others from such happenings. Do not oppress and tyrannize anybody because you surely do not like to be oppressed and tyrannized. Be kind and sympathetic to others as you certainly desire others to treat you kindly and sympathetically. If you find objectionable and loathsome habits in others, abstain from developing those traits of character in yourself. If you are satisfied or feel happy in receiving a certain kind of behavior from others, you may behave with others in exactly the same way. Do not speak about them in the same way that you do not like others to speak about you... [A]void scandal, libel and aspersion as you do not like yourself to be scandalized and scorned in the same manner." <http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/letters/letter31.htm>
- ^ Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Nuzulul Masih. Islam International publications. pp. 24–25.
- ^ Jacobi, Hermann (1884). Ācāranga Sūtra, Jain Sutras Part I, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 22. Sutra 155-6
- ^ *Varni, Jinendra; Ed. Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Translated Justice T.K. Tukol and Dr. K.K. Dixit (1993). Samaṇ Suttaṁ. New Delhi: Bhagwan Mahavir memorial Samiti.
- ^ a b Plaut, The Torah — A Modern Commentary; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York 1981; pp.892.
- ^ New JPS Hebrew/English Tanakh
- ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Hillel: "His activity of forty years is perhaps historical; and since it began, according to a trustworthy tradition (Shab. 15a), one hundred years before the destruction of Jerusalem, it must have covered the period 30 B.C.E. -10 C.E."
- ^ a b c d e f g "ADAM". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Leviticus". The Torah. Jewish Publication Society. p. 19:17.
- ^ Gensler, Harry J. (1996). Formal Ethics. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 0-415-13066-2.
- ^ Kedoshim 19:18, Toras Kohanim, ibid. See also Talmud Yerushalmi, Nedarim 9:4; Bereishis Rabbah 24:7.
- ^ "Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica". Emory University. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2007). Scientology: A New Slant on Life. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, Inc. p. 176, see also p. 173. ISBN 978-1-4031-4686-1.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2012). "The Rules for Happy Living". LRonHubbard.Org. Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2006). "Two Rules for Happy Living". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2012). "Precept 19". The Way to Happiness. The Way to Happiness Foundation International. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2007). The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living. Los Angeles: L. Ron Hubbard Library. p. 59. ISBN 1-59970-036-0.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2012). "Precept 20". The Way to Happiness. The Way to Happiness Foundation International. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2007). The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living. Los Angeles: L. Ron Hubbard Library. p. 61. ISBN 1-59970-036-0.
- ^ Defined another way, it "refers to the balance in an interactive system such that each party has both rights and duties, and the subordinate norm of complementarity states that one's rights are the other's obligation."Bornstein, Marc H. (2002). Handbook of Parenting. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8058-3782-7. See also: Paden, William E. (2003). Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion. Beacon Press. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-8070-7705-4.
- ^ Damrosch, Leo (2008). Jean Jacques Russeau: Restless Genius. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-44696-4.
- ^ "and Robert D. Ramsey, ''School Leadership From A to Z: Practical Lessons from Successful Schools and Businesses'', Corwin Press, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, 2003. (ISBN 978-0761938330) p. 45". Quakeranne.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/mary-wakefield-what-the-water-babies-can-teach-us-about-personal-morality-1850416.html
- ^ "The Busybody: The Platinum Rule". Lorenrosson.blogspot.com. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ "Only a Game: The Golden Rule". Onlyagame.typepad.com. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Popik, Barry (13 June 2009). "The Big Apple: Golden Rule ("He who has the gold makes the rules")". Barrypopik.com. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ Source: Page 76 of 'How To Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time', Iain King, 2008, Continuum, ISBN 9-781-847-063472.
- ^ Source: Page 76 of 'How To Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time', Iain King, 2008, Continuum, ISBN 9-781-847-063472.
- ^ Kant, Immanuel Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, footnote 13. Cambridge University Press (28 April 1998). ISBN 978-0-521-62695-8
- ^ Source: Page 110 of 'How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time', Iain King, Continuum, 2008, ISBN 978-1847063472. Accessed 20 March 2014.
- ^ a b Source: Page 112 of 'How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time', Iain King, Continuum, 2008, ISBN 978-1847063472. Accessed 20 March 2014.
