Saturday, February 04, 2006

Anybody with a perfunctory interest in philosophy would have heard of John Stuart Mill’s Harm Principle:

"
...the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.
"

My self-regarding act i.e. getting drunk actually permutates into an other-regarding act. It causes hurt and heartache for the people close to me. I spout nonsense that I don’t mean and I suffer from a lacuna in my memory. No recollection afterward. Extending the libertarian principle to cover indirect harm toward society in a narrow sense - the people close to me - justify them blocking me from drinking. But that would do no good, since i won't listen. Hence, I will apply a sanction on myself never to get drunk in front of others again. I shall do it in isolation, where the only person I can hurt is myself.

1 Comments:

Blogger Lithium Princess said...

Hmmm, I came across your blog while randomly browsing... I must say you are adorable.

And quite brilliant.

Very interesting reading, some a bit over my head but interesting all the same.

Take care :)

7:09 AM  

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