Reductio ad Absurdum
Yesterday When Ellee Seymour proposed banning knives one of the commenters used the reductio ad absurdum that it could lead to the banning of cricket bats or pumbing pipes since these too could be used as weapons. Then today Tim Worstall links to a story where a man carrying a cricket ball was accused of having an offensive weapon. Which shows how the precautionary principle leads to absurd actions.
posted by chris at 12/05/2006 12:55:00 pm
2 Comments:
Hi, You need to keep this in context. I made my comment following a 73% rise in crime using knives. I don't think the same can be said for cricket bats.
I put it into context in my previous post on this, the 78% increase in murder between 1950 and 1997 (that while we have had a Welfare State) compared to the the 18% drop in crime between 1900 and 1950 (when we didn't). Banning anything will not change the culture of violence, we have to go after what changed the culture.
Post a Comment
<< Home