- ^ Source: Page 114 of 'How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time', Iain King, Continuum, 2008, ISBN 978-1847063472. Accessed 20 March 2014.
- ^
Stace, Walter T. (1937, Reprinted 1975 by permission of MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc., Also reprinted January 1990 by Peter Smith Publisher Inc). The Concept of Morals. New York: The MacMillan Company; and also reprinted by Peter Smith Publisher Inc, January 1990. p. 136 (ch. 6). ISBN 0-8446-2990-1. Check date values in:
- ^ M. G. Singer, The Ideal of a Rational Morality, p270
- ^ Wattles, p6
- ^ Jouni Reinikainen, "The Golden Rule and the Requirement of Universalizability." Journal of Value Inquiry. 39(2): 155–168, 2005.
- ^ Pfaff, Donald W., "The Neuroscience of Fair Play: Why We (Usually) Follow the Golden Rule", Dana Press, The Dana Foundation, New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-932594-27-0
External links
- 16x16px Quotations related to Golden Rule at Wikiquote


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Armenian Lullaby is based on the verse of my great-great-grandfather, Rafael Patkanian (1830-1892) about a mother who is singing a lullaby to her child, calling on different birds who are associated with various professions. The baby falls asleep only to the song of Falcon, who is singing battle songs, in other words, chooses the profession of a soldier. Traditionally it's considered a patriotic
Nguyen Thanh Tung is a respected dan bau (monochord) player from Hanoi, Vietnam. Both he and his sister were born with disabilities resulting from their father's exposure to a toxin known as Agent Orange. In Dan Bau Lullaby, Nguyen speaks candidly about his influences, inspiration, daily life and why a lullaby has a special place in his heart. Nguyen Thanh Tung is a respected dan bau (monochor
The German Lullaby is about two women Anna and Molly who live in present day New York. Molly (who has a Jewish background) finds out that Anna's family (who are of German descent) gave up a little Jewish girl, Hannah, in the Second World War to save their family. The German Lullaby reflects how hard it was for Germans in the 1940's as well as the Jews. Most people had no choice and did what they
Emma-Rose, a young social worker, is introduced to a young boy named Justin that no one can physically be close to unless he sings a lullaby. She will try to learn more and help Justin's grandparents who are afflicted with this terrible curse. Emma-Rose, a young social worker, is introduced to a young boy named Justin that no one can physically be close to unless he sings a lullaby. She will t
Shortly after the birth of my daughter, our dog, Ian, was diagnosed with cancer. This film documents our last day together. The film is a lullaby to death and new life. A silent voyage of fifteen years that despite the pain, leaves space for optimism and hope.
TOXIC LULLABY tells the story of Eloise, who wakes up in a destroyed, life threatening world after a bad drug trip. She joins a group of people, who like her, are motivated by the longing to flee this nightmare, but it's hard to tell who'll carry the day, the survivors or the zombies.
KIM Do-young, who committed matricide, has just broken out of jail. He takes a woman hostage, exposing himself to extreme risks. He seems to want to be killed. Finally, he is shot in the head by a police sniper. He hears the lullaby of his mother which she sang to him a long time ago.
There are many Free and paid sites to watch Lullaby online . And some of sites you have to login or signup but there is also some sites where login or signup is not required to watch Lullaby for free.
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subset: commoncrawl


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The Doran Brothers
By Johnny Kerce
We all know wakeskating is a team sport. Good luck trying to ride and progress by yourself. But in Bradenton, where there are no shortage of amazing riders to shred with, the Doran's have another one up. Brothers Travis and Tom have each other to ride with, push one another, and of course, give each other brotherly shit. And if that's not enough encouragment for you to get your sibling out riding, well, maybe this interview will be. Enjoy. –BG
JK: First of all which one of you started wakeskating first and how did you start?
Tom: I definitely started first, pretty much started riding with Nick Taylor back in the day and loved it. I would always chill with Nick, and I would do some lip tricks and watch him ride and Nick's always been a sick rider so that was so sick watching him shred.
JK: Living in Bradenton, what do think this type of surrounding has brought to your wakeskating?
Travis: It's nice to get to ride all the time.
Tom: I just love surfing all the time.
JKK: Better riding spot, PSP or Bayou?
