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JoshuaZ comments on The Argument From Marginal Cases - Less Wrong Discussion

15 Post author: jkaufman 26 July 2013 01:30PM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 26 July 2013 10:43:26PM 4 points [-]

You say some humans don't make laws for cultural reasons. Can you see the paradox within that single sentence? Differentiating laws from 'formal laws' is a true Scotsman sort of argument. Call it cultural or call it formal laws, there are things the hunter gatherer groups you mention do that no animal does.

Actually, if you want to generalize laws to mean just enforced cultural norms, then yes, these exist among animals as well. Different groups of bonobos or chimpanzees have different behavioral sets, including to what extent violence is tolerated in that specific group to in-group members.