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<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT face=Arial>Ted replies:<BR><BR><FONT size=3>OK, Wayne,
fair enough. Now I ask you to apply your standards of observation and
testing and provide verifiable proof of the truth of the following statement
regarded by many as the foundation of American Democracy:</FONT></FONT><FONT
lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #99ccff" PTSIZE="12" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
BACK="#99ccff"><BR><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>"</FONT></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #99ccff" face=Arial size=2 PTSIZE="10"
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" BACK="#99ccff">We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness."</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #99ccff" face=Arial
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #99ccff" face=Arial
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Without wishing to sound like a traitor, I think the statement
at issue is neither true nor false, like its sometimes cited corollary:
"That which governs least, governs best.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Both statements are like the following statement:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"The square root of a minus tush abdicates salt."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>All three statements are syntactically correct and sound like
possibly true or false English statements. But because their meaning is so
vague and ambiguous, it is not possible to determine their truth except by
deducing them from other equally vague, ambiguous statements.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>It would be incorrect to say that the statements are
meaningless because they do make some people feel good (or not). However,
the statements lack meaning in the sense that the statement "There are
exactly five apple trees in old man Hansen's back yard" has meaning.
Because of their vagueness and ambiguity, it is not possible, so far, to
agree upon test conditions/observations for their truth.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I think it is possible to recast "<FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #99ccff" face=Arial size=2>Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness</FONT>"into a less dogmatic, more
flexible series of statements which may be found to be heuristically true
(or false) by observations in certain contexts. Doing so correctly,
however, would probably take much more time and discussion than I have left
in my life.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Thank you Ted, however, for illustrating the philosophical
problem of establishing the meaning/truth of political "First
Principles."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT size=4>Wayne</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Wayne A. Fox<BR></FONT><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com"><FONT
size=4>waf@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=4>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID
83843<BR>208 882-7975</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>[PS: Because I unintentionally changed the name of the
thread, many did not grasp the context of the <EM>Calvin & Hobbes</EM>
cartoon I posted earlier. The context was the discussion of the biosphere
and the use/waste of limited natural resource by a burgeoning world population,
especially the western, affluent world.]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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