[MD] Sex, Rape and Law in a MOQ

[118]

Hi John,


On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 2:25 AM, John Carl <ridgecoyote at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's the thing about a  "feral" human, Arlo.  A human raised by wolves
> would be feral, socialized by wolves but that's not the same thing at all as
> raised in isolation.
>
> In fact, "raised in isolation" is an impossibility.  Food and protection
> would have to be provided to an infant and this ruins the "isolation".  But
> without some nurture, the organism wouldn't last long enough to even "be".
>
> The closest we could get is if we could do some kind of automatic skinnerian
> box and "socialize" via machine.  Fortunately, nobody will ever perform this
> experiment, so its hard to say what kind of "humanity" such an organism
> would display.
>
[Mark]

Let us just use the isolation concept as a thought experiment.  There
are those who believe that language or social interaction creates
intellect, and that we are born with a blank slate (tabula rasa) with
a propensity to create our intellect.  There is the other faction that
believes that intellect arises outside of such conditioning.  It is
part of the nature v nurture debate.

So, based on this isolation experiment would the human have intellect.
 I believe Arlo would say No.  I would say Yes.  I do not want to go
into the arguments for or against, some of them require a soul or
reincarnation to dispute the tabula rasa, and I believe T. Aquinas was
for the blank slate idea, which had already been around.  I would only
say that it is common sense to me that intellect, if present, will be
expressed.  Maybe not in the way to score well on an IQ test, but in
other meaningful ways.

Of course love would be expressed in the isolated human once he comes
across something to love.  He/she would just not call it love.

I believe Plato would have been against the tabula rasa, so I guess in
this sense I am a Platonist.  Oh, Heavens to Betsy!  Maybe I should
change my mind so that I look a little more consistent and rational...

Mark

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