Quote:
Originally Posted by The Batlord
If the public thinks something is good then how do you prove it's evil? How do you use utilitarianism to show suffering when people will just say it's not suffering or that the joy will outweigh suffering? Is it suffering when you punish a child? Is it suffering when black people don't feel pain the same way whites do? Is it suffering if you're bringing them civilization and salvation?
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I don't know. I tend to think of people at large as
idiots and I don't do much of anything. You berate people on forums. Others make documentaries or write songs? You know know as much about this as I do.
The old idea that black people don't feel as much pain is, of course, a utilitarian argument. About bringing salvation and civilization, those are not utilitarian arguments but probably rather religious and I guess normative virtue ethics or something. Christians sometimes like to think of suffering as a virtue and punishment as something that shapes virtue, so that could be on them too.
edit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trollheart
I don't think I could live in your cynical world. Maybe certain factors drive my altruism/selflessness, but I prefer to think that it's just because I'm a good person. And if you don't agree, I'll come and burn down your house.  |
I think it's easy to misunderstand me at first because if I write that our basic behaviours are selfish, then it sounds like everyone's wringing their hands and snickering evilly all the time. But of course that's not what I mean..