The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #137668   Message #3151870
Posted By: DMcG
11-May-11 - 02:15 AM
Thread Name: BS: The Destruction of the Lib Dems (UK)
Subject: RE: BS: The Destruction of the Lib Dems
Ah-hah! After what seems an age of simple name-calling, the pair of you have finally reached the point where there is a real topic that could be discussed between you in a way that will benefit we bystanders. Because the term 'civilsed' denotes a hodge-podge idea which is partly the logical consequence of stated or unstated axioms ("we hold these truths to be self evident: that all men ...") And partly a cultural norm arrived at statistically (in an informal sense) so the the criminal/outcast is declared 'uncivilised' because they do not conform to the norm. And there are other aspects to what it means to be civilised as well. Now on occasion these two aspects are in conflict and that's when things get interesting.

So what each of you means by 'civilised' and why you adopt that meaning and how you resolve the sort of internal conflicits in the concept is something that could be genuinely enlightening for us.