Dr. Loury I'm interested in the following questions, which I think are really uncomfortable: what is the appropriate relationship between freedom and responsibility?
Slaves are not free, and are not responsible for feeding and housing themselves. I'm guessing that in Exodus there were probably some guys wandering in the desert thinking that they had it better back in Egypt.
We live in a society in which women are free. To what extent should they be responsible for their choice in sexual partners and activities?
If you get a dog, should the government feed it? If you buy a house, should the government mow your lawn? If you choose to have sex with someone who turns out to be undependable when pregnancy occurs...
There is some element of moral hazard here. When banks lend out money irresponsibly, government bailouts set a clear incentive to continue behaving irresponsibly; the gains are privatized and the losses are socialized.
There are other cultures that have existed, maybe do exist now, in which women are NOT free to choose their partners, and NOT free to engage in the amount or variety of sex that they might choose. To what extent should women be expected to be responsible for the decisions that they make? Are women agents or not?
The above paragraph sounds like the start of the "she shouldn't have dressed that way" or "she shouldn't have been in that neighborhood" type of arguments we've heard for years.
These are tough questions that involve a lot of sacred cows. I love that you always play devil's advocate; if there's an argument for taking away the sexual freedom of women, grounded in their inability to be responsible with it, I want to hear it.
I also want to be very clear that that is NOT my opinion! But a full discussion requires listening to even the most repugnant of viewpoints, if for no other purpose than to allow reason to defeat them in plain view.
>Dr. Loury I'm interested in the following questions, which I think are really uncomfortable: what is the appropriate relationship between freedom and responsibility?<
I think the appropriate relationship between them is that the more freedom you have, the more responsibility you have as well. People who behave in irresponsible ways should lose corresponding amounts of freedom, and vice versa. Our society at the moment has nosedived off the deep end on freedom while completely dismissing responsibility, with some ugly and obvious consequences.
Dr. Loury I'm interested in the following questions, which I think are really uncomfortable: what is the appropriate relationship between freedom and responsibility?
Slaves are not free, and are not responsible for feeding and housing themselves. I'm guessing that in Exodus there were probably some guys wandering in the desert thinking that they had it better back in Egypt.
We live in a society in which women are free. To what extent should they be responsible for their choice in sexual partners and activities?
If you get a dog, should the government feed it? If you buy a house, should the government mow your lawn? If you choose to have sex with someone who turns out to be undependable when pregnancy occurs...
There is some element of moral hazard here. When banks lend out money irresponsibly, government bailouts set a clear incentive to continue behaving irresponsibly; the gains are privatized and the losses are socialized.
There are other cultures that have existed, maybe do exist now, in which women are NOT free to choose their partners, and NOT free to engage in the amount or variety of sex that they might choose. To what extent should women be expected to be responsible for the decisions that they make? Are women agents or not?
The above paragraph sounds like the start of the "she shouldn't have dressed that way" or "she shouldn't have been in that neighborhood" type of arguments we've heard for years.
These are tough questions that involve a lot of sacred cows. I love that you always play devil's advocate; if there's an argument for taking away the sexual freedom of women, grounded in their inability to be responsible with it, I want to hear it.
I also want to be very clear that that is NOT my opinion! But a full discussion requires listening to even the most repugnant of viewpoints, if for no other purpose than to allow reason to defeat them in plain view.
Loved the discussion as always.
>Dr. Loury I'm interested in the following questions, which I think are really uncomfortable: what is the appropriate relationship between freedom and responsibility?<
I think the appropriate relationship between them is that the more freedom you have, the more responsibility you have as well. People who behave in irresponsible ways should lose corresponding amounts of freedom, and vice versa. Our society at the moment has nosedived off the deep end on freedom while completely dismissing responsibility, with some ugly and obvious consequences.