Ethical foundations of the left

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Tue Jul 31 06:52:02 PDT 2001



> ...

Archer.Todd at ic.gc.ca:
> I would say your mom has an a priori notion in her head linking indissolubly
> motherhood (i.e. the bearing and birthing of children) with proximity (i.e.
> the one who bears them ought to raise them). ...

The notion is not _a_priori_. Anyone can observe that certain kinds of relationships are needed among mammals for the nurturance of their young, and discover the reasons for them in evolutionary biology. Absent a mother, there is no guarantee that adequate substitutes can be found.

Marrying for money is a comparative long shot; only the romance of imagining future wealth is a sure thing.

Hence Mom has the better case, empirically and rationally speaking. This is assuming that everyone agrees that the young ought to be nurtured, of course.



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