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From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Reason gets no respect from Berman
Message-ID: <951@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Dec-85 06:14:39 EST
Article-I.D.: mmintl.951
Posted: Fri Dec 27 06:14:39 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 29-Dec-85 01:07:52 EST
References: <1538@hound.UUCP> <1671@cbsck.UUCP> <334@l5.uucp> <709@spar.UUCP> <350@l5.uucp>
Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT
Lines: 24

In article <350@l5.uucp> laura@l5.UUCP (Laura Creighton) writes:
>>I can accept the idea that those who can reason have some implicit
>>positive value.  I do not see how it follows from this that the
>>use of violence against such beings is *necessarily* inconsistent
>>with my valuing of reason, since there may be things to be gained
>>by the use of violence that I value *more* than the reasoning ability
>>of my victim.  Of course, depending on who I am, that might be anything
>>from the safety of my children to my next fix.
>
>I think that we are not using ``value'' in the same way.  You cannot value
>reason and then abandon it when it becomes convenient to do so -- or rather
>there is a sense of the word ``value'' that is consistent with this meaning,
>but that was not the sense in which I was using the word.  I do not initiate
>violence on people because I value them -- and anyone who would initiate
>violence upon another and still claim that they valued them would have a lot
>of explaining to do, beginning with this inconsistency.

If the sense in which you are using value does not permit you to ever act
against the thing you value, then you can value only that one thing.
Because whatever else you might value, it is possible that you will have
to choose between the two.

Frank Adams                           ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Multimate International    52 Oakland Ave North    E. Hartford, CT 06108