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Beaten with logic



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David J Hollingdale (Letters, 8 May) accuses Alan Grant (Letters, 6 May) of expounding "illogical nonsense" because Mr Grant blames being belted at school for not becoming a model citizen. It is likely that Mr Grant grew to despise authority, not because his teachers regularly hit him, although that was bad enough, but because he was unjustly punished for being left-handed and this may well be a root cause of his self-confessed slide into juvenile delinquency and criminal
Perhaps a better example of illogical nonsense may be found in Mr Hollingdale's earlier missive, (Letters, 2 May), where he says my opposition to corporal punishment means I am happy for knife-wielding children to be hunting in gangs. He also said he has a "healthy respect for authority". That surely means he must respect a decision taken over 20 years ago to outlaw corporal punishment. Now, that's what I call logic.

MALCOLM W EWEN

Ferryhills Road

North Queensferry, Fife





The full article contains 163 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 May 2008 8:15 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Stuart W,

13/05/2008 01:44:55
The letter writer's closing comments imply that no one should argue against any decision taken by the authorities.

Not very logical, and not very democratic either.
2

Gilbert McAdam,

Manila 13/05/2008 05:41:29
The writer seems to confuse respect for authority with mindless agreement with that authority. But respect for authority is perfectly compatible with disagreeing with it and lawfully seeking change. Even unlawful disobedience to a particular authority is not inconsistent with the principle if that disobedience is justified by respect for a higher authority.
3

Rudi Hucker,

Uddingston 13/05/2008 09:36:56
Mr Ewen does not say in his letter that mindless agreement is required - merely a respect for laws passed by the authorities. Agreement with such laws is not mandatory, but adherence to them is, until such time as they may be changed or repealed.
4

G,

dundy 13/05/2008 13:03:32
Come on, you can't expect those who support the use of violence to prevent violence to understand, never mind use, logic.
No one working in education wants the return of the belt, it is irrelevant.
5

Stuart W,

13/05/2008 14:11:28
#3 Rudi

So who was advocating non-adherence with the law?

I didn't notice anyone in the ongoing correspondence doing so.

 

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