“A theory deeply etched in our law [is that] a free society prefers to punish the few who abuse the rights of free speech after they break the law rather than to throttle them and all others beforehand.” LawBlackJusticeBreakRightsTheorySpeechAbuseFree SpeechFree SocietyThrottle Author:Clarence Thomas
“Our faith in democracy, personal freedoms and human 'rights', and the other comforting prescriptions of the humanist liberal credo stem from the supremacy of maritime over territorial power. Pragmatists may deplore this as crude determinism, as another vain attempt to construct a general theory of history. They should reflect on the sort of political philosophy and structures we might now adhere to had the Habsburgs, Bourbons, Bonaparte, Hitler, Stalin or his heirs prevailed in the titanic world struggles of the past four centuries.” WorldShouldHumansMayPhilosophyMightPastPoliticalStruggleDemocracyFourRightsCenturyTheoryStructureHuman RightsVainHumanistStemConstructsComfortingPolitical PhilosophyPrescriptionsCrudeHeirsSupremacyDeterminismPersonal FreedomTerritorialBourbonCredoMaritimePragmatistsBonaparte Book:Maritime Supremacy & the Opening of the Western Mind: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World Source: Maritime Supremacy & the Opening of the Western Mind: Naval Campaigns that Shaped the Modern World
“It is frequently said that speech that is intentionally provocative and therefore invites physical retaliation can be punished or suppressed. Yet, plainly no such general proposition can be sustained. Quite the contrary.... The provocative nature of the communication does not make it any the less expression. Indeed, the whole theory of free expression contemplates that expression will in many circumstances be provocative and arouse hostility. The audience, just as the speaker, has an obligation to maintain physical restraint.” DoeSaidWholeResponsibilityAudienceRightsExpressionTheoryCommunicationCircumstancesIntegritySpeechContraryObligationInvitesSpeakersContemplatingRestraintPropositionsHostilityProvocativeRetaliationFree Expression Author:Thomas I. Emerson
“Human rights are an aspect of natural law, a consequence of the way the universe works, as solid and as real as photons or the concept of pi. The idea of self- ownership is the equivalent of Pythagoras' theorem, of evolution by natural selection, of general relativity, and of quantum theory. Before humankind discovered any of these, it suffered, to varying degrees, in misery and ignorance.” WayHumansIdeasRealSelfLawUniverseNaturalRightsIgnoranceTheoryEvolutionDegreesConceptsConsequenceAspectMiseryHuman RightsHumankindQuantumOwnershipSelectionRelativityNatural SelectionNatural LawTheoremsQuantum TheoryPhotonsGeneral RelativitySelf Ownership Author:L. Neil Smith
“July 4, 1776 was the historic day on which the representatives of three millions of people vocalized Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill, which gave notice to the world that they proposed to establish an independent nation on the theory that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” PeopleMenWorldCertainThreeNationsLibertyMillionsRightsTheoryEqualIndependentCreatorPursuitHillsRepresentativesHistoricPursuit Of HappinessJulyInalienable RightsBunkersLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of HappinessJuly 4LexingtonBunker Hill Author:Calvin Coolidge
“My basic approach is to recognize that mainstream legal theories of contract have been muddied by unlibertarian and positivistic conceptions of law and rights. Questions about what rights are "alienable" or not, loose talk about how promises should be "binding," etc., highlight the need for clarity in this area. In my view, to sort these issues out one needs a very clear and consistent understanding of the nature of property rights and ownership.” NeedsShouldHas BeensLawUnderstandingViewsIssuesClearRightsTheoryPromiseApproachAreasPropertyClarityConsistentEtcConceptionContractsMainstreamOwnershipProperty RightsBindingHighlights Author:Stephan Kinsella
“99% of our uses of animals, including our numerically most significant use of them for food, do not involve any sort of necessity or any real conflict between human and nonhuman interests. If animals matter morally at all, then, even without accepting a theory of animal rights, those uses of animals cannot be morally justified.” IfsHumansRealMatterUseInterestAnimalAcceptingRightsTheoryConflictIncludingSignificantAnimal RightsJustified Author:Gary L. Francione
“We own ourselves. This is the core of a libertarian theory of rights. But on this theory, while we are at liberty to kill ourselves (regardless of the consequences of others), we are not allowed to kill others, not even if this means that there we be fewer murders in the future, totally speaking.” IfsMeanLibertyRightsTheoryConsequenceMurderLibertarianCoreFewer Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo
“These theories, deontology, the moral rights theory, and utilitarianism, contradict one another. Moreover, they give conflicting (inconsistent) recommendations. It is hence not possible to hold them together, in a pursuit of moral truth.” GivingTogetherMoralRightsTheoryPursuitInconsistentRecommendationsUtilitarianism Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo
“It is of note that even if utilitarianism has proved to be superior to deontology and the libertarian moral rights theory in the area of killing, we are not allowed to say that it has been finally vindicated; it has to face other challenges in other areas, in particular in situations of distributive justice.” IfsHas BeensFacesChallengesJusticeSituationMoralRightsParticularTheoryAreasNotesKillingLibertarianSuperiorsUtilitarianismVindicated Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo
“The thing about drugs is this ... the Libertarians kind of have the right idea on this: Basically, their theory is that you own your own body, and the government should get out of your face. But, you also do not have the right to harm other people or to impinge on their rights or space. So, let's apply that to drugs . If you want to get wrecked, and you could afford it, and you have a place to do it where the results of your behavior can't harm another person, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be allowed to do it.” PeopleIfsWantShouldKindPersonsIdeasReasonBodyGovernmentFacesSpaceResultsRightsTheoryDrugBehaviorHarmLibertarianReason WhyYour FaceRight Ideas Author:Frank Zappa
“In human rights theory it is very important that governments still have the primary responsibility for the standards and provision of such services even if they no longer deliver them. They must insist that the private sector delivers without discrimination. So governments still have responsibility, including the need to influence business.” IfsNeedsHumansStillsImportantGovernmentResponsibilityRightsInfluenceTheoryStandardsIncludingHuman RightsDiscriminationPrimariesProvisionPrivate Sector Author:Mary Robinson
“Mary O'Neal used to say that I was teaching her course in disguise, as she said "in cultural disguise." What she meant was that this really was a very fervent kind of civil rights art course, not altogether art history. It wasn't altogether theory. She called it an action course.” KindArtSaidActionUsedCoursesRightsTeachingTheoryCivil RightsMaryDisguiseArt HistoryFervent Author:David C. Driskell