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| Replies |
 John (main path) |
 Dee |
 Vera |
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| Foundations |
| Vera
Speaking
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 We mustn't
avoid basic questions. For example, what are the foundations of justice and of morality in general?Dee would like the foundations to be firmly based in prudence. She wants a system of near-absolute rights that will protect people from harm. Some libertarians would go further. They want morality based in some sort of conceptual analysis and undeniable principles, a system based on reason. Ann would like the foundations to be in utility. She wants to be able to gather data and calculate the best course of action based on what will maximize some notion of human welfare. Fred would like the foundations to be in an objective moral code given by God or built into the nature of things. He distrusts the fads and fashions of human preferences and attitudes. Ayesha seems to want to find justice in some idea of the common good developed over time in a specific community. She distrusts liberals with their "atomic individuals" and their stress on individual rights against the community. John wants to synthesize everything. It's hard to tell what he believes. Rawls tries to found his principles in a hypothetical contract. I'm not sure that any of these approaches works, but I'm most sympathetic to Ayesha's. She realizes that morals cannot be developed in the abstract. There is no such thing as a morality that all rational parties must accept. There are no a priori or scientific proofs. Morality is always developed in concrete communities with specific histories. There is nothing abstract or universal about it. I'm sympathetic to the way Alan Dershowitz tries to develop a theory of rights. He doesn't try to derive rights from concepts or from the science of human nature. He doesn't use the principle of utility. He takes a very practical approach based on our history. He asks us to think about the terrible wrongs that have occurred -- things like slavery and genocide. Then he suggests that we ask ourselves whether establishing a certain human right would prevent such wrongs from occurring again. If so, we have a good reason -- based on history -- to adopt that right. He calls it deriving rights from wrongs. |
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