On May 19, 2010, at 10:14 AM, Ted Winslow wrote:
> It's possible to make ontological and philosophical anthropological
> assumptions that constitute ethical principles as "universal" and
> human being as the being able to develop the capabilities required
> to know and actualize them, e.g. know and actualize such a principle
> of "right" as: "From each according to his ability, to each
> according to his needs!"
>
> Human history can then be interpreted as a developmental process
> that substitutes rational self-determination for instinctive
> determination, the former including determination in accordance with
> universal ethical principles, e.g those actualized in relations of
> mutual recognition.
Ted, sometimes I think that your definition of "rational" = "what Ted thinks." Because I don't know how you'd recognize this universal rational principle if one has yet to be seen in the wild.
Doug