Re: Restored (and a final story for Luke and Daniel)

This is part of the point, though, in a discussion of common sense. You
compare modern American value judgments to Greek and Roman value
judgments, and the comparison by itself shows us that the judgment about
this topic is not "common" between these two groups (putting modern
American on one side and Greek and Roman on the other). If there is
indeed "myriad differences between different cultures" then how can we
sensibly talk about there being any "common sense" approach to this
question? Who is right and who is wrong? If there is a continuum, does
that mean the middle position is best, or is the existence of the
continuum merely a fluke -- perhaps one of the "extremes" actually
represent an ideal and the rest is really deviation? Or are these
organizations merely contingent upon the needs and attitudes of the
people being governed and historical necessity?

"Common sense," like "generalities," fails you when you try to apply it
to a specific question and get specific answers. You find that common
sense isn't always or even usually all that common, and that your
decisions are really being motivated by specific value judgments that
are best examined out in the open, rather than hidden under the guise of
"common sense." Futher, since "common sense" really refers to "what we
all think," you'll find that the real rub is in the definition of "we
all" -- who constitutes "all of us" and who is left out?

Some people are always left out.

Jim

L. Manning Vines wrote:

>The position a society takes concerning the respective responsibilities that
>characterize the relationship between the individual and his community is
>one of the great, basic differences (THE great, basic difference?) that
>manifests myriad differences between different cultures and value-systems.
>Hell, it might even be that mixing some real Absolute, which Daniel and Luke
>sense however vaguely, with the various (infinite) positions on this
>continuum results in such various cultures and traditions we find around the
>globe. It's a continuum that we modern Americans are near one far-end of,
>and I'm pretty comfortable here, but I won't condemn the other side.
>
>-robbie
>
>
>

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Received on Fri Jul 18 09:17:44 2003