On Monday, December 22, 2014, Samiya Illias <samiyaill...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On 22-Dec-2014, at 11:20 am, Stathis Papaioannou <stath...@gmail.com > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','stath...@gmail.com');>> wrote: > > > > On Monday, 22 December 2014, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','meeke...@verizon.net');>> wrote: > >> On 12/21/2014 5:09 PM, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >> >> >> >> On Monday, December 22, 2014, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au> >> wrote: >> >>> Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> On Monday, December 22, 2014, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au >>>> <mailto:bhkell...@optusnet.com.au>> wrote: >>>> >>>> John Clark wrote: >>>> >>>> On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 , Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au >>>> > >>>> 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. > > Murder is bad because life is a sacred gift! Even a homeless person > deserves to live his/her life. Who knows, the homeless person may be > happier than someone living in a palace. > Samiya > > What if life were not a sacred gift, but a phenomenon in a godless universe with no meaning outside of itself? Would murder be OK then? -- 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