Tom: Bayou for sure. I love the Bayou: Sam's house, Stu Shinn's house, glassy water, mad chillin.
Travis: Yeah definitely the Bayou cause we have always rode out here but PSP is really chill.
JK: Travis, tell us a little bit about what's going on with Oak Wakeskates these days in terms of riders and boards?
Travis: I mean we got Hooker, Dave, Kirby, and some other trues. As far as boards go the new 39″ came out, and I love my Pit Spitter.
Tom: Oh my god does he shred that Pit Spitter.
JK: Tom, how do you believe your influence as an older brother has helped Travis progress?
Tom: Haha….I don't know, alright basically he helps me because I see him shred and it gets me stoked to ride.
JK: Each of you try to give us a little insight on a normal day of riding and habits?
Tom: Wake up…try to not black out again.
Travis: No for real try to not black out haha, maybe go try to take a set with Nick Taylor at his rail park and do noseblunts up his incline.
Tom: Yeah dude that place is so fun I love hitting that flatbar.
Travis: Maybe in the evening take a set with Stu behind his boat in the Bayou.
JK: Travis, I have seen you shred rails by locking in with your udders, how do you think lock-in technology is going to become a major part of wakeskating?
Travis: It's the future…..I mean if you can do a boardslide you can do a back nose. It's definitely going to turn into skateboarding and people are only going to be satisfied with back tails and front blunts and sick stuff like that.
JK: Travis, with the release of Fun Boots! how do you feel about your part?
Travis: Oh my god I don't even remember most of the stuff I did now but I think it's gonna be sick.
JK: Also, if you had to pick one, which part are you most looking forward to?
Tom: Seeing Travis progress and being like "That's my little brother and he is the man."
Travis: What was the question again…..oh Andy Pastura for sure, it's going to change wakeskating.
JK: Out of all the amazing eating establishments in Bradenton whats some of your favorites.
Tom: Howie's is fire, Applebees is fire, but Howie's is so chillin it's probably my favorite.
JK: Tom, I have alot of conversations with people that believe you are the next big thing to come out of Bradenton, what is your response to that?
Tom: I don't know about that dude, there is alot of people that can do more tricks than me but I just hope I can keep wakeskating and get better.
JK: Do either of you have plans on moving to Orlando in the future?
Travis: Yea I'm coming up like the week after I graduate. Hopefully I'll be able to live on Lake Nan and shred every day.
Tom: I'm coming with you Trav for sure. We know who the homies are in Orlando maybe we can find a couple more and it should be sick.
JK: If so, what do you think the benefits of Orlando are compared to Bradenton?
Travis: In Orlando there is not near as many cops out on the water.
Tom: Tides suck too, if the tide is to low you can't ride and sometimes with winching around here the tides really affect when a gap can be hit.
JK: What are some of the tricks that each of you have been working on lately?
Tom: I've been trying frontside flips, getting my varial flips better and kickflips on lock, and just some other fliptrick stuff.
Travis: I'm really trying to just do lines and doing all my stuff solid like if I do a trick bad I always do it until it looks good. I'm really just trying to flow and make everythinig look the way I think it should.
JK: Tom, who do you believe has really influenced you with your wakeskating?
Tom: Stuart Shinn definetly.` Stu has been a big part of wakeskating for me. I have always enjoyed chillin with him and just watching him progress from the time he started.
JK: Tom, in your first year of college you went to UNF. Have you ever thought of what might have happened if you had stayed in Bradenton?
Tom: Oh dude…seriously that is a good question man. I have thought about that a lot because the whole time I was up there Travis would call me like every day and tell me he landed a new trick. So I think if I had stayed I probably would have stayed into wakeskating and probably been better than I am now but I chilled in Jacksonville real hard and I am glad for Travis where he is with wakeskating anyway.


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UC DAVIS (US) — The prevalence of conduct disorder symptoms increases across generations for Mexicans who migrate to the United States, a new study finds.
"Our study shows that there is a large difference in risk for conduct disorder between Mexicans living in Mexico and people of Mexican descent living in the United States," says Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, a professor of clinical internal medicine at the University of California, Davis.
