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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: THe Moral Value of Conformity
Message-ID: <1715@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Sep-85 00:02:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1715
Posted: Tue Sep 17 00:02:00 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Sep-85 03:07:46 EDT
References: <1622@pyuxd.UUCP> <1472@umcp-cs.UUCP> <1647@pyuxd.UUCP> <648@mmintl.UUCP>
Organization: Whatever we're calling ourselves this week
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> Rich argues that the desire to conform is purely the result of
> indoctrination.  This does not seem to me to be correct; I think there
> is an intrinsic desire to conform.  This is a psychological issue, not
> a philosophic one. [ADAMS]

Intrinsic?  Or rooted in that societal pressure and indoctrination?

> In terms of morals, I would give much greater importance to independence
> and/or freedom than to conformity.  I would assign a zero or negative
> value to conformity, however.

Hear, hear!

> There are certain instances where conformity has strong value.  Which side
> of the road one drives on, for example.  In other cases, the value is
> similar, but much less; one knows what to expect and can deal with it
> more easily.  This potentially helps both the person conforming and the
> other person, since one may be harmed (ranging from annoyance on up) by
> inappropriate behavior by those around us.  Let me emphasize that I believe
> this is generally of truly minor import, and of considerably less importance
> than, for example, personal whim.  But there are cases covering the whole
> spectrum.

I think we can distinguish between conventions adhered to for things like
safety reasons (like driving regulations) and conforming to the exclusion of
self-expression solely for the purpose of conforming.
-- 
Meanwhile, the Germans were engaging in their heavy cream experiments in
Finland, where the results kept coming out like Swiss cheese...
				Rich Rosen 	ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr	


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