tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917111831636670477.post8700321217421884767..comments2023-10-24T06:14:20.387-04:00Comments on Mirth and Matter: In Defense of Rhetoricchris baillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06322730963644337646noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917111831636670477.post-65714115451769166872008-02-24T11:16:00.000-05:002008-02-24T11:16:00.000-05:00I enjoyed reading your essay – a very well framed ...I enjoyed reading your essay – a very well framed argument. It is always interesting to me when candidates, who have a valid point to make, overstate their point. I think it makes them look bad. It’s kind of the political equivalent of Gresham’s law in economics (bad money drives out good money) – bad arguments make your good arguments look weaker. That’s why, when I argue a case, I’m carefulAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917111831636670477.post-74026454822640142122008-02-20T10:35:00.000-05:002008-02-20T10:35:00.000-05:00Great post, great commentary. Thanks, anonymous, ...Great post, great commentary. Thanks, anonymous, for that great rundown of the social contract. I wonder about the change of property to happiness. So much else of Locke's philosophy survived the revolution, and survives today. (Believe me, as one studying for the bar in Massachusetts) And certainly the existence of the contracts clause and the takings clause in the Constitution shows prettychris baillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06322730963644337646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917111831636670477.post-35936983310738738052008-02-20T09:31:00.000-05:002008-02-20T09:31:00.000-05:00Intriguing point, and one that digs much deeper in...Intriguing point, and one that digs much deeper into the heart of the issue than what I have initially laid out. <BR/><BR/>You're right - the founding documents of this nation rest on some very contradictory rhetoric. The deletion (property) represents the Logos of the proposition: that this was to be a nation founded on the free pursuit of material wealth, a rational foundation. On the other Zach Wallmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12721897453982055033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917111831636670477.post-84825941589853850142008-02-19T15:52:00.000-05:002008-02-19T15:52:00.000-05:00Great post, Z. It got me thinking weird shit. Like...Great post, Z. <BR/><BR/>It got me thinking weird shit. Like this:<BR/><BR/>According to a basic contractarian model, the premise of democracy is that government exists by virtue of an agreement by its citizens that an overseeing system is advantageous to them all. The government, in other words, takes on the responsibility, for example, to protect the private property and rights of its citizens,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com