I was given a gift this past week – a book. The book is titled Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar. . . Understanding Philosophy through Jokes – By Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein.
I came across the following quote in the book (pg. 84):
“A sadist is a masochist who follows the golden rule.”
Seems growing up our world is full of rules… typically, I remember the “Golden Rule”, which is spoken to in the above quote. I suppose the point to the quote above is the fundamental different between “categorical” imperative and the actual golden rule. I wonder. . .what others may think about the above quote?
The chapter continues to speak to the above quote by saying (pg. 84):
“. . .Kant would say that there’s no way the masochist would honestly claim that the moral imperative, “inflict pain on others,” could be a universal law for a livable world. Even a masochist would find that unreasonable.”
I suppose another interesting quote would be one from English playwrite George Bernard Shaw who stated the following:
“Do not do unto others as you would have ohters do unto you; they may have different taste.”
Something to think about. . .
Filed under: Just Plain Mischief
Great thought provoking post….
Or as the saying goes, “post unto others as you would have them post unto you…”
The trick with the golden rule, like many rules, seems to be to avoid taking it too literally (and also to remember to infuse it with a little mischief and humor).
If the masochist follows the golden rule, then he does unto others what gives them the greatest satisfaction. In the literally sense, this would mean giving them pain, but if the masochist is less literal, then he would follow Shaw’s advice and first find out what gives the other satisfaction.
This means that some level of empathy or at least dialogue is necessary to avoid any golden misunderstandings.
-sage-
I love the post and just had to pass along the quote to my husband who would appreciate the humour of such a comment. Great blog *smile*