From: David Musick (david_musick@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat May 22 1999 - 10:04:41 MDT
Now I understand what Mike Lorrey is so upset about. I believe that the
concept of "Property Rights" is a fictional concept, more of a social
convention than something that exists whether we like it or not. Mike
Lorrey believes that Property Rights exist whether we like it or not because
of Natural Law. Because our difference of opinion, he considers me "evil"
and seeks to demonize my opinions and get me to stop discussing them on this
list as quickly as possible. Sounds like a good basis for a rational
discussion...
Related Philosophical Discusion:
As far as I can tell, all my concepts about the world are "fictional", in
the sense that I made them up as a convenient way of organizing my
experiences. I believe all concepts are essentially fictional for the same
reason. We just made them up. Yes, they are convenient and they do help us
acheive goals, but they are essentially mind tricks. Believing in one's own
concepts too firmly is a form of delusional thinking (believing that one's
ideas about the world are more real than the world itself). My basic
reality is one of experience, not of concepts (actually, concepts are a form
of mental experience to me).
I assert that the concept of property rights is a fictional concept, and I
have backed up my assertion with the argument that all concepts are
essentially fictional. I ask those who believe it is not a fictional
concept to back up their positions, and since the position is that "Property
Rights" exists independently of human thought, they must cite emperical
evidence which supports the existence of "Property Rights". In other words,
what evidence can we see around us that demonstrates that "Property Rights"
exists?
I say "Property Rights" is a social convention, Mike Lorrey says it is
Natural Law. I would appreciate it if Mike Lorrey would explain the concept
of "Natural Law" to us, so we are clear on his meaning. However, I suspect
it is essentially another fictional concept which Mike Lorrey finds
convenient to justify his political views. Perhaps he can convince me
otherwise. (and then I can have his "evil" label removed from me)
Thank you for your attention,
our concepts about the world are not the world itself
_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:03:47 MST