• Shawn
    12.6k
    In the United States, there's a special occupation with negligence.

    Negligence is something intimately related to care. Care seems to be a version of a more feminine side of ethics rather than the masculine version of its lack-of. I find this paradoxical, that the US is so concerned with negative ethics as defined as 'negligence'.

    I ask the reader to analyze as to why negligence is such an important feature of US law? What is it about embracing a negative view of ethics that drives decision making in the court of law in the US?
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    I am under the impression that in US law, negligence only comes into play when there already exists a prior positive obligation of care.

    As to masculine and feminine, or the US or other places, I think those wrt to the question, are mist and fog as opposed to clear air.
  • Shawn
    12.6k
    I am under the impression that in US law, negligence only comes into play when there already exists a prior positive obligation of care.tim wood

    Not really. Lack of knowledge about the law is a form of negligence in the US!
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    Not really. Lack of knowledge about the law is a form of negligence in the US!Shawn
    Now you're confused and confusing. Not knowing the law is not exculpatory with respect to guilt - ignorance not an excuse! But you have to be guilty of something, first.
  • Shawn
    12.6k
    Now you're confused and confusing. Not knowing the law is not exculpatory with respect to guilt - ignorance not an excuse! But you have to be guilty of something, first.tim wood

    Yeah; but, as a Kantian yourself, doesn't negligence stand as a form of lack of duty or its detriment? I've always viewed law in the US as neo-Kantian???
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    No. Now it's time for you to give a definition of negligence. At the moment it's a moving target.

    No doubt in your town and accessible to you is someone whose need right now is greater than your own, that you could ameliorate. Do you have an obligation to right now get off your thrown and throw yourself into helping that person until they're helped or cured or fixed, or you exhausted in the process?

    Kant is not about duty, but rather reason, and with respect to duty, what reason can tell him about duty. The ducks don't march right unless you get them in order first.
  • Shawn
    12.6k
    No. Now it's time for you to give a definition of negligence. At the moment it's a moving target.tim wood

    No it's not:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=negligence

    Same shit in every dictionary. Fundamentally, a lack of care.
  • Shawn
    12.6k
    https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence

    Definition
    A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act (e.g., a duty to help victims of one's previous conduct).

    Overview
    Primary factors to consider in ascertaining whether the person's conduct lacks reasonable care are the foreseeable likelihood that the person's conduct will result in harm, the foreseeable severity of any harm that may ensue, and the burden of precautions to eliminate or reduce the risk of harm. See Restatement (Third) of Torts: Liability for Physical Harm § 3 (P.F.D. No. 1, 2005). Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 282 (1965).

    Four elements are required to establish a prima facie case of negligence:

    the existence of a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff
    defendant's breach of that duty
    plaintiff's sufferance of an injury
    proof that defendant's breach caused the injury (typically defined through proximate cause)
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    Good job! I extract two clauses: "when there is some duty to act," and, "Negligent conduct may consist of either an act, or an omission to act when there is a duty to do so."

    And a third: "the existence of a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff."

    And there I think you have the whole substance of the matter - so far as law is concerned.
  • Shawn
    12.6k


    A comforting thought, eh? American lawyers are really closet Kantians, haha!

    :cool:
  • Banno
    23.1k
    It's not surprising that a nation that idolises "self-reliance" should find it necessary to enforce laws against negligence. Caring for other people is not part of the 'mercan way.

    Seeing 'mercans protesting to be allowed to make each other sick... leaves the rest of humanity non-plussed.

    12162714-3x2-700x467.jpg
  • Pussycat
    379
    They seem like nice people.
  • Banno
    23.1k
    Yeah. Which only makes it weirder.
  • Shawn
    12.6k


    Must be the fluoride in the water or some nice chemicals in the air or bleach white bread.
  • Shawn
    12.6k


    Look, Americans are good people. They just don't want to live in fear despite bed fed it 24/7.
  • Banno
    23.1k
    Yeah... just, wtf?
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    Utah. They're likely Mormons.
  • Banno
    23.1k
    Hey, that's a bit rude...


    ...oh, morMons
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    Maybe, an emphasis on negligence, the curtailment thereof, is common sense: take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves. :chin: Make negligence punishable and people will perform their duty well
  • Frank Apisa
    2.1k
    Banno
    7.4k
    It's not surprising that a nation that idolises "self-reliance" should find it necessary to enforce laws against negligence. Caring for other people is not part of the 'mercan way.

    Seeing 'mercans protesting to be allowed to make each other sick... leaves the rest of humanity non-plussed.
    Banno

    They do seem like nice people...and, as you mentioned, that "only makes it weirder."

    What on Earth could they be thinking...assuming they are "thinking?"
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.