The Golden Rule and the Mengzian Extension

Mengzian extension starts from the assumption that you are already concerned about nearby others, and takes the challenge to be extending that concern beyond a narrow circle. The Golden Rule works differently – and so too the common advice to imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes. In contrast with Mengzian extension, Golden Rule/others’ shoes advice assumes self-interest as the starting point, and implicitly treats overcoming egoistic selfishness as the main cognitive and moral challenge.

Maybe we can model Golden Rule/others’ shoes thinking like this:

1. If I were in the situation of person x, I would want to be treated according to principle p.
2. Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
3. Thus, I will treat person x according to principle p.

And maybe we can model Mengzian extension like this:

1. I care about person y and want to treat that person according to principle p.
2. Person x, though perhaps more distant, is relevantly similar.
3. Thus, I will treat person x according to principle p.