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Originally Posted by Zaqarbal
OK, but I meant life in a broader sense (not just "being alive"). And in an intergenerational way. A famous Latin aphorism says: Ars longa, vita brevis ("Art is long, life is short"). ...
All the above is a consequence of the awareness of Death. We humans know that we are going to die sooner or later.
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I understand now what you meant. Thank you for explaining.
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Originally Posted by Zaqarbal
B]the analogy animals-replicants is very relevant, enlightening and beautiful,[/B] but it's not 100% exact. Anyway, I really like it, and I'm sure that everybody will draw interesting conclusions from it. By the way, movie takes place in Los Angeles, but in Philip K. Dick's novel the city in question is San Francisco. That is Saint Francis. Interesting, isn't it?
I know what you mean. But, as regards me, you don't have to worry.  As an admirer of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, I always bear in mind the basic principle. That is: as a general rule, when discussing treatment of animals, the number-one criterion is "can they suffer?" The question is not, Do sheep dream of androids? but, Do sheep have nightmares about humans? |
Yes, "Can they suffer?" is a question I also ask myself.
I like your new version of the title of the book upon which the movie "Blade Runner" was based. I wonder if the novel's setting was intentional, as the reference to Saint Francis does bring up the issue of compassion toward sentient beings, since he was reputed to care greatly about animals and consider them worth "saving" in a spiritual sense. Probably the symbolism of San Francisco's name wasn't lost on the author.
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Originally Posted by tore
If anything, you are supposed to eat meat. Being a healthy vegetarian takes a lot more effort than being a healthy meat eater.
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Oh?
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Originally Posted by tore
If someone cried and begged me not to kill the fish, I would also feel a moral obligation towards that person.
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Then I think you are kinder than most people, Tore.
No meat-eaters I've met have ever appeared to show a pang of conscience due to emotional pain I have felt as they cause my distant relatives to suffer or partake in eating those animals' bodies. In fact, the opposite sometimes appears true: the more emotionally perturbed I am by what they do, the more callous they become.
My bursting into tears when a relative brought home a pheasant he shot didn't end his pursuit of hunting as a pleasure sport. Killing animals is great fun, after all.
My bursting into tears at a restaurant after relatives ordered lobsters, who I knew were boiled alive before they were brought dead to the table, didn't affect the people at all.
My shouting, "Please stop! You're scaring her!" as relatives manhandled a frightened, bleating baby goat (a new playtoy for a 4-year-old boy to practice roping on) had no effect.
The impression I get is that most people care about neither the animals nor about any person's emotional pain over how mercilessly the people treat them.