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Friday, November 20, 2009 - 5:09pmSanction this postReply
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In the interest of illustrating the point, please name some instances of "liberty becoming license" in ways that will lead to dictatorship.

I pose this question because too often we read of victimless crimes as "liberty becoming license" so I would like some clarification.

I read a little about Will Durant via Google but I am not familiar enough with the man's "sense of life" to determine the context of his statement.

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Friday, November 20, 2009 - 6:11pmSanction this postReply
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Platonist and socialist...

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Friday, November 20, 2009 - 6:16pmSanction this postReply
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Will Durant has a wonderful sense of life. He wrote one of the most popular, useful, and readable series of books of the history of Western Civilization. If you haven't read his Life of Greece, Caesar and Christ, The Age of Faith, The Renaissance and The Reformation or better you can hardly call yourself educated. These books are perennially in print and available on discount usually and always at the library.

Durant is well looked upon by libertarians and conservatives. But he is in many ways a traditionalist, if always a classical liberal.

This quote is not him at his best.

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Friday, November 20, 2009 - 7:28pmSanction this postReply
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But it can be fun if you hit it at just the right time,


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Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 3:11amSanction this postReply
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I will assume he meant "license to fake reality" and will consider the Audible offerings of some of Durant's work for future listening.

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Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 4:59amSanction this postReply
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Translation of quote - too much freedom is bad, as it invites authoritarianism...

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Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 8:58amSanction this postReply
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From my knowledge of Durant he meant the conventional "wisdom" that anything taken to extreme is dangerous and invites a reaction. The comment fits in perfectly with things like G W Bush's statement about the bailout that he was saving capitalism from capitalism.

The value in Durant is not his own explicit philosophy, it is his enthusiasm for human accomplishment, the literary quality of his writing, and the proper selective focus and scope he applies to history.

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