wex@ittvax.UUCP (Alan Wexelblat) (08/23/83)
on Plato and the Sword:
From Greg Davidson:
The reasoning behind this analogy is as follows; when I
borrow a sword from my friend Damocles, he is giving me
a tool for some possible uses (given that I am sane at
the time). When I return the same object to him, when
he is insane, it is NOT the same thing.
This is not the case. Plato did not mention sanity at all. The topics of
oncern are rationality and the importance of keeping one's word. Remember
that B had explicitly promised to return the sword whenever A asked for it!
From Bryan Bingham:
Actually Alan, if B gave the sword to A he would be an accessory
to murder, which is unlikely to be in B's best interest.
We assumed that B's part in the affair would be unknown, were he to
give the sword back to A. Remember the stipulation that nothing ill would
befall B if the sword was returned, whereas great ill might befall him if
he did not return the sword.
--Alan Wexelblat
decvax!ittvax!wex