From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Aug 03 2002 - 12:26:23 MDT
Christopher writes
> RE: Coffee Spill Case...
> In retrospect I feel I was overconfident in my decision. I would often cite
> this case as evidence of the problems with our world - now I feel that it is
> more likely the case that I was citing my own ignorance.
I would say that you were citing the case as a specific example of
a general trend that you were afraid was occurring, a surmise on
your part doubtless backed by explanations of (how you think) the
world works, and other good arguments. Maybe you weren't wrong.
> I am simply not sure of what happened in this case - I was not
> at the trial, I was not in the car at the time of the spill, I
> was not in the doctors office during the Liebeck examination
> nor am I trained to judge the severity of burns - in sum I am
> in a poor position to come to an absolute conclusion.
Hear, hear!
> Which one of us here is in a good position to come to any absolute
> conclusion beyond "cogito ergo sum"? My personal history has taught
> me that my ability to distinguish truth from falsity is quite far
> from 100%. Human history has given us reason to apply this logic
> at an aggregate level.
An excellent reminder to us all! Thanks.
> When we are oversure we become attached to individual ideas and
> systems of thought that we may not always wish to be tied to.
Yes, we need to not only try to train ourselves against being
over-sure, but also to make it clear what we are arguing against.
If we are arguing against a tendency in society, that's one thing,
and if we are attempting to debate the merits of a particular case
that's another, and it's been my experience that one person is
doing one, and another person is doing the other.
Lee
Here are some google results on the coffee case...
>
> http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
> http://www.citizen.org/congress/civjus/tort/myths/articles.cfm?ID=785
> http://www.cooter-ulen.com/tort_liability.htm#McDonald's%20Coffee%20Case
> http://www.corleyganem.com/summation.htm
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