When I do something in a private context (kiss someone, make a will, offer help), I can count on that "something" getting a small range of responses, interpretations -- being put to a small and controllable number of uses. When I do something in public, I should expect that it will elicit all the possible responses and that it will be used in all the possible ways. And when I make a law, I should figure that those engaging with that law will do all the things that can be done with it, including especially: exploiting it for their personal profit and using it to subvert the intentions for which it was proposed.
So, when I do something in a private context, it is relevant for me to say: "this is what I intended." That is an excuse, when my action goes astray. When I do something in public, to say: "this is what I intended" is partly just beside the point: public actions need to take account of the multiple interpretations and responses that the public generates. And the information about the intent of a law is even less interesting. One wants to know how that law works as furniture in a room inhabited by many different people.
Of course, it is tempting to judge our own actions by their intentions and everybody else's by their effects.
Posted by shea0017 at October 24, 2004 10:32 PM