Daniel Markovits and Peter Singer battle over morality.

This is an excerpt from the debate 'A rule to live by,' filmed in September 2023 at the HowTheLightGetsIn festival in London.

Watch the full debate at https://iai.tv/video/a-rule-to-live-b...

'Treat others as you would wish to be treated' is a central principle found in many cultures and all major religions. Known as the Golden Rule, it is widely seen as the cornerstone of morality. Yet some argue the Golden Rule is wrong and damaging. It imposes our values, desires and outlook on those with different experiences, and goals. The extrovert may wish to be the centre of attention but it does not mean they should impose this on a shy neighbour. Furthermore, studies show that in clinical settings, Golden Rule thinking leads to inaccurate judgements with important consequences for medical policy.

Should we abandon the Golden Rule as dangerously narrow? Should we seek to empathise with perspectives different from our own and treat others as they would wish to be treated? Or is this a shift that risks losing our moral compass, and the Golden Rule as an essential universal law?

#Morality #TheGoldenRule #MoralCompass

Daniel Markovits is the Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at the Yale Law School and the founding director of the Yale Center for the Study of Private Law. He is the author of The Meritocracy Trap.

Peter Albert David Singer AC is an Australian moral philosopher and Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secular, utilitarian perspective.

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