Politics: Difference between revisions
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Politics is the application of ethics to a social context. Since the Objectivist ethics holds that each man is an end in himself, with his own life and happiness as his highest moral purpose, in politics it necessarily follows that each man possesses an absolute right to his own life. This does not mean that man has a right to survival, merely that he possesses soverignty over his mind and body. All other rights are merely applications of the right to life. | Politics is the application of ethics to a social context. Since the Objectivist ethics holds that each man is an end in himself, with his own life and happiness as his highest moral purpose, in politics it necessarily follows that each man possesses an absolute right to his own life. This does not mean that man has a right to survival, merely that he possesses soverignty over his mind and body, and thus the right to act on his own judgement. All other rights, i.e. liberty, property, pursuit of happiness, etc., are merely applications of the right to life. | ||
Revision as of 14:04, 13 August 2004
Politics is the application of ethics to a social context. Since the Objectivist ethics holds that each man is an end in himself, with his own life and happiness as his highest moral purpose, in politics it necessarily follows that each man possesses an absolute right to his own life. This does not mean that man has a right to survival, merely that he possesses soverignty over his mind and body, and thus the right to act on his own judgement. All other rights, i.e. liberty, property, pursuit of happiness, etc., are merely applications of the right to life.