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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!ratex!mck
From: mck@ratex.UUCP (Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Re: Vulgar Libertarians
Message-ID: <779@ratex.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 22-Jan-85 19:27:03 EST
Article-I.D.: ratex.779
Posted: Tue Jan 22 19:27:03 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 23-Jan-85 19:29:11 EST
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Organization: Terran Mystery Poodles
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Xref: watmath net.politics:7083 net.philosophy:1376


>>          Libertarianism is a POLITICAL philosophy; nothing more.
>>It is NOT a general theory of ethics, meta-ethics, epistemology, or ontology.
>>For example: IT IS NOT A THEORY OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM!!  Some Libertarians
>>are Relativists; some (in fact: MOST) are not.  Libertarianism, PER SE, has
>>little to say on the matter.

>How can you have politics without ethics?

If you're not going to respond to what I actually said, at least have the
good sense not to quote me!  I said Libertarianism is not a 'general theory
of ethics' (note the word 'general').  The point was -- and is -- that
Libertarianism, PER SE, is a political philosophy; considerations of a non-
political nature are simply not treated by Libertarianism.

>>       2) As any half-assed philosopher realized before he reached puberty,
>>          the logical conclusion of Relativism is Nihilism.

>Not at all... The logical conclusion of relativism is subjectivism, but
>if you can't take that you become a nihilist...  

Unless you adopt Nihilism, any subjective truth can be reformulated as an
objective truth.

>                                                But this isn't
>net.philosophy...

I certainly would have preferred confining this discussion to
net.philosophy, but vulgar Libertarians were posting Relativism, and
calling it 'Libertarianism', in net.politics.

                                        Back to you,
                                        Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan
                                        Chief Agitator,
                                        Terran Mystery Poodles
                                        (a wholly-owned subsidiary of
                                        Galatic Mystery Poodles)