Talk:Silver rule

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I'm not sure, but it looks to me that, in the handshake example, the Silver Rule (Treat others in the way that they wish to be treated) can be reduced to the Golden rule (Treat others in the way you wish to be treated). If you want that people shake your hand the way you like, then even if you don't like a firm handshake you would be treating someone like you want to be treated if you use a firm handshake when handshaking someone that likes it.

A.Z. 01:25, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

That's not what I was taught the silver rule was. I was taught it was 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all'. Are you SURE the silver rule is to treat others as they wish to be treated? Unknown contributor

Comment #3 According to Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., President of Gonzaga University, the "Silver Rule" is "Do no harm" (The Life Principles, 1999). This Silver Rule, "Do no harm" is similar to the rule of reciprocity as taught by most major religions, and can be researched easily with consistent results that refute this wikipedia article. The first commentator above perfectly states the absurdity and uselessness of this wikipedia definition which has no history or references. Daveheathr@aol.com 02/07

Contents 1 Silver Rule major revision 2 passive reciprocity vs no harm 3 this distinction is a load of cr.. 4 Silver Rule and Thomas Hobbes?

[edit] Silver Rule major revision

The previous entry was a fabrication with no historical references. This entry is reference to the President of Gonzaga University and can be validated in historical literature and many websites. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Daveheathr (talk • contribs) 06:36, 16 February 2007 (UTC).

Robert Spitzer is one guy, he is not an absolute authority on the subject. The silver rule is commonly understood to be "do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you"--i.e., the golden rule with negations on both clauses. The Spitzer definition is radically underdetermined, like Aquinas' rule "cleave to the good and avoid that which is wrong"--ok, but how do I tell which is which? The golden rule and silver rule as commonly understood purport to suggest a test for determining what immoral "harm" is: it's that stuff that you don't want others to do to you, or the absence of the stuff you want them them to do to you. Whether that's right or not, it's a lot more useful. Anyway, google backs me up that this is the common understanding: "silver rule" "do no harm" gets 167 hits, "silver rule" "do not unto" and "silver rule" "do not do" together get about 2000. I'm revising the article accordingly, but noting other uses.

I also took out some of the criticism of the golden rule, this is covered better within that article itself.--ScottForschler (talk) 02:06, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree with the added tags that indicate the need for tone revision and needed citations; my recent editing was done to correct some major errors and bias in the previous version but is still inadequate. I think Wattles's book on The Golden Rule has some discussion of the SR, and there's also a book "The GR and the SR" which I suspect explicitly discusses this further, but I won't have time to get copies of these for another month, if someone else can find the documentation in the meantime this would help.--ScottForschler (talk) 13:38, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] passive reciprocity vs no harm

There is also a book "Golden Rules And Silver Rules Of Humanity: Universal Wisdom Of Civilization" by Q. C. Terry. You can find it on amazon.com. The both (golden and silver) rules are written on its cover: amazon.com/image.

I do not like the "do no harm" definition of the silver rule. It is shorter, but the "harm" is not defined and ambiguous. I would put the reciprocal interpretation "do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you" first. Spitzer has it in "Examining Trends in Ethics". This would relate the silver rule more to thegolden rule and separate it from non-agression and harm principle. Kopovoi 10:53, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] this distinction is a load of cr..

It appears as the first commenter suggested that saying " do unto others and you want done unto you" means the same exact thing as "dont do unto others as you dont want to be done unto you". I cant see how someone would ever see it different. And I dont believe citing a book at amazon.com serves a valid source. Darwinzape 05:03, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Silver Rule and Thomas Hobbes?

Didn't Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan have something like the Silver Rule? Septagram 01:26, 21 May 2007 (UTC)