The Golden Rule – “Love thy neighbor as thyself” – is at first appearance self-explanatory. In his new book, Vanderbilt University philosopher Lenn E. Goodman probes the roots of the Golden Rule and comes up with some surprising conclusions.
“Human beings are ingenious at taking a good idea and putting a nasty spin on it,” said Goodman, professor of philosophy and Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities at Vanderbilt.
“The Marquis de Sade twisted the idea of reciprocity into, ‘I wouldn’t do anything to anybody else that I wouldn’t have done to me.’ What he’s missing there is the idea of loving kindness.”
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself, released in January by Oxford University Press, collects two addresses Goodman delivered as part of the famed Gifford Lectures in 2005 in Scotland, along with his expanded answers to questions asked after the lectures.
The Gifford Lectures, financed by Scottish jurist Adam Lord Gifford, began in 1888 and have been given every year since (except for World War II) at four universities in Scotland – Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews. Educator and historian Jacques Barzun said that delivering the Gifford Lectures is “the highest honor in a philosopher’s career.”
William James’ classic 1902 book The Varieties of Religious Experience is the result of his tenure as a Gifford Lecturer.
Goodman was invited to explore the topic of “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” with John Hare of Yale Divinity School, Abdulaziz Sachedina of the University of Virginia and A.C. Grayling of the University of London.
Hare offered a Christian perspective, Sachedina explained the Muslim viewpoint and Grayling argued from an atheistic standpoint. Goodman represented Jewish traditions.
“My first lecture addressed the question of what does that commandment really ask of us,” Goodman said.
Tracing its biblical origins, Goodman explains the original context of the commandment; it’s an explanation of why we should reprove people when we see them doing something wrong.
“The idea is, if you let something go, you’re in a way complicit,” Goodman said. “That sheds a lot of light on the extent to which we’re supposed to care about our fellow human beings. It has very concrete applications in terms of medical care and in terms of helping people in an emergency and in terms of lending people money, interest-free.”
The Hebrew word that was translated into “neighbor” really means “fellow man,” contradicting any inclination to narrow that definition and exclude certain people.
Belief in God is not necessary to be an ethical person, Goodman believes, but it can be helpful.
“Your morals get enriched by the idea of God because it becomes firmer and clearer and more positive. It transforms ‘treat each other in ways that you would find tolerable’ to ‘love each other as you love yourselves.’
“I compare God and morals to what mountain climbers call chimneying,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to get to the top when you can get leverage from both sides, the idea of God’s love and perfection enriches our ethical thinking and practice, just as our ethical values enrich our ideas about God.”
Are human beings capable of treating each other as they’d like to be treated?
Goodman thinks it’s a reachable goal.
“I know people who do it,” he said. “We all have to work at it, and it’s not simple. But the idea that we all can care about each other in an effective way – doing something about it – I do think it’s possible.”
Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu