17555
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'One' can mean undivided and not a multitude, or it can add measurement, giving number [Aquinas]
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Full Idea:
There are two sorts of one. There is the one which is convertible with being, which adds nothing to being except being undivided; and this deprives of multitude. Then there is the principle of number, which to the notion of being adds measurement.
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From:
Thomas Aquinas (Quaestiones de Potentia Dei [1269], q3 a16 ad 3-um)
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A reaction:
[From a lecture handout] I'm not sure I understand this. We might say, I suppose, that insofar as water is water, it is all one, but you can't count it. Perhaps being 'unified' and being a 'unity' are different?
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22602
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Over several centuries a set of eight main liberal values was established [Dunt]
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Full Idea:
Over the centuries liberal values were established: freedom of the individual, reason, consent in government, individual rights, the separation of powers, protection of minorities, autonomy, and moderation.
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From:
Ian Dunt (How to be a Liberal [2020], 13)
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A reaction:
What's not to like? 'Moderation' might be a sticking point, for anyone who thinks that very large social changes are needed.
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22596
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No government, or the whole nation, can control an individual beyond legitimate scope [Dunt]
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Full Idea:
When a government of any sort puts a threatening hand on that part of individual life beyond its proper scope, …even if it were the whole nation, except for the man it is harassing, it would be no more legitimate for that.
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From:
Ian Dunt (How to be a Liberal [2020]), quoted by Ian Dunt - How to be a Liberal 4
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A reaction:
The obvious question is what counts as 'proper scope' - and who gets to define it? If the individual can define that, then criminals can appeal to this principle. The state must be persuaded of it, then asked to stick to it during conflicts.
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22603
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Laissez-faire liberalism failed to give people the protections and freedoms needed for a good life [Dunt]
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Full Idea:
Laissez-faire liberalism failed, because it did not offer people protections and real freedom - against discrimination, insecure work, educational disadvantage, lack of social respect, absence of representation. It was cold, distant, and ineffective.
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From:
Ian Dunt (How to be a Liberal [2020], 13)
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A reaction:
A very nice summary, which I take to be correct.
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