"This increase in risk occurring across generations within a migrating population strongly points to the influence of early childhood environmental factors in the United States and the potential to intervene to reduce the prevalence of conduct disorder."
Conduct disorder, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association, is characterized by persistent patterns of child or adolescent behavior involving aggression or other violations of age-appropriate norms that cause significant clinical impairment.
Behaviors include bullying others, getting into fights, fighting with a weapon, cruelty to people or animals, stealing with confrontation, forced sex, property destruction, theft, and rule breaking.
To study the prevalence of conduct disorder associated with migration from Mexico to the United States, UC Davis and RAND Corporation researchers assessed conduct disorder symptoms across four groups of people of Mexican origin with increasing levels of exposure to American culture.
The groups were nonimmigrant households in Mexico with no exposure to the United States, Mexicans from migrant households who lived in Mexico until age 15, children of Mexican migrants raised in the United States, and Mexican-American children of U.S.-born parents.
The researchers, whose findings are published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, obtained data by conducting face-to-face interviews with nearly 1,800 adults aged 18 to 44 years in the household populations of Mexico and those of Mexican descent in the United States.
The study found that, compared to the general population of Mexico with no history of migration to the United States and Mexicans from migrant households who lived in Mexico until age fifteen, 11.5 percent of Mexican-American children with at least one U.S.-born parent met the DSM-IV criteria for conduct disorder.
This level is close to that of the non-Mexican-American, U.S.-born sample prevalence of 10.6 percent.
"We found a striking epidemiological pattern with differences across generations that are both larger in magnitude and more narrow in scope that anyone expected," says Joshua Breslau, a researcher with the RAND Corporation in Pittsburgh who conducted the study while at UC Davis.
"Future studies will be needed to identify the specific environmental factors that contribute to these differences."
Other researchers in the study include Daniel J. Tancredi, Richard Kravitz and Ladson Hinton from UC Davis School of Medicine; Guilherme Borges, Corina Benjet and Maria Elena Medina-Mora from the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico City; Kenneth S. Kendler from the Medical College of Virginia; and William Vega from the University of Southern California.
The UC Davis Health System and RAND Corporation also collaborated with the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico City.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health grant to the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center, and the University of California Migration and Health Research Center.
More news from UC Davis: http://news.ucdavis.edu/


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Alcohol in the Atlantic
David Carey Jr.
Dating from the earliest times in Latin America, alcohol has played a crucial social, economic, political, and cultural role. Often reserved for politico-religious leaders, alcohol was a conduit through which power flowed in many pre-contact indigenous societies; indigenous drinkways (production, commerce, and consumption habits) were associated with communal ritual events and social prestige. Introduced to the Americas by Europeans, distillation profoundly altered the potency of alcoholic drinks for people who were accustomed to fermentation. Even as the social and cultural practices of alcohol consumption changed over time, alcohol continued to have political and economic implications in the colonial and national periods in Latin America. Fearing that inebriation bred disorder and recognizing that moonshining undercut their own revenues, colonial and national governments alike sought to regulate, if not control, the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol. In nations as diverse as Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, and Guatemala, indigenous women came to play integral roles in the (oftentimes illicit) sale and production of alcohol. A cash nexus for moving labor and land and a crucial component of the economic system by which (often unscrupulous) labor brokers recruited workers, alcohol was a currency of local economies. As a commodity of local, national, and international significance, alcohol shaped the fate of nation-states.
People's class, ethnic, race, and gender identities all played into their access to alcohol. Although a person's choice of libation could define their position, some of the more fascinating histories of alcohol are punctuated with women and men who used alcohol to disrupt social conventions. Through the consumption of alcohol, rituals and ceremonies created and reconstituted community both within and across ethnic groups. Imbibing could also divide people. Even while they sipped their cognacs and brandies, elites portrayed indigenous people, the poor, and other marginalized people getting drunk on moonshine to discount and denigrate them. Often associated with (particularly violent) crime, alcohol was seen as a vice by many and excoriated during temperance movements. Yet defendants across Latin America took advantage of judicial systems that considered alcohol a mitigating circumstance in many crimes. As 20th-century evangelical sects that preached abstinence as the route to wealth and marital bliss grew to unprecedented numbers, traditional healers and biomedical practitioners continued to tout alcohol's medicinal value. In short, alcohol was a marker of social position and cultural identity, a crucial component in community and state building, and a commodity around which different cultural traditions, healing practices, and policing policies developed and evolved.
