RE: Redefining violence (contains possibly POLITICAL material)

From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rafal@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Thu Mar 27 2003 - 08:03:00 MST

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    On Thu, 2003-03-27 at 08:37, Greg Jordan wrote:
    >
    n.)
    > >
    > > Why is one forced to look at people one considers ugly
    > > and is not forced (I guess!?) to look at unappealing
    > > billboards?
    >
    > My point so far is merely to point out that an economic activity such as
    > putting up a billboard is an act of force - it forces me (and others) to
    > see it. Like I said, whether a particular exercise of force is good or bad
    > is an aesthetic judgment.

    ### Sadly, because of severe constraints on my time I can't reply in
    detail to the posts on this thread in the past few days (I'll try to
    offer a more detailed analysis on Monday), but I think I can make one
    comment:

    The blurring of moral distinctions ("billboard is an act of force"),
    rejection of moral symmetry ("whether a particular exercise of force is
    good or bad is an aesthetic judgment"), and espousal of collectivist
    doctrines, are basic elements in the thinking of moral relativists.
    Moral relativism is usually the starting point for an assault on
    individualism, and leads eventually to authoritarian excesses that
    shorten human survival.

    I will elaborate on this theme later.

    Rafal



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