Rights again (was Re: [extropy-chat] SUV versus sedan etc)

[BillK]

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 07:10:16 -0700 (PDT), Mike Lorrey wrote:
> while rights confer responsibility, it is stil only resp for ones self,
> and to others in that one does not violate the life liberty or property
> of another. putting another at risk is not a violation of rights, and
> even todays courts still recognise this. no harm equls no foul.

I hesitate to wade into a 'rights' discussion as they all tend to end
up neck-deep in the swamp fighting alligators, but Mike's brief
comment seemed to indicate support for the old 'Do no harm' system of
morality. I thought that it had been well demonstrated that acts of
omission can cause just as much harm as harmful acts committed.
Although humans do seem to have an inbuilt preference that acts of
omission are less reprehensible.

BillK