The Alphabetic Colonization of Amerindian Oral Ecologies in Early Brazil
Diogo de Carvalho Cabral
Although it has received less scholarly attention than firearms, microbes, domestic animals and plants, market economy, and statecraft, alphabetic reading and writing was crucial in the European conquest and colonization of the Americas from the late 15th century on. Unlike the agrarian empires the Spaniards encountered in the Andes and the Mexican highlands, the Portuguese frontier advanced upon tribal peoples who relied exclusively on oral language, such as the Tupi of Atlantic Brazil. These were semi-sedentary horticultural villagers whose entire socio-ecology (myths and knowledge, territoriality, subsistence strategies, etc.) was conditioned by the face-to-faceness and fugacity of spoken words. In turn, their Portuguese colonizers—for a while rivaled by the French, who enjoyed short periods of stable settlement through the early 17th century—were urban-based, oceangoing merchants, bureaucrats, soldiers, and religious missionaries whose organization strictly depended on the durability and transferability of written texts. Even if most of the Portuguese who came to Brazil in the 16th century were themselves illiterate, colonization as a social enterprise framed their actions according to prescribed roles set down in writing (both handwriting and printed script). Thus, the Portuguese colonization of Brazilian native lands and human populations can be interpreted from the point of view of the imposition of an alphabetically organized way of life. Two major dimensions of this "letterscaping" can be discerned as to its impact on Amerindian bodies (human and nonhuman) and modes of understanding. Although the 16th century was only the introductory act in that drama, its historical record shows the basic outlines of the alphabetic colonization that would play out through the early 19th century: native decimation and enslavement, territory usurpation by sesmaria grants, forest recovery in former native croplands (then resignified as "virgin forest"), loss of native ecological knowledge not recorded in writing, disempowerment of native cultural attunement to the wild soundscape, among other processes.
Atrocity, Race, and Region in the Early Haitian Revolution: The Fond d'Icaque Rising
David Geggus
Set within a larger analysis of class relations in the Haitian Revolution, this is a microhistory that intersects with several important themes in the revolution: rumor, atrocity, the arming of slaves, race relations, and the origins and wealth of the free colored population. It is an empirical investigation of an obscure rebellion by free men of color in the Grande Anse region in 1791. Although the rebellion is obscure, it is associated with an atrocity story that has long resonated in discussion of the revolution. Formerly the least-known segment of Caribbean society, research has shed much new light on free people of color in recent decades, but much remains to be clarified. In certain ways, they are the key to understanding the Haitian Revolution, because of their anomalous position in Saint Domingue society and the way their activism precipitated its unraveling. The Grande Anse region had a unique experience of the revolution in that white supremacy and slavery were maintained there longer than in any other part of the colony. Based primarily on unexploited or little-known sources the article demonstrates the range and depth of research that remains possible and suggests that a regional focus is best way to advance current scholarship on the Haitian Revolution.
Aztec Apocalypse, 1519–1521
Ross Hassig
The Conquest of Mexico is typically explained in terms of European military superiority, and although this offered an advantage to the forces arrayed against the Aztecs, it was merely part of a broader picture required to understand their downfall. Indigenous political circumstances played the key role in the Conquest, which can best be understood as an Indian victory over other Indians. The Spaniards represented less a conquering force, with which other native groups opportunistically allied, than an opportunity for groups opposed to the Aztecs to employ the relatively minor Spanish forces to multiply their own superior military strength. The Spaniards recognized their own pivotal role and shifted much of the timing of the conquest to sustain it. Other circumstances of the Spanish arrival, including the massive population loss from the accompanying smallpox, did play a role, but one that was primarily understood and used against the Aztecs by the allied Indians. So ultimately, the Conquest can be best understood as an Indian victory over other Indians, but with the Spaniards manipulating the outcome to ultimately win the peace.
Basques in the Atlantic World, 1450–1824
Xabier Lamikiz
Basques formed a minority ethnic group whose diaspora had a significant impact on the history of colonial Latin America. Basques from the four Spanish or peninsular Basque territories—the Lordship of Vizcaya, the provinces of Álava and Guipúzcoa, and the Kingdom of Navarra—migrated to the New World in significant numbers; the French Basques were also prominent in the Atlantic, particularly in the Newfoundland fisheries.
