Prohibitory Quotes

“Negative, or prohibitory, rules are especially appropriate to the Open Society. Prohibitory rules seem especially adept as facilitating the constant searching for, and learning about, new niches that are constitutive of the autocatalytic diversity of the Open Society. A prohibitory rule helps trim the set of eligible options open to a complying agent, but by no means determines action. There are innumerable ways of not littering (including, as Smith pointed out, by sitting still and doing nothing.) The benefit of this is that such rules, while giving others form expectations about what you will not do, nevertheless allow you to explore new possibilities.”
― Gerald F. Gaus, The Open Society and Its Complexities