Hi Platt, all,
-----Original Message-----
From: Platt Holden <pholden5@earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 25 February 1999 19:43
Subject: Re: MD Zen and the intellect
[snip
>... I bristle at Jonathan's idea that human
>individuals can be compared to gas molecules,
Platt, I think you entirely missed the point. It may help if you
read my post more carefully, or better still, look at my "Causality"
essay at http://www.agi.huji.ac.il/~marder
>or that somehow we
>share a collective responsibility for what others say.
It seems to me that Platt only understands the concept of individual
responsibility but not collective responsibility.
IMHO, modern society places too little emphasis on the former, and
completely ignores the latter.
I've been critical before of the MoQ "levels", but in this respect, it
helps. Responsibility is a value which applies both to individuals and
to whole societies.
Platt goes on to lecture us on morality, but I suspect that he totally
fails to understand the importance of collective responsibility. So when
Platt writes (26th Feb):-
>As a direct result of the MoQ I've changed my mind
>regarding capital punishment. Before I was all for it;
>now I'm against it.
...he ignores his own share of responsibility for the executions carried
by the society to which he belongs.
They're YOUR executions Platt. You (thou) are part of the collective you
(ye) who carry out those executions.
Similarly, I share responsibility for the actions of my country, whether
or not I condone those actions.
We ALL share responsibility for the discussion in this forum. In my
view, participation carries an implicit acceptance of this
responsibility.
Jonathan
MOQ Homepage - http://www.moq.org
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