andie nachgeborenen wrote:
>
> There's another issue you haven't addressed. We have
> been talking of the standards of different groups rather
> loosely. When do we have a different group, though? How
> do we know that?
> Miles: So to answer your question: we know people belong to
> different groups if they display different beliefs and actions
> (I hope that answer doesn't exasperate you; I think it's
> reasonable.)
> Well, Miles, Judge Posner and I are both white Chicagoan
> American Jewish atheist middle class lawyers, and we have
> different beliefs and actions . . . . So I am not sure how
> much help your answer is. - jks
This is a more urgent political question than those raised earlier in the thread. Consider sharp differences of opinion over the application to concrete instances of the principle of self-determination. In 1990 was the relevant "group" the USSR or Russia, Georgia, etc? Was Yugoslavia the relevant group or could Kosovo claim that right?
Or consider Iraq. I have argued almost from the beginning that "Iraq" was defined by the minority of Iraqi who wanted immediate U.S. withdrawal. That position was partly based on a prediction: Namely, that if as many as 14% of the Iraqi population held to that view it was inevitable that the U.S. (or any US front, such as the UN) would never be able to establish order in Iraq. I think it still a numerical minority in Iraq that demand unconditional withdrawal, but I would say on the same kind of prediction that that minority _is_ Iraq.
And does "Black Community" name a real group? We've argued that question several times on this list.
Males-with-brown-hair-weighing-between-150-and-220-pounds is not a group. Are white males a group?
Carrol