Difference between revisions of "Preface"
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| − | CivicWiki is an odyssey to discover freedom -- to understand what freedom is, what is good about it, why we should want it, why it is important; and to understand how much we can retain personally and how much must be given up to ensure social order. Developing this understanding is a philosophical and historical pursuit. Part of CivicWiki is devoted to this pursuit. | + | CivicWiki is an odyssey to discover freedom -- to understand what freedom is, what is good about it, why we should want it, why it is important; and to understand how much we can retain personally and how much must be given up to ensure social order. Understanding requires sorting through the concept of rights--what they are and what they aren't--where they start and stop. Developing this understanding is a philosophical and historical pursuit. Part of CivicWiki is devoted to this pursuit. |
Perhaps more importantly, CW is also an application of our understanding to the question of how we want our government to behave. Perhaps, most importantly - at least for some of the CW audience - CW is an application of our understanding to debates about the issues that come up in our economic, social, and political lives. | Perhaps more importantly, CW is also an application of our understanding to the question of how we want our government to behave. Perhaps, most importantly - at least for some of the CW audience - CW is an application of our understanding to debates about the issues that come up in our economic, social, and political lives. | ||
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So we have to understand something of its philosophical underpinnings, its social evolution, and the political theory that will ensure it. Then we have to think about the practical effects of all this in terms of government organization and policy as well as social mores. | So we have to understand something of its philosophical underpinnings, its social evolution, and the political theory that will ensure it. Then we have to think about the practical effects of all this in terms of government organization and policy as well as social mores. | ||
| − | To those for whom all this 'understanding' stuff is a bit | + | To those for whom all this 'understanding' stuff is a bit dry and who want simply to get to the arguments, it is very easy to go straight to the issue debates. You'll find the link on the main page. |
| − | CivicWiki is a personal odyssey. Here | + | For now, CivicWiki is a personal odyssey. Here at the beginning, it is the project of one person (though encouraged and supported by others and with the hope that CW attracts a number of others that can write and edit CW articles). So, perhaps a personal statement is in order. |
| + | :If you grew up in the U.S., you grew up believing and assuming that you were free. And for the most part that was true, though the truth of that changes continuously. I first became interested in personal freedom in college, prodded by a friend who had been doing a lot of reading and wanted me to suffer along. | ||
Revision as of 18:14, 6 August 2016
CivicWiki is an odyssey to discover freedom -- to understand what freedom is, what is good about it, why we should want it, why it is important; and to understand how much we can retain personally and how much must be given up to ensure social order. Understanding requires sorting through the concept of rights--what they are and what they aren't--where they start and stop. Developing this understanding is a philosophical and historical pursuit. Part of CivicWiki is devoted to this pursuit.
Perhaps more importantly, CW is also an application of our understanding to the question of how we want our government to behave. Perhaps, most importantly - at least for some of the CW audience - CW is an application of our understanding to debates about the issues that come up in our economic, social, and political lives.
So we have to understand something of its philosophical underpinnings, its social evolution, and the political theory that will ensure it. Then we have to think about the practical effects of all this in terms of government organization and policy as well as social mores.
To those for whom all this 'understanding' stuff is a bit dry and who want simply to get to the arguments, it is very easy to go straight to the issue debates. You'll find the link on the main page.
For now, CivicWiki is a personal odyssey. Here at the beginning, it is the project of one person (though encouraged and supported by others and with the hope that CW attracts a number of others that can write and edit CW articles). So, perhaps a personal statement is in order.
- If you grew up in the U.S., you grew up believing and assuming that you were free. And for the most part that was true, though the truth of that changes continuously. I first became interested in personal freedom in college, prodded by a friend who had been doing a lot of reading and wanted me to suffer along.
