Susana Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 Question: How high is your IQ Mr. Wolf? Answer: High enough to survive the Winter you Silly Wabbit / Ravishing Rabbit / Great Grasshopper Can someone please walk me through the origin or share data points on how and why Classical (Greek/Roman) civilization was able to come up with and value ideas and principles like Self Defense, Property Rights, and Freedom of Speech? How about voluntary exchange aka Capitalism, when exactly did that originate, rather than just warfare or self-sufficiency. Or do these ideas come from a mix of ancient tribes and groups, and which groups specifically how and why?
dsayers Posted February 17, 2016 Posted February 17, 2016 I can't answer with historical specifics. However, everything you're asking about is the default. It's like asking for the origins of the absence of human flight. In terms of ownership, the only configuration that is both logically sound and universifiable is that people own themselves. This makes sense too because humans have developed the capacity for reason and therefore understand the consequences of their actions. This is the basis for all property rights, which free speech and self-defense are off-shoots of. It's also another way of saying capitalism since your body, time, and life are your capital.
Mister Mister Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 My understanding, is that the classical civilizations had SOME semblance of these things, but not as we would recognize them today. Basically only the Patrician class of propertied men and women had what we'd consider rights. Below them were the Plebeians, and below THEM slaves. So these were still very hierarchical civilizations, but among the upper classes they started developing basic ideas of Law and Property.
rosencrantz Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 Capitalism developed rather late in the West. Based on an interpretation of Roman law, the first advocate was a French Dominican called William of Rennes. See https://mises.org/sites/default/files/Austrian%20Perspective%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Economic%20Thought.pdfPage 57, last paragraph for details. The idea that Freedom of Speech, Self Defense etc. are universal came up in the Enlightenment. Before, it only applied to a well defined group of people (in the Roman case or the Magna Carta) and could be disregarded at will if circumstances demanded it. 1
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