In Plain Sight

Diana Ethel Mary Dance (nee Reed)

My thoughts are with my mother today. I am thankful that she has finally found some peace.

BNF Inventor Passes

Responsible not only for Fortran but also for how we proceed with formal language definition in CS - John W. Backus dies at 82:

"After Fortran, Mr. Backus developed, with Peter Naur, a Danish computer scientist, a notation for describing the structure of programming languages, much like grammar for natural languages. It became known as Backus-Naur form."

John W. Backus

Thanks for everything John.

Natural Ethics and Political Premises: The Futility Of Politics and Property Conventions As The Basis Of Unmerited Privilege And Class

This paper has been accepted into the Working Class Studies Association conference in St. Paul's on June 14th thru 17th. It will be presented as a part of the "Working Class Political Theory" panel.

Abstract

In this paper we deal with the foundations of political theory.

We propose a theory of Natural Ethics that deals with the inevitable behaviors of individuals in groups. It is not concerned with prescription but with the development of a positivist theory of natural behavior. It deals with what does and will happen, not with what should happen.

The proposal asserts that only two forces shape human social behavior. The first of these forces is the inevitable behavior that arises from genetic disposition in its environment. The second of these forces is the convention embodied by the group. Convention serves only to mitigate the intensity of inevitable behaviors, increasing or reducing their effect. It cannot eliminate such behavior, and nor can it introduce entirely new behaviors into the world.

According to this theory immediate and decisive social choices by leading members of a society are the inevitable product of these forces and not the product of free will. Contrary to popular perception, politics is futile; merely the drama surrounding inevitable outcomes that changes only how events are perceived.

The actions necessary to manipulate social behavior reduce to the advocacy by individuals of new ethical imperatives that are eventually sustained by precedence in social convention and formalized in civil and criminal law. For this reason preachers of any kind have a great impact upon social outcomes, while politicians essentially have none.

This paper uses the theory for an informal analysis of social behavior and fortunes in society. It makes the case that prevailing property conventions are the primary basis of unmerited privilege and class.

The model potentially provides the basis of ideal political theory and formal methods for the prediction of complex social behaviors.