> > Yes, but the fundamental flaw in this reasoning is that is makes the > assumption that the person crafting the inscription on the grave stone > has the same belief about life after death and/or about the purpose of > the gravestone. It's entirely possible that the person responsible for > the inscription could share only one or neither of those belief sets. > They could believe in life after death and yet have the purpose of the > inscription be solely to fulfill their own internal desire for > "closure" (which would be "for the benefit of the living" but not for > the benefit of the living that others seem to believe it's for). Any > assumption you make about the inscription which is predicated with any > belief of yours will have no bearing whatsoever on the actual intent > because it's not your inscription or your set of beliefs behind it. So > it doesn't matter if I happen to know that Schiavo is an atheist -- > that doesn't help me understand the inscription. You're at best > guessing and at worst slandering (which will naturally become "Schiavo > said he only wrote that on the headstone to stick it to her parents" > the next time someone else repeats it). > > (Jim: the last sentence wasn't directed at you. :) >
And the flaw in your reasoning is that intent precludes the sensitivity of the result. Making no assumptions or opinions as to the INTENT of the inscription, one can still say the RESULT is insensitive toward her parents. Knowing Michael's intent doesn't really have any bearing on whether the inscription lacked sensitivity toward other parties involved. Knowing Michael's intent would only tell us whether the result of his inscription, whatever it may be, was intentional or not. Thusly, why can't someone make the argument that the inscription is insensitive toward the parents, without making any claim as to Michael's beliefs or intentions? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:161401 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
