by George J. Dance
Last week I posted a column about three rather silly arguments against the concept of self-ownership that I had found on the interwebs. After writing that, I went on to write the best argument I could for the concept; which I didn't print because of length. Here is that argument; criticisms welcome.
An argument for self-ownership
My own conclusion from reading Aaron's arguments is that some people could profit from learning more about both self-ownership and logic. The best way I can see of doing both is to present an argument for self-ownership in logical form:
1. To own something is to have a just claim to control the use of that thing. (definition)
2. Either people are owned, or they are not owned. (Av~A)
3. If people are owned, they are either owned by themselves, or by other people. (Av~A)
4. For one person to claim ownership of another person is slavery. (definition)
5. Slavery is unjust. (premise)
6. Therefore, people cannot be not owned by other people. (1,4,5)
7. Therefore, either people own themselves, or they are not owned. (2,3,6)
8. Assume people are unowned. (Assumption)
9. Either it is wrong for people to use things no one owns, or it is not wrong. (Av~A)
10. Then either it is wrong for adults to use other adults' unowned bodies, or it is not wrong. (8,9)
11. Assume that it is not wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (Assumption)
12. Then it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex.
13. Then it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree.
14. But it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree. (premise)
15. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must be wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (11-14; Assumption discharged)
16. Now assume that it is wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (Assumption)
17. Then it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex.
18. Then it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, even if the woman agrees.
19. But it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman agrees. (premise)
20. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must not be wrong for adults to use other adult's bodies. (16-19; Assumption discharged)
21. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must be both wrong and not wrong to use other adults' bodies for sex. (15,20)
22. Therefore, people are not unowned. (8-21; Assumption discharged)
23. Therefore, people own themselves. (7,22)
The validity of any step can be challenged. So can the truth of any of the 3 explicit premises: that slavery is unjust, that it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex if the woman does not agree, and that it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex if the woman does agree.
We could stop right there - the above argument is complete as is - but it may be useful to see what the conclusion implies; so let me add a few more steps, purely for the sake of illustration:
24. It is wrong to use an owned resource if the owner does not agree. (1)
25. It is not wrong to use an owned resource if the owner does agree. (1)
26. It is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree. (23,24)
27. It is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does agree. (23,25)
The fact that these conclusions (#26 and #27) are the same as the earlier premises (#14 and #19) is not circular, since those conclusions are not deduced from those premises. My only reason for including these steps was to show that #26 and #27 did not contradict #14 and #19; if they did, then the conclusion that people are self-owners would be absurd, too. An argument by reductio ad absurdum could prove a conclusion by showing that the other alternatives are absurd, but in practice that would be of little use if that conclusion were equally absurd.
Last week I posted a column about three rather silly arguments against the concept of self-ownership that I had found on the interwebs. After writing that, I went on to write the best argument I could for the concept; which I didn't print because of length. Here is that argument; criticisms welcome.
An argument for self-ownership
My own conclusion from reading Aaron's arguments is that some people could profit from learning more about both self-ownership and logic. The best way I can see of doing both is to present an argument for self-ownership in logical form:
1. To own something is to have a just claim to control the use of that thing. (definition)
2. Either people are owned, or they are not owned. (Av~A)
3. If people are owned, they are either owned by themselves, or by other people. (Av~A)
4. For one person to claim ownership of another person is slavery. (definition)
5. Slavery is unjust. (premise)
6. Therefore, people cannot be not owned by other people. (1,4,5)
7. Therefore, either people own themselves, or they are not owned. (2,3,6)
8. Assume people are unowned. (Assumption)
9. Either it is wrong for people to use things no one owns, or it is not wrong. (Av~A)
10. Then either it is wrong for adults to use other adults' unowned bodies, or it is not wrong. (8,9)
11. Assume that it is not wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (Assumption)
12. Then it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex.
13. Then it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree.
14. But it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree. (premise)
15. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must be wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (11-14; Assumption discharged)
16. Now assume that it is wrong for adults to use other adults' bodies. (Assumption)
17. Then it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex.
18. Then it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, even if the woman agrees.
19. But it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman agrees. (premise)
20. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must not be wrong for adults to use other adult's bodies. (16-19; Assumption discharged)
21. Then, if people's bodies are unowned, it must be both wrong and not wrong to use other adults' bodies for sex. (15,20)
22. Therefore, people are not unowned. (8-21; Assumption discharged)
23. Therefore, people own themselves. (7,22)
The validity of any step can be challenged. So can the truth of any of the 3 explicit premises: that slavery is unjust, that it is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex if the woman does not agree, and that it is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex if the woman does agree.
We could stop right there - the above argument is complete as is - but it may be useful to see what the conclusion implies; so let me add a few more steps, purely for the sake of illustration:
24. It is wrong to use an owned resource if the owner does not agree. (1)
25. It is not wrong to use an owned resource if the owner does agree. (1)
26. It is wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does not agree. (23,24)
27. It is not wrong for a man to use a woman's body for sex, if the woman does agree. (23,25)
The fact that these conclusions (#26 and #27) are the same as the earlier premises (#14 and #19) is not circular, since those conclusions are not deduced from those premises. My only reason for including these steps was to show that #26 and #27 did not contradict #14 and #19; if they did, then the conclusion that people are self-owners would be absurd, too. An argument by reductio ad absurdum could prove a conclusion by showing that the other alternatives are absurd, but in practice that would be of little use if that conclusion were equally absurd.
No comments:
Post a Comment