Dear Theo : Thank you for Commensal and running this SIG. I can’t see how anyone could object to your technological plans. There doesn’t seem to be all that much interaction in this SIG and if a web-site and / or email improves interaction, hooray ! I look forward to reading your deliberations.
I look forward, too, to reading comments from those who associate Frank Luger and continental philosophy with Macbeth at the end of his tether. Frank Luger’s piece looks perfect to me and I wonder where I have gone wrong (C98/28).
Since Ann Kucera (C98/21) is interested not only in Plato and his pals, but prominent Americans, (and her piece was great fun), perhaps she, and others in this SIG will be interested in the following incident.
An individual in Ohio was sentenced to death for arson which resulted in a child’s death. Later evidence indicates that arson did not occur. This evidence was submitted to the relevant court where the appeal was dismissed because (I now quote from the ruling) "Even though this new evidence may establish (Mr. X’s innocence) the Ohio and US constitutions nonetheless allow him to be executed because the prosecution did not know that the scientific testimony offered at the trial was false and unreliable." I love "false and unreliable".
I think this anecdote is of interest to Socrates-lovers everywhere, and, thus, to this SIG.
Valerie Ransford
Valerie : thanks for the rather grim anecdote. I’m not sure what it tells us, other than that morality, "natural rights" and the law are not the same thing. It would appear that the judge was legally correct but morally wrong to make the judgement recorded above, unless s(he) expected the verdict to be overturned by a higher court on further appeal. The judge (or whoever) involved in the final appeals process would appear to be faced with a moral dilemma in a case of this seriousness and to bear personal responsibility for the unjustness of the judgement.
As for Frank Luger - we still await comments from our readers. It would take a considerable labour to analyse the piece carefully & prepare a critique.
Theo