Re: morality WAS: virus: bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Robin Faichney (robin@faichney.demon.co.uk)
Sun, 2 Aug 1998 13:17:36 +0100
In message <3.0.3.32.19980802021431.008d0a80@mailhost.ais.net>, Bob
Hartwig <hartwig@ais.net> writes
>
>I can accept that minimizing our own suffering is desirable on purely
>practical grounds. We're here because our ancestors minimized their
>suffering at the hands of predators, after all. When you discuss
>minimizing suffering *in general*, presumably including the suffering of
>others, how can you consider that outside the realm of morality?
*We're* here because *our* ancestors minimized their suffering.
But don't you know that if you go back far enough, just about
every human that existed then is an ancestor of your's? Where
do you draw the line between "them" and "us"? My view is, there
ain't no such line. The best way, in purely practical terms, to
minimize "your own" suffering (even if "your own" can be clearly
defined) is to do what you can to minimize all suffering.
--
Robin