Subject: Re: [lojban] le/lei/la/lai ... Brutus & the rest

From: John Cowan <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 10:36:22 -0400

"Alfred W. Tueting (T|ting)" wrote:

> I'm wondering if there is a (concise?) Lojban way to be precise with
> regard to legal purposes (I'm thinking here of criminal law):
> E.g. Brutus and the rest killed Caesar. Using /le/la/ implies that
> the one or all I have in mind (i.e. each single one) committed the
> crime of stabbing a person named C. (from context here: the same
> person in one event). That's okay here, because each one was
> using his own dagger ;)

But even if not, it wouldn't have mattered legally: aiding and abetting
is just as criminal, in both (English) common law and (Roman) civil law, as
actually stabbing.

> Using /lei/lai/ instead implies that there was a party that committed
> the murder (yet not stating whether or not each member of
> the group really stabbed him, actively or only mentally supported the
> action in some way/degree - or (involved in the plan or not)
> just stood aside on the forum or did not even go there.

"lei" is a red flag that specific deductions cannot be made. To say
that the Romans (lei latmo prenu) killed Jesus, for example, does not
imply that Numerius Negidius of Londinium killed Jesus.

-- 

Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis um dies! || John Cowan <[email-masked]>
Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau, || http://www.reutershealth.com
Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau, || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
Und trank die Milch vom Paradies. -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)