Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mmintl.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: Fundamentalist Materialism Message-ID: <581@mmintl.UUCP> Date: Fri, 9-Aug-85 17:42:07 EDT Article-I.D.: mmintl.581 Posted: Fri Aug 9 17:42:07 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 06:28:43 EDT References: <861@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <1288@pyuxd.UUCP> <891@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <723@cadovax.UUCP> <939@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT Lines: 27 Summary: The legal system is an observable In article <939@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> beth@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Beth Christy) writes: > >OK. Stand in front of 3 police officers and 30 witnesses, and shoot and >kill 5 civilians. Chances are, within an hour you'll be physically unable >to move more than 3 yards in any direction (cause you'll most likely be in >jail). The legal system is real, and I don't think it's wise to truly >believe it isn't. Furthermore, of the infinite number of things you could >choose to do in front of 3 police officers and 30 witnesses, there are a >number of things you could do that would get you thrown in jail, and a lot >more that wouldn't. Can you scientifically determine which physical >actions will result in incarceration and which things won't? The legal >system sure *seems* beyond science. Yes. I can (naively) try a variety of things and find out which get me arrested. With more sophistication, I can read law books. The point is that the precise nature of the legal system is an observable fact, in the same way that the location of Minneapolis is an observable fact. Part of the scientific method is making observations. Now, the precise laws in effect are not scientifically interesting, precisely *because* they can be directly observed. How laws are chosen (not the mechanics, but the underlying reasons) and how they affect societies are interesting, and are the subject of legitimate scientific inquiry. (I am not expressing an opinion on the quality of any of the work which has actually been done on such questions.)