Re: Political Philosophy - inheritance tax

["Alice Evans" <apyyae@nottingham.ac.uk>]

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** For Your Eyes Only **

Peter Peter!

what the devil is going on....

dont steer me down that crazy right-wing path again!

just joshing, but seriously, please re-consider....

i shall restate ur case and then evaluate


Argument 1
1. If we look at inheritance as an idea, then all particular inheritances
ought to have something in common.
2. inheritance in the course of evolution is natural
3. therefore inheritance in the course of accumulating wealth is natural

Argument 2

1. If advantageous inheritance of certain traits, in the course of natural
evolution preserves and endows members of species to endure and prosper,
then inheritance in this case is not only natural, but good and naturally
just.

---- well, there are many different forms of inheritance, just because one particular form appears factually accurate does not entail that another is morally right. to confuse science with ethics is a bit of a leap...? inheritance is only natural in the sense that we acquire certain physical traits some our ancestors. 

i dont really buy the term 'natural'. indeed, its validity is mooted. are women naturally caring and submissive, unfit for leadership roles but better suited to the private domain? well, that's what many previous generations held until we kinda realised that it was merely due to social conditioning, and now feminists try to break down the sex/ gender divide.

similarly, in nature, there exists a 'natural' hierarchy, the food chain, the romans and many other empires applied this argument to conjecture that slavery was natural...

similarly, man has eaten meat for donkeys years, as part of evolution, does that make it natural? if so, upon ur argument it is thus right... well is it? surely the fact a simple cost-benefit analysis shows that this isnt so...(that we dont need to eat meat to survive but that to treat non-human animals in this way is a form of deliberate cruelty)

so yes, more concisely, i contest the idea that 'natural' means anything at all, even if it does, why does natural mean 'ethically sound'?



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