On 02/09/2008, at 11:18 AM, Dan M wrote: > Now, IIRC, Charlie had some quibbles with "do onto others as you > would have > them do unto you." He noted, correctly, that others may want and need > things differently from your own needs and wants. (Reminds me of > the old > story of the monkey who killed a fish while "saving it from > drowning)."
Indeed. > But, that's not my central point here. My > central point is that the Golden Rule is an axiom; inherently > unprovable. > The only way to prove it is as a theorem from another axiom that's not > provable: e.g. because we are all made in the image and likeness of > God we > must love one's neighbor as oneself. Or because it is written in letters 20 miles high on the third moon of Bukabobul Six. Or any other story. Sorry, but "I don't know, therefore God" is simply not a reasonable proposition 'cause it leaves even more questions, not one of them answerable. Why are you even *trying* to "prove the Golden Rule"? It's just an aphorism. You might as well try to prove that a stitch in time saves nine. Discussing how to best treat each other is a human question. To say that being nice to each other requires a god (a god who is pretty unpleasant in the Old Testament, no less) is just hand- waving, and it's plain anachronistic. It may still seem reasonable to many in the world, and that's up to them, but I don't need a god to tell me that being empathetic to others and asking what they want and need. And here among adults who are big enough to face criticism of their own ideas, I'll say that I not only find it strange that human adults still believe this stuff, but that I used to too, well into adulthood. > > > Well, that wasn't as long as I feared. So, let me end with some > general > questions. Who here accepts the Golden Rule (even with some > quibbles) as > valid in at least one of its forms? How many folks are true > post-modernists, who think there is no better, no worse, just personal > desire and politics? I accept a variant of the "golden rule", I just don't accept that it's anything other than a personal and social contract. Charlie. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
