By: David Lansky
I find it interesting that we are taught from a young age to ignore the spiritual side of ourselves and only to be concerned with the physical. The phrase used most often is “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can never harm you.” This is a fantastic legal principle, upholding the sanctity of the body and the physical world. However it is a poor moral principle. Some of the deepest and longest lasting wounds a person can suffer are from the words and sentiments of other people.
I disagree, even in a Rosenbaumian View. There is truth in the phrase, “sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can never harm you,” but only if the hateful names came after you were already killed by a bunch of sticks and stones.
The only thing immoral about Thane Rosenbaum’s book “The Myth of Moral Justice” is that more law schools do not require its students to read it.