[lbo-talk] Re: The postmodern prince

Jon Johanning jjohanning at igc.org
Mon Dec 8 19:40:32 PST 2003


On Monday, December 8, 2003, at 01:09 PM, Miles Jackson wrote:


> By definition, personal autonomy is maximizing life chances and
> increasing
> choices. Your claim has to be true, by definition: it's like saying
> "I like being a bachelor because I'm unmarried".

*Any* statement can be made "true by definition," if the terms in it are defined in such a way to make it so.

But it is certainly possible to define "personal autonomy"and "life choices" in such a way that the former reduces the latter. In that case, "personal autonomy increases life choices" would be false by definition.

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax



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