Relational Theory
Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan, Transcend Art and Peace
Created: December 10, 2001
Latest Update: December 10, 2001
Faculty:
jeannecurran@habermas.org
Olivier at tapcourse@yahoo.com
takata@uwp.edu

Do Unto Others

Journal entry by Terrika Woolford

Copyright: Jeanne Curran, Susan R. Takata, and Terrika Woolford: November 2001.
"Fair Use" encouraged.

On Monday, Tuesday, September 25, 2001, Terrika Woolford wrote:

I would like to respond to the qoute "Do unto others what will strengthen you as it will also strengthen him" ( or something like that) Anyway, this saying goes somewhat alter the "golden rule" ( do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The golden rule teaches us to do acts of kindness simply because it is right and because it is the way you would like to be treated in return. It does not offer a reward. THe other qoute on the other hand almost suggests that we should treat ourselves first and the other person will get strengthened as well. I believe that you will always be rewarded in the longrun if you stick with the golden rule.

On December 10, 2001, jeanne responded:

Terrika, I'm sorry it took me so long to get these comments up. Yours was another of the submissions that I was perplexed by. I understand what you are saying. And you are, of course, right, insofar as it goes.

But . . . ""Do unto others what will strengthen you as it will also strengthen him" doesn't mean that you must think first of yourself. It is an ethical statement that means that what makes us individually strong also makes us strong as a community. The quote is suggesting that the tension between the individual and the community is not nearly as deep or as devastating as we are wont to imagine it. We normally think that the freedom of the individual to do as she wants weakens the community's control. But if we consider also that the community does not benefit from harming its individuals, then we recognize also that the individual's freedom should be limited only when harm will come to the community through the failure to limit that freedom. And the individual's freedom increases the creativity and potential of the community,

It's late, and I'm tired. And I'm sure I'm not as clear just now as I should be. I'll try to come back to this soon. jeanne