Apropos of recent discussions on this list, Stanley Fish as a worthwhile commentary on the NYT web site: http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/conscience-vs-conscience/. Among other things, he grounds the discussion in some classical political philosophy: Hobbes's larger point - the point he is always making - is that if one gets to prefer one's own internal judgments to the judgments of authorized external bodies (legislatures, courts, professional associations), the result will be the undermining of public order and the substitution of personal whim for general decorums: ". . . because the Law is the public Conscience . . . in such diversity as there is of private Consciences, which are but private opinions, the Commonwealth must needs be distracted, and no man dare to obey the Sovereign Power farther than it shall seem good in his own eyes." _____________________________________
Steve Sanders <http://www.mayerbrown.com/lawyers/profile.asp?hubbardid=S597744167> Attorney, Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice group, Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago Co-editor, <http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/lgbtlaw/> Sexual Orientation and the Law Blog Adjunct faculty, University of Michigan Law School (Winter term 2010) Email: <mailto:steve...@umich.edu> steve...@umich.edu Personal home page: <http://www.stevesanders.net/> www.stevesanders.net
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