Let's not get carried away with a
lot of rhetoric about the foolishness of the search for foundations.
Several libertarian theorists have make serious attempts to found libertarian rights on prudential concerns. Remember, the important thing is to have good reasons to accept those principles. The reasons may not be analogous to a mathematical or scientific proof. So what? If we have strong prudential reasons to accept
certain principles, what more do we need?
Lomasky, for example, argues that each of us has good prudential reasons to grant rights to others. That's all we need. We
mustn't get hung up on 'proving' principles. Certain kinds of 'proof' are not available. I admit that. But that doesn't mean that principles are arbitrary or that any two sets of principles are equally good.
Add source to Lomasky. See p. 70-75 and summary on p. 85.
Let's not throw out the possibility of foundations until we have at least given it a chance.
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