On Tue, 2006-02-21 at 15:08 -0500, Peter Bessman wrote: > Frank Barknecht wrote: > > It's even easier for a contract to be morally wrong, because generally > > public law is influenced by the common view of morals more than > > private contracts. In German that would be a contract, that is > > "sittenwidrig". I think, the legal term in English is "contrary to > > public policy". Contracts to sell your vote would be an example for > > this, though these are illegal as well in many countries. > > > The fact that it's illegal to sell your vote does not prove that > contracts can be morally wrong. OK, is it morally wrong to sell yourself into slavery? Mill didn't think so: "By selling himself for a slave, he abdicates his liberty; he foregoes any future use of it beyond that single act. He therefore defeats, in his own case, the very purpose which is the justification of allowing him to dispose of himself.... The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free. It is not freedom to be allowed to alienate his freedom" (p. 158). http://www.victorianweb.org/philosophy/mill/ten/ch7c.html Lee
