<<snipped>> I agree; the logic is impeccable. But if the first premise of an argument is no more than an assertion/belief, the logic is worthless. <<snipped>> Yes - if the first premise falls, then it is clear the rest of the argument is worthless. That's why I put "logic" in quotes. However - there is no real point in saying - "Our ancestors were wrong because ..." It's much more valuable to try to understand why they thought as they did, which was what I was trying to explain. It's anachronistic to talk in terms of genetics and blood relationships. The first was unknown then and I'm not sure the second doesn't lead us into more widespread problems with the further degrees of cousinship. Adrian B

A very interesting discussion, for my part I would like to observe that it is surely, (no matter what the “Law” proclaimed) what the people, consciously or sub-consciously, believed and practised that mattered? I sometimes think that we fail to take into account the deep-seated beliefs and influence of contemporaries and parents, the prevailing social, religious and moral beliefs and mores of our ancestors. For example in my own lifetime, (born 1946) the prevailing “social, religious and moral beliefs and mores” of marriage have changed beyond what I thought “right” when I was, say, 23 when I married: now I learn that more couples are living together before marriage than there are married, unthinkable in 1969! Andrew-Bede On 23 Jan 2014, at 17:19, Adrian Bruce <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > > <<snipped>> > I agree; the logic is impeccable. But if the first premise of an argument is > > no more than an assertion/belief, the logic is worthless. > <<snipped>> > > Yes - if the first premise falls, then it is clear the rest of the argument > is worthless. That's why I put "logic" in quotes. > > However - there is no real point in saying - "Our ancestors were wrong > because ..." It's much more valuable to try to understand why they thought > as they did, which was what I was trying to explain. It's anachronistic to > talk in terms of genetics and blood relationships. The first was unknown > then and I'm not sure the second doesn't lead us into more widespread > problems with the further degrees of cousinship. > > Adrian B > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message