Thread: Shall the criminally insane be put down like a dog with rabies?

Originally Posted by Bruno

Sort of like 'yeah it sucks, but this one is for the team'

isn't that the whole concept behind society? In Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, his concept of social contract is just that... an individual giving up personal rights in order to trade them for group/social rights within the context of a larger society. As such, by agreeing to live in a society, we trade the risks of the natural individual state (which Hobbes theorizes is nothing short of perpetual warfare) for the risks of living in an incorporated society (which Hobbes discusses at great, nearly epic, length). To me, the risks of living in an incorporated society are numerous but generally the benefits outweigh the risks. (obviously, otherwide I'd go live in a cave and be a hermit or something)

One of the risks of living in an incorporated society is that other members of the society, whether thru malice or incompetence, will abuse or misapply the social contract (rules) with undesirable consequences to you. We constantly amend the social contract in an effort to prevent abuse or misuse, but it DOES happen. No system is perfect, and although it definitely sucks that it's not perfect, it's still less worse than purely individualistic nonsociety. (which would be total anarchy)

no one expects me to make with the philosophizing, but I actually have spent a long time thinking about this stuff. where the hell is KantianPragmatist when you need him?