philosophical writings: October 2006
It's Always Raining...(filosofia)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Elephants recognise themselves

I just read an article in the guardian about the ability of elephants to recognise themselves in a mirror.

That's great! Another animal added to the list of 'self-aware beings'. But is a test of self-recognition in the mirror the only way to test this? I mean, vanity can't be the only factor in deciding that a creature is able to know itself, is it?

What would happen if it was discovered that cows, sheep, chickens, etc, had an ability to recognise themselves as a 'person' with future plans, past memories, etc? How can we KNOW that they don't? Peter Singer argues that they probably don't - and even humans up to the age of 2 don't. But we certainly don't eat 2 year old infants.

And why? Well... a desire not to suffer plays a huge role. So how is it that humans continue to justify eating meat, given that we know that all sentient beings have a desire atleast not to suffer? Are we really so selfish that we can continue to kill pigs, milk cows by attaching them to machines all their lives, coop up chickens so that they cannot move?

How can we treat creatures that all have a desire to not suffer as means to our own dietary ends, which, might I add, are not even necessary dietary ends?

What I wish for humanity: That one day, we'll all be kinder.

fon @ 9:20 PM link to post * *

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Morality, Happiness and Freedom: The Role of a Monarch in a Modern Nation-State

The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from ... [dealers] … ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined ... [because they] ... have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public.
Adam Smith


In order to discuss the concept of freedom, it is important to ask first what it is that an individual would be free to do. One view of freedom is that it means being able to do what one wants to do. This is the "primitive" view of freedom, or negative freedom as proposed by writers such as Mills and Locke: "Liberty, 'tis plain, consists in a power to do or not to do; to do or forbear doing as we will."

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fon @ 12:59 AM link to post * *