The population density of the Basque Atlantic valleys, which was the highest of any region in Spain, was an important factor that encouraged emigration. And, in response to demographic pressure, in the second half of the 15th century most villages and towns adopted an impartible inheritance system that compelled non-inheriting offspring to seek their fortunes outside the country. Castile was the immediate choice for the Basque émigré, but after 1492 America gradually became an attractive destination. Outside their home country, their unique language and sense of collective nobility (hidalguía universal) were to become two outstanding features of Basque cultural identity.
The Basques' share of total Spanish migration to the New World increased significantly in the second half of the 17th century. By the 18th century they were one of the largest and most influential peninsular regional groups in America. The typical Basque émigré was a young, single man aged between fifteen and thirty. In the New World they left their mark in economic activities that their countrymen had developed in their homeland for centuries: trade, navigation, shipbuilding, and mining. Furthermore, Basques' collective nobility and limpieza de sangre (blood purity) facilitated their access to important official positions.
Biography of a Colonial Document
Sylvia Sellers-García
What can we learn about the documents we work with if we incorporate a study of document creation, travel, and storage into the consideration of document content? Some well-known documents, such as the Popol Vuh, have backstories that reveal as much as their content. But even obscure documents, such as a dispute over a road detour in 18th-century Guatemala, can be read productively as objects with life trajectories. Understanding the "life" of this document—the world in which it was made, the tools and knowledge of its making, its travel while being written, its storage in colonial and national archives—sheds new light on its meaning. Similarly, all colonial documents can be interpreted in new ways if their lives are treated as part of the interpretation.
The Book in the Iberian Atlantic, 1492–1824
Eugenia Roldán Vera
The Atlantic world has not only been a geographic space for the exchange of people and products. Since the 16th century, it has also been a cultural space for the production, exchange, diffusion, reading, and rewriting of printed objects. Historians of the independence era constructed the view that Latin America had been "closed to the outside world" during the years of the Spanish and Portuguese domination; however, later research has shown that this was not the case. Latin American countries, especially from the 18th century onward, were part of a print network through which all kinds of information was being produced, circulated, and read.
During the Spanish Enlightenment, especially at the time of the wars of independence (1808–1824), this circulation intensified. The end of the Spanish and Portuguese trade monopoly in the region, changes in the regime of print rights, technological developments that lowered the costs of publishing, and transformations of the forms of sociability that the wars of independence themselves generated gave way to an explosion of print all over the Atlantic word. Newspapers, pamphlets, and books on topics that were not only religious but also political, literary, satirical, and educational were printed and circulated in the region. This helped to change forever the way the Latin Americans viewed themselves and contributed to the formation of new nations.
Although the circulation of ideas throughout the Atlantic does not account for the development of political and social transformations that led to the independence of the Latin American countries, print culture and political culture are connected in many different ways. This article explores some of these forms of interaction.
