is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Not Wrong Does Not Mean Right. What?
Not Wrong Does Not Mean Right. What?
You know, it�s not that Hobbes was wrong when he said that human beings without government would be in a state of war of every human being against every human being. He was not necessarily wrong. It�s just that he was not necessarily right either. What we believe to be the correct description of human behavior or human �nature� (which, as you know, I don�t think exists. Human �nature� does not exist, at least not in the way it exists for wild animals who live by instinct only. The capacity for reason makes things more complicated than �nature� could describe)� what we believe to be the correct description of human behavior, that belief has a tremendous capacity to limit our horizon of thought. So: if we think Hobbes is right, then we don�t have to explain certain kinds of violence or bad behavior because that�s just how it is to be a human being: self-interested, self-preserving, combative, xenophobic. But if we take Hobbes� description to be one description among many many possible descriptions of human possibility (some of which would include compassion, or a sense of justice that transcends mere justice for self), then we have no excuse for not trying to explain or even condemn injustices, and uses of violence, that might otherwise be found to be natural.
Over the weekend the temperature here dropped forty degrees in one day. And there was a crazy strong windstorm, and my chimney flue blew open, and it was so very cold in my apartment, that I finally figured out how to get one of the air conditioners out of the window, and used a hammer to get the jammed storm windows shut on some of the other windows. It's so much better now. CRC7173.
11:32 p.m. - January 17, 2006
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