On May 19, 2010, at 5:36 PM, SA wrote:
> Okay, but without necessarily endorsing that view, it can be pointed
> out
> that none of it is based on anything "floating above human beings,"
> much
> less God. The opposite is the case - justice is said to be rooted in
> some characteristic *of* human beings.
Hmm, well they do say the same thing in the sense that whether you're talking some transcendent notion of justice or something built into our genes, both assume some objective standard existing apart from our social lives.
> And by "characteristic of human
> beings," I assume Chomsky would not be referring to a collection of
> discrete biological specimens but rather to the collective products of
> social life in (what used to be called) "civilization."
That's not what the Cohen & Rogers article says, and from all the Chomsky I've read, I'd agree with them. He does seem to believe in some innate human lust for freedom and justice that's repressed or distorted by misunderstanding and a bad society. There's no room for craziness or fantasy in his worldview. He's almost inhumanly rational.
Doug