On 02-07-98 Frank Masingill wrote to John Boone... 
 
        Hello Frank and thanks for writing, 
  
 FM>  AC> Business is far more regulated than it should be.  First, the 
   
 FM> JB> Frank, in the previous post, you said industry should be 
 FM> JB> regulated far 
 FM> JB> more than it is.  I ask how do you "square" this with yours and 
 FM> JB> Vogelin's position that no individual or group of individuals 
 FM> JB> is/are 
 FM> JB> able to know the final truth? Given your position it is beyond a 
 FM> JB> human's 
 FM> JB> ability to know final REALITY, how do square the apparent belief 
 FM> JB> that 
 FM> JB> business needs more regulation, presumably by some -central- 
 FM> JB> government 
 FM> JB> agency or perhaps would you be more inclined to believe the free 
 FM> JB> market is a better "judge?" 
   
 FM>    I will, thanks, John. I'll begin by observing, although it seems to 
 FM> be 
 FM> intended that I walk into some kind of trap, what you have set forth 
 FM> must 
 FM> surely be recognized by you on second thought as a non-sequitur as 
 FM> long, wide and deep as the Grand Canyon.   
  
   Perhaps, the haze you see will be become limpid for you. 
  
 FM>     An open secret, John.  Even though whether or not ANYBODY says it, 
 FM> our knowledge of final reality is by definition partial.   
   
 FM>     This does nothing to hinder action or moving with the greatest 
 FM> wisdom we 
 FM> can muster in political action.  It only dictates that we maintain a 
 
 "Greatest wisdom", in a species -INCAPABLE- of final reality. 
Seems, you're bestowing the capability to political leaders, a small 
group individuals, that which you say they can't have,  KNOWING.              
    
  Are we to assume "greatest wisdom" comes from "experience?" 
If so, -how- can a small group of men, incapable of knowing, 
KNOW, from past experience? 
  I am not arguing a nihilist view, but rather questioning, 
"how MUCH are we able to KNOW?" 
  
 FM> healthy 
 FM> humility.  I just said in a separate post on the ineffectiveness and 
 
  "Healthy humililty" is agreed, and the question becomes how 
does one then square with your and Vogelin's belief of man's 
inability of KNOW REALITY?  
  Do you not see such questions of "healthy humility" and 
man's inability to KNOW REALITY involve questions of "how 
MUCH are we able to KNOW"? 
  
        [snip] 
  
 FM> (the details are more fitting to be discussed in POLITICS).  In a 
 FM> complex 
 FM> society a degree of regulation of business is not at all out of order 
 FM> and 
 FM> according to the philosophy of Adam Smith in HIS age would even be 
 FM> applauded by him.   
   
   Ah, the question isn't regulation, but one of -DEGREE-? 
At the risk of going out on a limb, even, Andrew, would 
agree, there must be -SOME- regulation, but in case you 
missed it, the argument (yours and Andrews) is one of -DEGREE-. 
   A -DEGREE- often based upon certain assumptions about 
man's ability to know or KNOW. 
   To put simply, to more one believes in man's ability to 
know or KNOW, the more one arrives at central regulation 
and vice versa. 
 
        [snip] 
 
Take care, 
John 
 
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