-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Mon, 22 Jul 1996 hallam@Etna.ai.mit.edu wrote:
Nope, ad-hominen is a perfectly acceptable form of attack when calling into question a speaker's credentials. The words are used because they were Jefferson's and because he is held up as a supporter of liberty. Pointing out that the words are the cant of a hypocrite is entirely justified.
You fail to mention that Jefferson tried to pass a law through Congress that would make slavery illegal by 1800. The bill failed to pass by one vote. Also, he deplored slavery and considered it evil.
Notwithstanding entailment clauses, Jefferson was under no compunction to exploit his slaves by exploiting their labour. He could have paid them competative wages and allowed them to chose to work for others. In short he could in effect have freed them. Of course then he would not have had the financial means to live as a member of the privileged classes.
Genuine philosophers have made such sacrifices. Russell gave away his inheritance after completing Principia because he objected to the idea of inherited wealth.
This is an entirely subjective and philosophical argument about whether the means justify the ends. I won't debate any of the issues here. However, consider the fact that if Jefferson didn't have as much money as he had, he might have not had as much policial impact. Also think about the fact that all libertarians who drive cars, are by your definition, hypocrites because they drive on tax-funded roads. Sometimes it is necessary to violate one's principles in order to help the greater good. - -- Mark PGP encrypted mail prefered Key fingerprint = d61734f2800486ae6f79bfeb70f95348 http://www.voicenet.com/~markm/ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3 Charset: noconv iQCVAwUBMfP6j7Zc+sv5siulAQF1TAP/XX2fPK7HpBnI7tykVoCFCl+CFZF/7Jj+ pttjhuraBCZ1qmW2QUzbbFNAATWB6toMhIAui75b3hZo1Bc+L6zerUYqkLeiACB1 0QVfVyztBnptNmLfUw9W6+EXEE0iLv9AoAHKPzbv4sQhjbr4ndraplVuDgItu25B wDfsxVbplYk= =bhCN -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----