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Posts Tagged ‘Golden Rule’

An “Open Mind” Is of No Use When It’s Open to Lies | Mises Wire

Posted by M. C. on June 26, 2021

Not only did Leonard Read add to our ability to know what we are talking about with open- and closed-mindedness, he provided us an example, laying out things his mind was closed to—core principles which he believed were true, and solid premises from which to reason and evaluate behavior. He wrote…

https://mises.org/wire/open-mind-no-use-when-its-open-lies

Gary Galles

In our world, there is very little people agree upon. One thing that seems to be an exception is that having an open mind is almost universally well regarded, while having a closed mind is almost universally criticized. However, such rhetoric presumes that what we are open or closed to is the truth. That leads to some problems of understanding, because we are routinely exposed to a great deal of nonsense, which we do not want to be open to, as well as truth.

That is particularly important to understand in a period when Americans have been repeatedly told to “follow the science” (say on mask restrictions) to prove they are not just obstinately closed-minded, when the main purpose was to open people’s minds to falsehoods, while at the same time they have been browbeaten to close their minds to legitimate questions about vaccines, mandated closures, critical race theory, and more, with both types of arguments used to reduce our freedoms.

Leonard Read insightfully addressed such issues in “Open versus Closed Minds,” chapter 22 of his 1973 Who’s Listening? We should have an open mind to what he wrote.

Open-mindedness is almost everywhere hailed as a virtue…. A person of closed mind, on the other hand, is generally condemned as narrow, shallow, nit-witted…. But this, of course, poses the question: To what should one’s mind be closed and to what should it be open?

I would like my mind open to truths yet to be perceived and closed to all nonsense.

While no one knows overmuch, each of us knows some things…. A good rule: Close the mind on what one knows and understands and keep it open to what is not known and understood. In either function, one’s mind serves him as a guide … helping him to avoid the ditches and stay on the road toward his destination.

Read begins by explaining why someone being close-minded about something need not be an inverse indicator of their wisdom on the topic, and being open-minded on something need not be a positive indicator of their wisdom on the topic.

See the rest here

Author:

Gary Galles

Gary M. Galles is a Professor of Economics at Pepperdine University and an adjunct scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. His research focuses on public finance, public choice, economic education, organization of firms, antitrust, urban economics, liberty, and the problems that undermine effective public policy. In addition to his most recent book, Pathways to Policy Failures (2020), his books include Lines of Liberty (2016), Faulty Premises, Faulty Policies (2014), and Apostle of Peace (2013).

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Why the “Golden Rule” Is an Obstacle to the Government’s Agenda | Mises Wire

Posted by M. C. on February 23, 2019

https://mises.org/wire/why-golden-rule-obstacle-governments-agenda

The golden rule—“Do to others as you would have them do to you” being the most common variant I have heard–may be the most common ethical touchstone for human interactions. After all, Simon Blackburn wrote in his 2001 book, Ethics, that the Golden Rule is “found in some form in almost every ethical tradition.” I doubt there is anyone I know who has not heard of it. And I have often heard it used as the gold standard for behavior, applied to individuals, groups and governments.

However, fewer seem familiar with the silver rule, which is the converse of the golden rule—“do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you”—even though it has been expressed in far more ways in various religious and ethical traditions. What it instructs us not to do has included “what you would not choose for yourself,” “what you do not want to happen to you,” what would anger if done to you by others,” “what you yourself dislike,” “that which is hateful to you,” “that which one regards as injurious to oneself,” and “that which is unfavorable to us,” among others, presenting a more thorough delineation of what not to do than the golden rule provides for what to do.

The silver rule follows the traditional definition of justice—giving each his own. It is reflected by Adam Smith, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, where he writes “We can often fulfill all the rules of justice by sitting still and doing nothing.” That leaves it below the golden rule on most people’s ethical medal stands, because it seems to hold us to a higher standard. That is true when we are talking about individuals and voluntary associations but when we are talking about governments, the silver rule takes the gold.

When we are considering individuals, the golden rule need not conflict with the silver rule. You and I are each free to go beyond doing nothing harmful to others and do as much good unto them as we choose, using our own resources.

When we come to government, however, the golden rule, as commonly understood, conflicts with the silver rule. Read the rest of this entry »

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