On 10/1/2017 6:59 AM, Stephen C. Rose wrote:
The number of values to which all should subscribe is very few -- I make them to be tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy in the widest sense.
I agree that those values are both important and universal. But they are complex goals. According to Peirce's insistence on continuity, they should be derivable from something simpler. Among humans in "primitive" societies, the natural tendency is to welcome visitors. And by the way, I put the word 'primitive' in quotes because the so-called primitive societies developed from 100,000 years of experience by Homo sapiens, who built on at least 2 million years of genus Homo, who built on a few billion years of living things. Fundamental principle of life: Survival alone is impossible. Free swimming bacteria are extremely vulnerable, but their chances are immensely better in large colonies. Many plants and animals develop defensive mechanisms and even poisons. But they limit the potency to avoid destroying their ecosystems. The values of tolerance, helpfulness, democracy and other ethical principles can be derived from the fundamental principle: we need our friends and neighbors of all species. Even the ones we fear or despise may have their value for helping some of our friends. However, there is a struggle for existence, especially when the resources are limited. That tends to promote the contrary goals of greed, expulsion of trouble makers, and tribal affiliations to the exclusion or hostility toward other tribes. That counter tendency can be addressed in two ways: (1) reduce population by means of war, or (2) increase resources by means of cooperation and conservation. John
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