That's all very true. I agree, homosexuality and abortion aren't the same kind of issue; I only brought abortion up because it illustrates how seeming...
Thanks for bringing this forward. I hadn't heard anything about it. The defenders of The American Way, Inc. didn't fold up their tents just because th...
cynically... you want to keep the level of coercion low so that it can be raised as needed. Sort of like the prime interest rate. You want to keep it ...
So, we may not like it, we probably don't like it, but authority and coercion are intrinsic pieces of creating and maintaining a social existence. Why...
Your involuntary citizenship is a problem you will have to take up with your parents. Had they the foresight to reside in a stateless region of the ea...
Correct. When not if. Coercion eventually becomes necessary because we are not good at always regulating our self-centered, sometimes overtly aggressi...
It isn't possible for everyone to contain everyone else, or for everyone to have equal power over everybody else. There is enough "social and psycholo...
Coercion means to obtain something (obedience, a confession, money) by the use of force or the threat of force -- perhaps in the form of a beating, to...
I think it is also interesting that some computers (their programs) have learned how to play video games without being taught how. It won't go down as...
I'm sure the English would be happy to invade some part of the US, but they probably don't want to get bogged down in the swamp of Detroit's and Flint...
Sometimes it is hard to tell whether civic crimes are a result of partisan politics, stupidity, penny-wise pound-foolish thrift, or corruption. That j...
This from the Brookings Institution: How "economic despair" affects high school graduation rates for America’s poorest students... "What if inequality...
Sapientia, you are paying me more compliments than I deserve. I will thank the patient tutelage of some old Socialist Labor Party members for putting ...
There is no reason to blame Republicans more than Democrats. Serious infrastructure problems are endemic all over the country. Administrations of ever...
Why can't we "fix people" and "make them succeed"? Some programs exist that aim to "fix" the least likely to succeed. The Harlem Children's Zone is an...
What seems to be at stake in the Big Question discussion is "how much equality of opportunity" exists. Achieving an equality of opportunity is far mor...
This requires some unpacking. You have provided some additional details about this view, but I can't find it. (Spending too much time on philosophy of...
Yes, they do seek abortions. And I endorse the legitimacy of people aborting fetuses before the third trimester. Our difference seems to be limited to...
I'm not discounting the unpleasantness of pregnancy, but the "mother's months of bodily change, discomfort, and anticipation" aren't what make birth s...
How do ordinary people not versed in the fine points of philosophy actually treat their own (and others') fetuses? They begin by making room for them....
As the great American Transcendentalist Ralph W. Emerson said, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds". Marching in lock step to the ...
Men and women must have an equal role in defining fertility policy. Only women can become pregnant but no woman has become pregnant without a man. (Ok...
I formerly maintained a strict permit abortions position, week 1 - 40. The woman's control over her body always trumps the fetus, and trumps the fathe...
Aside from the 38th and 1/2 week question, there seems to be some agreement among prenatal fetal specialists that a fetus can definitely not feel pain...
i think this is the right view. The fetus has a genetic make-up that is not the same as the mother's. The fetus makes claims on the mother's body (for...
Fetal development was first studied by John Hunter in the mid 18th century. Since Hunter, medicine and biological science has pretty well worked out t...
Being "embodied" - having a unique cellular structure - doesn't define us? No one else has your cellular structure -- (which incorporates your history...
My position is that the pregnant person or parents should make the decision of whether to abort or deliver. It's up to them. The decision makers need ...
Premature personhood... It seems reasonable to assign personhood to a fetus who is very likely to survive if born at such and such week prematurely, t...
What are the differences among a 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 month old fetus and a 9 month old fetus? 1. Can they survive outside of the womb... 2. I...
Tiff hrites were. Biff is a character in Death of a Salesman. Great play. Ran't cemember the serm for lirst fetter twitching. What? Anybody? A toyous ...
A Marxist analysis of history would agree with you. Capitalism has produced a great deal of wealth, not all of which has been hoarded up in boxes of g...
In some societies, newborns are not considered "persons" the moment they are born. The reluctance to grant personhood earlier may be a response to hig...
I believe we have free will and I believe that we can be subjected to coercion and be forced to act against what we wish to do. I believe that there a...
Oh, that was at least 50% flippant -- that's why I included the Jack Benny bit -- "I'm thinking it over." The serious point: we can't know whether a b...
Any discussion which begins with "I didn't ask to be born" is highly unlikely to profit anyone. Talk about suffering! Reading this sulky adolescent cr...
People are always confusing private property (the basic collection of stuff with which we conduct our domestic affairs--coffee pot, couch, broom, shir...
You are right. Good motivation tends to lead to good action and bad motivations tends to lead to bad action. Yes. My construction was sloppy. What I s...
I think personhood begins at birth. However, an 8 1/2 month old fetus is a viable infant, probably without any help. Under the circumstances, it would...
On Tuesday, March 1, 7:55, the reports are that the Minneapolis/St. Paul and suburban caucus sites have been jammed, with both parties extending the p...
Surveillance has a long history; everybody does it. I surveil my neighbors all the time. What are they up to today? Three unrelated men and one woman ...
The CBC (from Canada) interviewed a conservative religious talk show host about Trump. Trump. Trump Trump Trump. He was remarkable thoughtful. He said...
Generalized label-----Hint: "Workers of the world, you have nothing to lose but your chains." Form of government-----Decentralized democratic economic...
Blacks have suffered from Wall Street "excesses" (or maybe it was Wall Street "normality") at least as much as most Americans have if not more, and I ...
If you would like to watch something really dull, watch the House and Senate in session on C-span (the house/senate cable feed). BORING. Clearly, the ...
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