Comment by catigula

Comment by catigula 4 days ago

I agree with this sentiment but I'm also willing to explore/consider the possibility that "innocent until proven guilty" isn't strictly only useful as an esoteric legal construct, but a philosophy that could potentially have applicability to an individual's worldview.

That being said I wouldn't have much patience for a "merely" accused murderer or child predator in my personal life, just as I also don't have much patience for a doctor who refuses to prescribe me antibiotics because the chance they could help me is "only" 1%. I don't really care that it's socially irresponsible when it comes to my personal assessment of risk.

nilamo 4 days ago

I agree that it is nice to keep in mind as a general philosophy, however I also think it's important to keep in mind that the people who originally wrote "innocent until proven guilty" were all treasonous sepratists, and their philosophy may or may not always align with my own.

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foldr 4 days ago

Not sure if that's supposed to be a reference to the Founding Fathers, but it's erroneous if so. The presumption of innocence long predates the American Revolution.

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eru 4 days ago

Yes, violent insurrection against the lawful authority of the Crown is no laughing matter. (And many of them were slaveowners, so they did not have moral authority neither by the standards of their day nor by ours.)

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- catigula 4 days ago
  
  It's ambiguous. The concept of slavery being bad was quite novel and mostly comes from English philosophy/legal theory which America has a direct lineage from.
  
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  eru 4 days ago
  
  The German immigrants rejected slavery a lot more vigorously than the English who had been there for a bit longer.
  
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  catigula 4 days ago
  
  Interesting if true. Regardless, I'd just expand the general net to a European philosophical lineage.
  
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