Something to twist your mind and belief in Q's wa
This topic was created in the Miscellaneous forum by Qbone on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 and has 1 replies.
Experimental thoughts....
1) - Imagine that scientists develop a genetically engineered pig who can speak, and whose single burning ambition/passion is to be eaten by a human being. Would vegetarians eat the pig? If not, does it show that their vegetarianism has nothing to do with consideration for animals, but is purely self-regarding?
2) - Imagines an England in the 1940s defeated and occupied by the Nazis. Many British resistance fighters have decided to become suicide bombers, in the desperate hope that they will cause enough disruption and terror to persuade Hitler to withdraw his troops. Believable? Excusable?
3) ? In our sense of self?. Suppose scientists found a way of making an exact copy of an individual?s brain and body, cell by cell. The result would be a replica of the individual, alike in every respect. But would it be the individual? If not, why not? We might say that the cells in the replica are not the same cells as those in the individual, so it is not the same person. However, as we go through life the cells in our body are continually dying and being replaced. Does this mean we are not the same person as we were a year or two back? If so, promises such as mortgage agreements or marriage vows cannot be binding, since they will be promises made not for ourselves but for someone else whom we cannot know.
4) ? In our automatic assumptions about the value of human life. Is there value in creating more human life for its own sake? Would a world crammed with the maximum number of humans, living just above starvation level, be ideal? If not, what is the moral objection to destroying living foetuses?
5) - Supposing a foolproof method of crime-aversion therapy could be perfected, which altered the chemistry of criminals? brains so that they did not offend again. Would not everyone benefit, despite the predictable howls of the civil-liberties brigade? For that matter, it might become possible for science to predict, with absolute certainty, who is going to commit a crime, and exactly what crime they are going to commit. In that case, would it not make sense to lock them up before they did it? Pre-emptive justice would not only save the victims, but also spare the criminals the remorse they might feel for crimes they would have committed. BUT?! What about human freedom and dignity?
6) - Suppose a soldier is ordered to rape and then kill an innocent woman prisoner whose only offence is to be from the wrong ethnic background. If he obeys he could, being a humane person, make the ordeal as bearable as possible for the victim. If not, he will be shot, and she will be raped and killed, probably more violently. Isn?t it better, in the circumstances, to commit rape and murder? Again, would you torture a prisoner who was withholding vital information if you knew it would avoid another illegal act? If not, aren?t you as guilty of indifference to the lives of the victims as he is?
7) - Suppose this supernatural authority call it "God "does not exist, "or has a lot to answer for if he does." An old philosophical chestnut is ?If a tree falls in a deserted forest, does it make a sound?? answer is no. It sends out airwaves of a certain frequency, but there are no ears to turn them into sound, and since God does not exist he does not hear it either. This seems a footling example, but it has important implications for matters such as the value of art. The belief that artworks have ?intrinsic? value is like the belief that the tree makes a sound. If, a deadly virus wiped out life on earth, then the world would be full of artworks, but they would have no value because there would be nobody to value them now.. Unless, of course, God existed and happened to enjoy art and sound somehow!
8) - Philosophers believe in reason/logic and seems enjoying it. But perhaps they are wrong to do so. Perha
1) - Imagine that scientists develop a genetically engineered pig who can speak, and whose single burning ambition/passion is to be eaten by a human being. Would vegetarians eat the pig? If not, does it show that their vegetarianism has nothing to do with consideration for animals, but is purely self-regarding?
2) - Imagines an England in the 1940s defeated and occupied by the Nazis. Many British resistance fighters have decided to become suicide bombers, in the desperate hope that they will cause enough disruption and terror to persuade Hitler to withdraw his troops. Believable? Excusable?
3) ? In our sense of self?. Suppose scientists found a way of making an exact copy of an individual?s brain and body, cell by cell. The result would be a replica of the individual, alike in every respect. But would it be the individual? If not, why not? We might say that the cells in the replica are not the same cells as those in the individual, so it is not the same person. However, as we go through life the cells in our body are continually dying and being replaced. Does this mean we are not the same person as we were a year or two back? If so, promises such as mortgage agreements or marriage vows cannot be binding, since they will be promises made not for ourselves but for someone else whom we cannot know.
4) ? In our automatic assumptions about the value of human life. Is there value in creating more human life for its own sake? Would a world crammed with the maximum number of humans, living just above starvation level, be ideal? If not, what is the moral objection to destroying living foetuses?
5) - Supposing a foolproof method of crime-aversion therapy could be perfected, which altered the chemistry of criminals? brains so that they did not offend again. Would not everyone benefit, despite the predictable howls of the civil-liberties brigade? For that matter, it might become possible for science to predict, with absolute certainty, who is going to commit a crime, and exactly what crime they are going to commit. In that case, would it not make sense to lock them up before they did it? Pre-emptive justice would not only save the victims, but also spare the criminals the remorse they might feel for crimes they would have committed. BUT?! What about human freedom and dignity?
