Few ideas strike me as sillier than the notion that humans have "natural rights."
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Replying to @EPoe187
That's on my list of things to read about when I have time. Occasionally I grill people on what the line is between what's a natural right and what's not and haven't gotten a great answer yet, though.
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Replying to @RAVerBruggen
Or, how do I discover a natural right? Why do so many people disagree on natural rights? What's the ontological status of a natural right? I just bite the secular, rule-based utilitarian (without the capital u) bullet and leave the metaphysics to the scholars of Plato : )
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Replying to @EPoe187 @RAVerBruggen
"Natural rights" is a secularization of fundamental religious values. It's a quick & dirty way to bootstrap a secular framework for government. It's not unlike
@SamHarrisOrg's claim that science can do ethics - but he begins with "we can all agree reducing suffering is desirable"1 reply 0 retweets 9 likes -
That's totally fair
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Replying to @GarettJones
In private convos I've twice reduced Objectivists to admitting a trivial definition of "selfish" - viz satisfying one's own preferences, even preferences to respect the rights of others. Toothless egoism.
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Not that there's anything wrong with toothless egoism. It's probably right! But it takes the wind out if Rand's sails.
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