Barkley Rosser wrote:
>----------------- HES POSTING -----------------
>
>Again, of course, the sorts of "exchanges" one 
>sees in such elephant groups can be
>viewed as non-market, much like socially 
>determined relations within human family groups.


Everything that humans do has a basis, root, or 
analog in the natural world. Humans are, I 
believe, supra-natural, but not unnatural, save 
by choice and intention. But there is one thing 
that humans can do, and perhaps should do, that 
animals cannot. They can ask of any given trade, 
"Is this right?" Not merely, mind you, "Is this 
advantageous?" but "is it right?" Animals do 
things for the common good that may be 
disadvantageous to an individual; the nurse 
spider sacrifices herself for her young, for 
example. But I doubt she can question the trade or avoid the sacrifice.

Alasdair MacIntyre defines humans as "dependent, 
rational animals." Because we are animals, we are 
intimately connected with the natural order; 
because we are dependent, we must fulfill our 
needs in community (including a community with 
the natural order); and because we are rational, we can choose what we "need."


John C. M?daille