in thread "Against 'State of Nature'": "State of nature" is a speculative construct introduced by Hobbes and adopted by many subsequent Enlightenment thinkers to justify their favored political arrangements. It was used as recently as 1974 by Robert Nozick as the foundation of his work. It is m... 2mo ago (collapse hidden) 66 "State of nature" is (view hidden) 66 This is one of the weaknesses of Costin's book. It's too easy to be irritated that dumb people believe literally in dumb things. It slips into Reddit atheism, which is dumb in its own way. ... 2mo ago (collapse hidden) 66 This is one of the w (view hidden) 66 Right. We don't relax our rigor at all. We get even more precise in our use of critical thought, being careful about what to excise. Like a surgeon, we must not be afraid to cut tissue, but we must also be careful about which tissue we cut. As Buckaroo Ban... 2mo ago (collapse hidden) 55 Right. We don't rela (view hidden) 55