tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post6964102273861072103..comments2024-03-23T12:05:23.537-05:00Comments on The Wild Reed: Perspectives on Natural LawMichael J. Baylyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03087458490602152648noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-29854773144042299382009-01-08T14:42:00.000-06:002009-01-08T14:42:00.000-06:00Regarding claims about the fundamental reality of...Regarding claims about the fundamental reality of natural law, one of the the most interesting and thought-provoking discourses I ever read came from an old science fiction story, by Malcom Jameson entitled "Hobo God".<BR/><BR/>It's a parable in which a hobo and an eminent scientist, the former an undesirable reprobate and the latter convicted of some capitol crime, are exiled to a primitive planet. The highest life form on this planet is a newly-sentient ape-like species, whose development had not progressed beyond the hunter-gatherer stage.<BR/><BR/>In a short time, the scientist is killed by the indigenous creatures -- a victim of his own ego and hubris. The hobo, having mastered a few simple survival skills, passes them on to the the creatures in the form of five simple rules (half as many as the decalogue), which beome the founding principles of a great civilization:<BR/><BR/>1. The boss is BOSS.<BR/>2. No killin' in the tribe.<BR/>3. No wimmen stealin'<BR/>4. Wimmen do wimmen's work.<BR/>5. Men do men's work.<BR/><BR/>Over time, the hobo becomes an honored and revered partriarch. On his death bed he leaves his grieving disciples with one final maxim:<BR/><BR/>"Hard work pays (but not too much of it)."<BR/><BR/>Obviously, in this story, the most important mandate is survival of the tribe, without which the individual perishes. Everything else is secondary.Antonio Manettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00487502995709519940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-57665062791725142072008-12-21T17:10:00.000-06:002008-12-21T17:10:00.000-06:00It is profoundly disturbing to encounter the promo...It is profoundly disturbing to encounter the promotion of the Church's Natural Law Theory, which is the principal source of homophobia, anti-family planning, patriarchism, and other ills the Wild Reed has previously railed against.<BR/><BR/>Natural Law, first and foremost, is not synonymous with Laws of Nature. It is a concept of the 13th century Dominican friar Thomas Aquinas. Natural Law, secondly, is a concept borrowed from Stoicism for Catholic Moral Teaching, first introduced by Augustine of Hippo. Natural Law, third and most importantly, is the philosophical confusion of Thomas Aquinas conflating Aristotle's erroneous biology and its four be-causes with Aristotle's ethics, and instrumental decisions. <BR/><BR/>Whether Aquinas deliberately conflated the two distinctions that Aristotle severed in order to impose biblical morality, he certainly came to the same conclusion that a male's penis has one and only one find destination and function, and it ain't with another man. Thus the Natural Law conforms to Romans 1 edict that homophiles and homophilia are worthy of death. <BR/><BR/>And yet here you are, supporting this archaic, obscene, immoral, and absurd theory? Yet, you promote this dangerous and injurious theory on what basis that speaks to your causes? That it violates reason? Yet, while it is fallacious, as shown by David Hume and G. E. Moore, you find it commendable? That its dictates injure and harm homophiles, justifies gay-bashing and discrimination, to keep the community from contamination and pollution by impure homophiles, is your raison d'etre?<BR/><BR/>So you've become orthodox of Benedict XVI? Congrats. The Stockholm Syndrome succeeds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-63921581079693738292008-12-16T08:46:00.000-06:002008-12-16T08:46:00.000-06:00Fundamental reality is not only contextual. Ever ...Fundamental reality is not only contextual. Ever skin your knee? What's contextual about why things fall? Gravity is not a "reif[ication of] historical particularities into ontological truths" is it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-48834422470112801992008-12-15T22:59:00.000-06:002008-12-15T22:59:00.000-06:00I brought up the question of whether the density o...I brought up the question of whether the density of the human population on earth is forcing us to become a more socially/morally conscious species at a philosophy group I belong to and all members thought the increasing density of the population is causing us to revert to getting rid of the weak ones. That brought me down a peg or two.Paula Ruddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583805580770331316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27612445.post-67477459649082172532008-12-15T07:46:00.000-06:002008-12-15T07:46:00.000-06:00"reifying historical particularities into ontologi..."reifying historical particularities into ontological truths"<BR/>Wow, Judith Web Kay hit the nail on the head with this phrase. Because people in a particular culture do things a certain way, they start to call it "human nature." But then maybe human nature is evolving through cultural adaptation. Maybe the density of the human population on earth is forcing us to become a more socially conscious species than we were before. What do you think? PaulaPaula Ruddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583805580770331316noreply@blogger.com