New Libertarian Joan d'Arc

Mike,

  Aha, a cure for women experiencing fertilization difficulties! :wink:

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On Wednesday, November 19, 2003, at 12:11 PM, Mike Dilger wrote (in part):

A very good point, Chris.

You believe we have a superior ideology because we allow others to practice theirs.

However, the voting public doesn't seem to think so. They think that they will no longer be able to live in a country where they feel they can trust medicine, have less crime, and have roads available to drive anywhere, and that we would mess this all up. To the majority of the voting public, being able to practice their ideology is not as important as the practical benefit of coercion.

I'm not sure what my point is anymore. Guess I'm just exploring.

-Mike

Christopher R. Maden wrote:

Yes, there are in most cases distinctions which are good enough for all practical purposes.

However, my point was that the whole issue of abortion rides the lines of practical distinctions, and thus it cannot be defended as "clear cut" in some absolute fashion, only in a relative fashion, by choosing the distinction boxes (as, for instance, Walter Block did with the trespass and murder boxes -- you can evict the fetus, but not kill it).

Ronald Getty wrote:

Dear Mike;
A somewhat facetious tongue in cheek reply to the universe provides no absolute distinctions and there being only fuzzy distinctions. I truly believe there is an absolute distinction in the universe between air and no air. Have you ever tried to breathe water? There is an absolute universal distinction between gravity and no gravity. If not humans wouldn't be here and neither would planet Earth.

Interesting. I'll chew on the "A vs. not-A is absolute" idea.

As far as things being fuzzy let's take dust bunnies. The household gods way of saying clean under your bed and couches. There are some absolute distinctions in the universe afterall and they aren't always so fuzzy like dust bunnies.
As far as Libertarians trying to inflict their ideological will on the vast masses - why not? With our superior Libertarian intellect it should be a snap.

I support this. But whether or not it is coercion to free people from coercion is, well, it seems almost paradoxical in some sense. I guess that is what I'm chewing on.

-Mike
(philosopher)