There’s a similar problem with defining “pornography”, but one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions managed to rule on it, saying “I know it when I see it.”
It also doesn’t matter whether it’s an attainable goal. For a famous current example, the 2nd Amendment says the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.” There’s famously, and problematically, no exceptions, depending on how you read the “militia” part. Yet how many people are arguing that, for example, violent criminals currently serving prison terms should be allowed weapons inside prisons? The whole constitution, as is, is only followed as much as it can reasonably be followed.
No, the important thing isn’t whether a lofty goal can be achieved, but that obvious violations can be detected and punished. And that as long as we have a lofty goal, we can continue to aim to better ourselves and try to achieve the goal at some point in the future.
There’s a similar problem with defining “pornography”, but one of the most famous Supreme Court decisions managed to rule on it, saying “I know it when I see it.”
It also doesn’t matter whether it’s an attainable goal. For a famous current example, the 2nd Amendment says the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.” There’s famously, and problematically, no exceptions, depending on how you read the “militia” part. Yet how many people are arguing that, for example, violent criminals currently serving prison terms should be allowed weapons inside prisons? The whole constitution, as is, is only followed as much as it can reasonably be followed.
No, the important thing isn’t whether a lofty goal can be achieved, but that obvious violations can be detected and punished. And that as long as we have a lofty goal, we can continue to aim to better ourselves and try to achieve the goal at some point in the future.