I decided to move some discussion from this post up to the top level here. Specifically, Watoosh wrote: "Well, if violence is defined as initiation of force (which, of course, presupposes certain property rights), then I think Rockwell is correct..." Well, if we define cats as elephants, then many people keep elephants in their house. More seriously, firstly, violence is not usually defined that way. It's defined as, you know, violence, so that, say, someone may respond violently or non-violently to someone who aggresses against them. Otherwise, it would make no sense to say, for instance, "He punched me, but I did not stoop to violence in response." And, secondly, the libertarian usage of "initiation of force" is very offbeat. If I wander onto someone's meadow, most people would not say I had "initiated force" -- I mean, sure, I used "force" against the earth to push off walking, but that's not force directed against...
I'm glad he kept putting "[sic]" into the name of that institute, lest he mislead readers into believing they had actually discovered anything. I mean, there could be high school students reading. High school students!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am ashamed to admit that you tricked me, Gene. I was all ginned up, ready to be mad because you were linking to an overenthusiastic theist, and then when I realized what the deal was, I was like, "Oh yeah, Gene was so right!"
ReplyDeleteDon't tell Robin Hanson. :(
Does Robin Hanson contend that you are easy to trick?
ReplyDelete