Bourbon Reforms in Central America, 1700–1808
Jorge González Alzate
The Kingdom of Guatemala, a neglected backwater of the Spanish Empire under the Habsburgs, figured prominently in the long-term strategic planning of the Bourbon state. Royal preoccupation with this impoverished colony was reflected in the wide-ranging program of reform that the crown sought to put into practice in the isthmus over the course of the 18th century. For Philip V and his successors, the most pressing concern was the crown's lack of control over the colony's Caribbean coast (also known as the Mosquito Shore), a swampy and insalubrious region that for decades had been under the effective control of British interlopers and their native allies, the indomitable Sambo-Mosquitos. The main thrust of the reform project was therefore directed at addressing that serious security gap, a situation which, at the same time, severely limited Spain's capacity to reap the benefits of Central America's economy and trade. In its initial stages, the effort to implement the reforms proved to be a protracted and frustrating process, hampered by resistance from vested interests, lack of funds and personnel, natural disasters, and above all by recurring military conflict. It was not until the aftermath of the Seven Years War (1756–1763) that Charles III, facing the prospect of an even more damaging British attack, resolved to take decisive action and commanded his ministers to expedite the pace of reform. Royal orders were then issued that called for the de-Americanization and overhauling of the civil administration, direct state intervention to stimulate economic productivity and expand maritime trade, the establishment of a modern, efficient, crown-administered fiscal structure, the strengthening of the defense system, and the assertion of royal authority over the ecclesiastical establishment. Initially, the uncompromising manner utilized by the crown in introducing the changes, particularly the reforms to the fiscal system, provoked much unrest and resistance among wide segments of the population. But in the end, the reforms survived and, by the closing years of the century, most of the measures had largely met the crown's objectives. The fiscal surplus generated by the economic and commercial expansion of the second half of the 18th century enabled the Bourbons to attain their principal strategic objective in Central America, namely dislodging the British enemy from much of the Atlantic coast. Unfortunately, not long after this climatic point, the decades-long effort quickly unraveled as the monarchy began to collapse in 1808. In the end, the reform project proved insufficient; the dream of attaining modernization and preeminent status among European powers remained elusive. As conditions in the mother country deteriorated, so did the economic and political stability of Central America. The kingdom's provinces were engulfed by increasing political volatility and economic depression. Following the example of neighboring New Spain, Central Americans declared their independence in 1821. Thus, in the end, the Bourbons had "gained a revenue and lost an empire."
Canary Island Immigration to the Hispanic Caribbean
Manuel Hernández González
The configuration of Canarian migration during the Conquest and colonization of the Spanish Caribbean was significantly influenced by its historic continuity, familial nature (with an elevated presence of women and children), dedication to agriculture, and contribution to the settlement of towns. This migration gave rise to quintessentially rural prototypes, such as the Cuban guajiro, linked to self-sustaining agriculture and tobacco; the Puerto Rican jíbaro, a coffee grower; and the Dominican montero or farmer from Cibao. All of these contributed a great many aspects of their speech, idiosyncrasies, and culture.
The migratory dynamic has evolved since the Conquest and includes such processes as Cuban tobacco colonization, the foundation of townships in Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico (in order to further analyze their adaptation to the economic boom of sugar plantations in Cuba and Puerto Rico), and the uprising of slaves in French Santo Domingo, as well as the cession of the Spanish portion of the island to this country in 1795. This event merits special focus, due to its great transcendence in terms of the signs of identity that emerged during the rebellion of the Canarian vegueros against the monopoly within the Havana context, and the defense of their configuration as a distinct people in San Carlos de Tenerife: processes that explain their response to 19th-century innovations in Cuba and Puerto Rico and to Dominican political avatars, as well as their attitudes toward criollismo and emancipation. Their singularities are reflected in the mass Cuban emigration that took place during the early decades of the 20th century.
Colonial Elites: Planters and Land Nobility in 17th- and 18th-Century Brazil
João Fragoso and Thiago Krause
This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. Please check back later for the full article.
Portuguese colonists carried their conceptions of how society should be organized to the Americas. Their ideal was to "live like a gentleman," that is, to own land and command laborers in order to distance themselves from manual labor. Property was also essential, to provide them with time and resources to be active in local politics and to serve the Crown. They intended to reproduce in the New World the lifestyle of Portuguese provincial nobility. There were huge differences, however; in Brazil the elite lorded over enslaved persons, instead of peasants. The first elite families made their fortunes through the conquest and enslavement of Native Americans in the second half of the 16th century, but many of them did not manage to keep their power in the following decades, when the transition to enslaved African labor occurred. Above all, in the most dynamic areas, such as Pernambuco and Bahia, the first half of the 17th century was a period of flux in elite composition. By mid-century, though, a small number of families controlled most of the local offices, slowly fashioning themselves as local nobilities and wielding these claims to negotiate with the Crown and its representatives. Their preeminence was threatened by the rise of merchant power in the 18th century, boosted by the huge demographic and economic expansion derived from gold discoveries in the southeast and the development of an internal market. Nevertheless, the noble ideal didn't lose its appeal—many rich merchants linked themselves to the old noble families through marriage and bought land and enslaved laborers to live up to the aristocratic model. Planter elites established wide patron-client networks to shore up their influence that encompassed even their enslaved property, but this strategy wasn't always enough to withstand the test of time.