tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post4408211464553054689..comments2024-03-14T11:09:32.759-05:00Comments on Falkenblog: The History of Individual Property RightsEric Falkensteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-63359470456798397602018-05-19T23:23:05.140-05:002018-05-19T23:23:05.140-05:00Cheers!Cheers!W. Bondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11876061563314623223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-59663663376906712732018-05-19T13:40:46.605-05:002018-05-19T13:40:46.605-05:00W. Bond: thanks for the links...very interesting.W. Bond: thanks for the links...very interesting.Eric Falkensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-2109859505060069272018-05-19T11:12:45.117-05:002018-05-19T11:12:45.117-05:00Richard Epstein is an authority of sorts on Roman ...Richard Epstein is an authority of sorts on Roman Law. The talk I link to here (Natural Law Ancient & Modern) s fascinating. http://wbonds.blogspot.com/2015/10/epstein-on-natural-law-ancient-and.html?m=1W. Bondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11876061563314623223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-13388295474527362152018-05-19T08:07:44.352-05:002018-05-19T08:07:44.352-05:00Cicero wasn't Greek.Cicero wasn't Greek.Oliver Townshendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14621786531716625345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-13126263160578351332018-05-16T17:20:29.394-05:002018-05-16T17:20:29.394-05:00One cannot, perhaps, stress enough the difference ...One cannot, perhaps, stress enough the difference in politics between antiquity and modernity that comes from the change in the political-theological relation as a result of Christianity. Harry Jaffa frequently made this point in his later writings. A short version, if you’re interested: http://www.claremont.org/crb/article/aristotle-and-locke-in-the-american-founding/ W. Bondhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11876061563314623223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-40493217594765394512018-05-15T09:04:58.672-05:002018-05-15T09:04:58.672-05:00Oliver: Cicero too noted private property, but the...Oliver: Cicero too noted private property, but the exception allowed the state to use its authority without much concern. Making property a right from God, however, elevated that to a new level, and getting people to really apply that to their secular rulers took a millennium. <br /><br />Even with that, there are always cases where the state can do what it wants. As Cicero said, in times of war, all laws are silent.Eric Falkensteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243687157322033496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-83508618717263651392018-05-14T21:48:35.815-05:002018-05-14T21:48:35.815-05:00Nothing in the Greeks? A lot of Christian theology...Nothing in the Greeks? A lot of Christian theology is adapted from them, eg Augustine and Aquinas <br /><br />While Plato advocates communal ownership, Aristotle responded by arguing that private ownership promotes virtues like prudence and responsibility: ‘[W]hen everyone has a distinct interest, men will not complain of one another, and they will make I more progress, because every one will be attending to his own business’ (Aristotle, Politics, 1263a).Oliver Townshendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14621786531716625345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7905515.post-18114778923822786392018-05-14T21:12:28.941-05:002018-05-14T21:12:28.941-05:00Feynman's description of the scientific method...Feynman's description of the scientific method largely follows the philosophy of Karl Popper who argued science rests on deduction rather than induction. If a theory makes false predictions, then we logically deduce that the theory is false; scientific theories can never inductively be proven true. Popper thereby sidesteps David Hume's famous problem of induction (that we can never know all swans are white because we can never observe all swans).<br /><br />I think you're right that while various religious or philosophical traditions have been used to justify property and other rights for centuries, what ultimately has led to the present widespread acceptance is that property rights (and various other rights) work, at least compared to alternatives. Part of philosophical pragmatism is that you can have responsible inquiry into value judgements by looking at the practical consequences of those value judgements.<br /><br />Matthew Gunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04026616235491904619noreply@blogger.com