On 8/7/2014 5:21 AM, Telmo Menezes wrote:



On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 8:58 PM, meekerdb <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    On 8/6/2014 7:02 AM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy wrote:



    On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 3:58 AM, meekerdb <[email protected]
    <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:


        What does level of substitution have to do with it.  You've defined the 
correct
        level substitution as one below which consciousness is unchanged.  So 
the the
        definition already requires that we know what it means for a 
consciousness to
        be the same, i.e. unchanged.



        Then the 1p recognizance criteria is very simple. All the copies are 
declared
        the same person as the one copied, except that now they differentiate.

        And that can help to understand that we are all already the same person,
        having multiplied and differentiate.

        I guess it would if I were a copy of somebody.




        Then computer science shows that there is indeed a universal notion of 
first
        person, given by the knowability (non arithmetic) operator, provided by 
the
        definition of knowledge by Theaetetus.

        Having a notion of person doesn't imply that all persons are the same 
person.


    I don't see why all the convolution in this thread around ambiguity of 
notion of
    person is required. It just makes unnecessarily complex what seems 
ambiguous at the
    start.

    Assume some emergence phenomenon and you risk reductionism at fundamental 
problem
    of identity, and the usual fascisms of discrimination can follow. Assume 
some
    universal person and you aren't a step further dealing with problems of 
evil and
    difference.

    What "universal person" has that "emergence" doesn't is a reason to foster 
empathy
    in fundamental/primitive sense, underneath some utility derivative from 
evolution,
    as is the case with some emergence interpretations. But does this even 
matter?

    The Bee Gees made approximation of stating this ambiguity and sold millions 
of
    records with the kitschy:

    How deep is your love
    I really need to learn
    'Cause we're living in a world of fools
    Breaking us down
    When they all should let us be
    We belong to you and me

    And because it's a kitschy song, no need to take literally or feel smart :-)

    Like Telmo said, if I recall correctly, it's super easy to fall into taking 
sides
    on these issues without knowing it... which I guess I do too.

    emergence->reductionism->fascism wholism->empathy  Yeah, I guess you do.  
But you
    overlook that the fascists regarded the state as a superorganism so that 
each person
    was part of the same "being", while the liberal democracies held that 
individuals
    are the locus of values.


Then surely a liberal democracy is incompatible with drug prohibition or total surveillance, correct?

That wouldn't follow just from the idea that individuals are locus of values. You would have to add that individuals are the sole judges of what is good for themselves. I think that's a very good principle, but not an absolute one. We don't, for example, suppose it applies to children. There are some good reasons to prohibit or discourage very addictive and harmful drugs (e.g. tobacco) because once addicted a person may not be the best judge of what it good for themself.

Total surveillance is compatible with persons being the locus of values and with being the best judge of their own good. If surveillance were used *only* suppress violent crime and to rescue people from accidents, what would be the objection? The problem is that it amplifies the power of the community to impose conformity, and people are not very good at forgoing the use of power.

Brent

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