Putting aside what this utterance may say about the issue of personal identity discontinuity, it raises the more fundamental issue of ultimate referential authority.Strict constructionism identifies the constitution as that authority.Strict religiosity identifies the bible(which one?) as that authority.The English don’t kid themselves about the Magna Carta they willingly admit that it has been altered many times and used differently to justify the aims and actions of a ruling class.We on the other hand, revere the document(which one?)and use it as the processprecursor of our constitution.
The founding fathers then would have had to be able to forsee all of the complexities of our diverse and complex(technologically as well as socially) world.Inherent rights according to this view of the constitution does not necessarily contain a palpable moral imperative.Thus like the principles of Greco-Roman democracy it applies only to citizens.(excluding women and non citizens) It thus allowed for the institution of…
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