6) - Suppose a soldier is ordered to rape and then kill an innocent woman prisoner whose only offence is to be from the wrong ethnic background. If he obeys he could, being a humane person, make the ordeal as bearable as possible for the victim. If not, he will be shot, and she will be raped and killed, probably more violently. Isn?t it better, in the circumstances, to commit rape and murder? Again, would you torture a prisoner who was withholding vital information if you knew it would avoid another illegal act? If not, aren?t you as guilty of indifference to the lives of the victims as he is?
7) - Suppose this supernatural authority call it "God "does not exist, "or has a lot to answer for if he does." An old philosophical chestnut is ?If a tree falls in a deserted forest, does it make a sound?? answer is no. It sends out airwaves of a certain frequency, but there are no ears to turn them into sound, and since God does not exist he does not hear it either. This seems a footling example, but it has important implications for matters such as the value of art. The belief that artworks have ?intrinsic? value is like the belief that the tree makes a sound. If, a deadly virus wiped out life on earth, then the world would be full of artworks, but they would have no value because there would be nobody to value them now.. Unless, of course, God existed and happened to enjoy art and sound somehow!
8) - Philosophers believe in reason/logic and seems enjoying it. But perhaps they are wrong to do so. Perha
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Experimental thoughts....
:)
1) - Imagine that scientists develop a genetically engineered pig who can speak, and whose single burning ambition/passion is to be eaten by a human being. Would vegetarians eat the pig? If not
:)
1) - Imagine that scientists develop a genetically engineered pig who can speak, and whose single burning ambition/passion is to be eaten by a human being. Would vegetarians eat the pig? If not
@Qbone
Joined: Jan 18, 2005 · Topics: 756 · Posts: 13612
Tis St. David's Day so don the traditionally worn leek in your hat all Welshpersons do. you will smell like an onion but you will have good luck all year. Drink to the great celtic saint and remember ignore me I'm Welsh.
@james tate
Joined: Jan 18, 2005 · Topics: 830 · Posts: 15387
My cancer man has come back into my life again!!!! After my last post (cancer men - help needed!) i had not spoken to my Cancer Man. During this time he has given me a few missed calls which i have ignored. Anyway last week i get an abusive phone call
@VenusLady
Joined: Oct 27, 2005 · Topics: 29 · Posts: 207
If I'm understanding correctly, I should not tell him that I am in love with him even if I am, because if I do, he will lose interest in the chase since he doesnt feel the same for me.....yet?
Sounds like a risky place to be, I know I'm naive and
Sounds like a risky place to be, I know I'm naive and
@WoundedLove
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 · Topics: 2 · Posts: 22
@sunnynight
Joined: Feb 28, 2006 · Topics: 47 · Posts: 250
Who started this trend and why? I am refering the spectacle that is women of all ass shapes and sizes thinking that it is stylish to have a string thong ostensibly showing under their trousers or jeans. Actually they normally hook it around their hip bone
@MellowDee
Joined: Jan 18, 2005 · Topics: 128 · Posts: 3881
I came across this subject on a thread written by shaiessence (I need to vent). and I also need to vent!
Moody- I tell him is being a grouch, and that he is wrecking my good mood, or tell him I am leaving.
Question? Is it possible to put
Moody- I tell him is being a grouch, and that he is wrecking my good mood, or tell him I am leaving.
Question? Is it possible to put
@Wheretomylady
Joined: Dec 11, 2005 · Topics: 10 · Posts: 174
Like a baby, or a new lover. I look at parents all proud saying they LOVE their baby, and then I look at parents who hate their kids and abuse them and make stupid decisions. Or lovers that change their mind a year later, or stay around only because they
@taurusgoddess
Joined: May 03, 2005 · Topics: 601 · Posts: 4058
The Sullivan Attachment Style Test
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=6382010477389628673
The Secure
You scored 52% Security, 29% Avoidance, and 23% Anxiousness!
Hey baby, you so fine baby!
You are that warm, nougaty
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=6382010477389628673
The Secure
You scored 52% Security, 29% Avoidance, and 23% Anxiousness!
Hey baby, you so fine baby!
You are that warm, nougaty
@Aquarianna
Joined: Sep 14, 2005 · Topics: 16 · Posts: 435
Hey,
I wanted to know that whether the bulls are perfect match for us goats.
Please give some suggestions.
I wanted to know that whether the bulls are perfect match for us goats.
Please give some suggestions.
@MaleCapricorn21
Joined: Feb 27, 2006 · Topics: 1 · Posts: 7