random quotes ... to amuse, inspire, enrage:
  We believe most of what we believe about the world because others have told us to. Reliance upon the authority of experts, and upon the testimony of ordinary people, is the stuff of which worldviews are made. In fact, the more educated we become, the more our beliefs come to us at second hand. A person who believes only those propositions for which he can provide full sensory or theoretical justification will know almost nothing about the world; that is, if he is not swiftly killed by his own ignorance. How do you know that falling from a great height is hazardous to your health? Unless you have witnessed someone die in this way, you have adopted this belief on the authority of others. This is not a problem. Life is too short, and the world too complex, for any of us to go it alone in epistemological terms. We are ever reliant on the intelligence and accuracy, if not the kindness, of strangers.

This does not suggest, however, that all forms of authority are valid; nor does it suggest that even the best authorities will always prove reliable. There are good arguments and bad ones, precise observations and imprecise ones; and each of us has to be the final judge of whether or not it is reasonable to adopt a given belief about the world.

tagged: religion, faith, belief, knowledge, authority
  —Sam Harris, The End of Faith, Chapter 2 "The Nature of Belief", pp. 73-74, Norton paperback 2004 edition..

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libertarianism, state action, and private discrimination

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 10:17 am

Some great commentary coming out in the wake of Rand Paul’s floundering attempts to dodge explaining his philosophy. For instance, this from No More Mister Nice Blog:

Here’s the thing: segregation at lunch counters didn’t exist because individual privately owned businesses were determining for themselves that they would not serve black people. They relied on the local government to enforce this discrimination. Otherwise it would have been possible for non whites to sue white businesses for physical assault. Just because something isn’t statutory doesn’t mean that it isn’t taking place with government aid. A truly libertarian stance on the Civil Rights Act that wasn’t covertly conservative/racist would be to argue that the government must withdraw all legal aid, police help, and rights to sue for damages from discriminatory businesses *and then* leave the business free to discriminate. … The line between public and private property is guaranteed by government action and its something we all pay for and no private business has the right to take our money and then refuse service to us.

algorithmically similar posts:

» Rand Paul, weasel extraordinaire, 2010-05-20 (score:38)
» Southern “mistrust”, 2008-01-21 (score:19)
» zealous cooperation with the state, 2005-08-09 (score:18)
» gay marriage & Equal Protection jurisprudence, 2008-05-16 (score:16)

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 am and is tagged blinks, law, politics, racism, state , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. 1,032 views.

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