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I find that very interesting, Erminia, but I would just say that the commandment (superseding all others) is a goal, meaning that you must try to love others as you love yourself i.e. not as an object, but as a thou (Martin Buber's Du) who is a subject. Of course one can love oneself in the wrong way, or the opposite (hate, contempt), that is where the vigilance must kick in. Relying on others to follow the precept is naturally a dodgy business! In practice loving others should not mean abandoning oneself to their tender mercies if one knows them to be venal, violent, envious etc. You love your children but you don't let them do anything they want, because they are vulnerably ignorant in some respects. So Crowley' "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law" can only apply to the perfectly enlightened, and not even Kent claims to be that. Dumbo PS I've just read your comments, Henry, and I couldn't agree more; your words move me.