re: justice and freedom

anima@devi.demon.co.uk
Fri, 24 May 1996 21:15:42 +0000

Bill Ramsay contributes an argument which is both involved and (as far as I
can judge!) convincing. Like him, though:

> I rest my case, and my brain, for now and welcome your comments.

my brain too is tired and I'm not sure that flogging it into action right
now would do more than weave minor variations on a theme with respect to
which I'm in any case uncertain of my position: beyond a gut feeling that
it ain't as easy as the begetter of this thread, Hemant Desai, originally
indicated.

I guess I started with the thought that one's construing can be unsubtle
when survival is at stake and one's bereft of the luxury of living in the
relatively stable, predictable, and secure environment which we associate
with a more-or-less * free and just society; and I went on to quote an
example in which, even in this sort of extremis, certain actions are felt
to be "beyond the pale". My Mum and your Dad would seem to _behave_ in a
similar way across that divide, but, pace your comment,

>It's less to do with 'justice' as a concept and more to do with anticipating
>>outcomes and construing them

she certainly _construed_ it as a matter of "what is a just act", and
seemed very concerned about justice, as she told me the story some 20 years
after the events she described.

Anyway, nuff for tonight, and a good bank holiday weekend to one and all!

Kindest regards,

Devi Jankowicz

* I said "more-or-less": these things are relative!

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