On Monday, 22 December 2014, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > On 12/21/2014 5:09 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > > > > On Monday, December 22, 2014, Bruce Kellett <[email protected] > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');>> wrote: > >> Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >> >>> >>> On Monday, December 22, 2014, Bruce Kellett <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> John Clark wrote: >>> >>> On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 , Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> >An instinct for self-preservation is unrelated to whether or >>> not >>> you have a fear of death, or of oblivion >>> >>> Unrelated?? Don't be ridiculous! Why the hell do you imagine >>> Evolution >>> invented the fear of death in the first place? >>> >>> >>> Evolution did not "invent a fear of death". That is purely cultural, >>> and is not even associated with consciousness -- it comes only with >>> self-awareness and an inner narrative. Evolution gave living things >>> an instinct for self-preservation. But you can have such an instinct >>> operating healthily and still not fear death. Fear of death probably >>> comes from a fear of the unknown, and is linked to the fear of >>> prolonged suffering. But oblivion is oblivion -- it is not something >>> to be feared because no-one has ever experienced it, or can ever >>> experience it. >>> >>> >>> Following that reasoning, do you believe there is nothing wrong with >>> murder? >>> >> >> How on earth did you get that from what I said? >> > > If there's nothing wrong with oblivion, and murder leads to oblivion, > then there's nothing wrong with murder. > > > There's nothing wrong with having a lot of money, and bank robbery leads > to having a lot of money, then there's nothing wrong with bank robbery. >
Yes, but I did qualify it in a subsequent email with "unless you can think of a worse effect [than oblivion] of murder". You could have a go at thinking of a worse effect: Murder is bad because it breaks God's commandment - but then it would not be bad if if you didn't believe in God. Murder is bad because it causes suffering in the person being murdered - but then it would not be bad if you could murder someone without causing suffering, for example by killing them quickly in their sleep. Murder is bad because of the loss felt by the family and friends of the victim - but then it wouldn't be bad if you murdered a homeless person whom nobody would miss. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
