Rules The notion that rules and general principles can govern our choices and also our politics is a compelling one. But what does it mean to adhere to such rules and principles? We’d like to think that rules have independent power and intrinsic force, but that view is difficult to defend under fire. After all, virtually all rules have exceptions. Sometimes it is moral to lie in order to save innocent victims from their persecutors, to cite one classic example from moral philosophy. When we decide whether and when to break a given rule, we’re back to judging individual cases, which is what
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