“Treat others as you would like to be treated” is a moral principle known as the golden rule. In one form or another, this principle is associated with the ethical codes in most religious traditions.
According to the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, the principle has “a long and rich history, a history that includes, but is not limited to, its appearance in Confucianism (sixth century B.C.E.), Buddhism (fifth century B.C.E.), Jainism (fifth century B.C.E.), Zoroastrianism (fifth century B.C.E.), Hinduism (third century B.C.E.), Judaism (first century B.C.E.), Christianity (first century C.E.), and Sikhism (sixteenth century C.E.).”[1]
By modern philosophical standards, the golden rule is not commonly viewed as an adequate basis of moral theory. The problem with the rule “treat others as you would like to be treated” is that it does not, and cannot, distinguish between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ ways in which one might like to be treated. To put it another way, some people may have perverse or corrupted desires about how they would like to be treated, and the golden rule can do nothing to distinguish these desires from other, more beneficent desires.
If, for example, a person wants to be subjugated, abused, harmed, or killed – the golden rule would provide license for that person to subjugate, abuse, harm, or kill others. Since most of us would find it unacceptable for a person to treat others in this way, regardless of that person’s person preferences, it seems that the golden rule is indeed an inadequate basis for a moral theory.
Nevertheless, for most people the golden rule serves as a reasonable rule of thumb, provided that the people who use the rule can in fact distinguish between the ‘good’ wants and the ‘bad’ ones.
In business and financial contexts, the golden rule is as applicable as it is elsewhere. When presented with the opportunity to profit by defrauding, cheating, or otherwise acting unfairly towards others in the market, the conscientious follower of the golden rule would ask him or herself: would I want to be defrauded, cheated, or otherwise treated unfairly by someone else in this situation? Presumably, the answer would be ‘no’ and the golden rule would then demand that the person refrain from defrauding, cheating, or otherwise acting unfairly towards others.
[1] Petrik, James. “Golden Rule.” International Encyclopedia of Ethics. pp. 354.
