On 7 Aug 2007, at 01:30, Dan Minettte wrote: >> On Behalf Of Charlie Bell >> On 06/08/2007, at 6:49 AM, William T Goodall wrote: >> >>>> >>>> I bet the originators of the "Golden Rule" assumed that people all >>>> generally wanted to be treated _well_, so "as you wish" would be >>>> the equivalent of "as they wish". >>>> >>> >>> I think Charlie's point is that what constitutes being treated well >>> has a large subjective element. >> >> Precisely. >>> >>> For example if I disagree with euthanasia and you agree with it >>> should I withhold euthanasia from you in the event of your agonising >>> terminal illness because I disagree with it and I'm treating you as >>> I would wish to be treated? >> >> Extreme case, but yes. >> > > A realistic question, from my cousin's experience, is what about > agreeing to > a request to get a disabled alcoholic mother her daily bottle of > vodka when > she was not longer capable of leaving the house, due to drinking > induced > disabilities. > > This is a fairly extreme example, but it is not an isolated > example. People > with problems are often facilitated in their denial of their > problems by > co-dependant friends and relatives. There are many variations of > this, and > I can give a number if reqested....but I don't think I need to > because it is > a fairly well known phenomenon.
I don't think this is example is very helpful at clarifying the issue. The question isn't about co-dependancy or people wanting things that aren't good for them but about fundamental disagreements on what the right thing is. Euthanasia is one such example, abortion another. > > So, my best formulation of the Golden Rule is to "love your > neighbor as > yourself." I like the symmetry in this; one needs to love and respect > oneself as well as other people. Practical aspects of this are > difficult > and subject to debate, of course, but I think it is beneficial to > one to > think about this before acting. I don't see that this makes the Golden Rule work any better when there is a fundamental disagreement on the issue in question. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Most people have more than the average number of legs. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
