Tuesday, August 12, 2014

the right to your opinion

It's such a simple way to end an argument: "Well, I'm entitled to my opinion."

Not according to logic. As author Jamie Whyte points out, one person's entitlement creates another's obligation. Think about it: if you are entitled to cross the street safely, I am obligated to not run you over in my car. But what if you're wrong in your thinking? What if we're in London, about to cross the street, and you look the wrong way and think the coast is clear? Am I obligated to watch you step off the curb and get crushed? This will be the focus of our first Socratic seminar this Friday (8/15). Make sure to gather and evaluate solid evidence; your opinion isn't nearly as important as (the way) you think.


The Right to Your Opinion -

8 comments:

  1. I don't really understand the whole thing here. yes I get we all have rights. But what is moral to this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The moral is that we all have rights but just like anything else in life, nothing is really free. With rights comes duties. For example, we all have the right to live but we can't live if someone kills us therefore the duty in this scenario is for the people to not kill us so we may have the right to live. Another example would be working, I have a right to a paycheck if I work but it's the business's duty to pay me. If I'm not getting paid then my right no longer exists because there is no action (or duty) to preserve that right. Hope that helps!

      Delete
  2. Can you make this printable? Or can anyone direct me to a printable version online? I'm having trouble finding one.

    ReplyDelete