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Subject: 
Re: Essay on Emerson vs. Thoreau; civil disobedience
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Wed, 31 Jan 2001 17:30:09 GMT
Viewed: 
378 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Larry Pieniazek writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Eaton writes: • <snip>
Not necessarily that it's EVER actually BEEN
ok, but that the possibility exists. And just to clarify further, by my
morality, it can be ok for one person to enslave another, and it's also
still perfectly ok if that other believes that his/her slavery is immoral.

I am having a lot of trouble with this notion. It smacks of might makes right.

It could be twisted into meaning that, I suppose, but just about anything
can be twisted around until it supports a 'might makes right' mindset.

It boils down to relative morality.  When David talks about someone acting
morally (or immorally), he is making that call in relation to their own
moral code.  If someone has no moral objection to keeping slaves, they are
moral to do so; by the same lights, if someone has a moral objection to
being kept as a slave, they are moral to try and escape.

Since you reject moral relativism, obviously you disagree.

James



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Essay on Emerson vs. Thoreau; civil disobedience
 
(...) Yep. That is a good summation of both David's position and mine, I think. Now back to might makes right... *isn't* moral relativism a kind of "might makes right"? I think it is (without too much, if any, twisting) and that's one of my issues (...) (24 years ago, 31-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Essay on Emerson vs. Thoreau; civil disobedience
 
(...) Go ahead and do so... (...) I am having a lot of trouble with this notion. It smacks of might makes right. <snip> (...) Yes, it so much more convenient to already have "lost", don't you think? ++Lar (24 years ago, 31-Jan-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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