Friday, March 04, 2005
Polyscifi on Dean's World
Today Dean writes in his post, The Genesis of Rights, about the origin of "rights" and social contract theory while using Niven's and Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer as inspiration.
After describing the backstory to the line: "You only have any rights because the rest of us pretty much agree that you have them." Dean goes on to conclude that: "Your rights do not exist unless your fellow men agree that they exist."
Fundamentally, Dean is correct as "a right is a claim, on other persons, that is acknowledged and reciprocated among the principals associated with that claim" and if they don't agree, then you don't have that right.
So go read the post and this comment which adds another example of the social contract origin of rights from Lucifer's Hammer.
Update
QandO continues the discussion.
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After describing the backstory to the line: "You only have any rights because the rest of us pretty much agree that you have them." Dean goes on to conclude that: "Your rights do not exist unless your fellow men agree that they exist."
Fundamentally, Dean is correct as "a right is a claim, on other persons, that is acknowledged and reciprocated among the principals associated with that claim" and if they don't agree, then you don't have that right.
So go read the post and this comment which adds another example of the social contract origin of rights from Lucifer's Hammer.
Update
QandO continues the discussion.
|
