tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post8255344208510833330..comments2023-10-14T09:40:06.690-05:00Comments on Jean Kazez: Should We Aim for Extinction?Jean Kazezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-26412314830658727472010-05-31T10:26:43.195-05:002010-05-31T10:26:43.195-05:00Very true--that's an interesting movie.Very true--that's an interesting movie.Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-37894292506108260282010-05-30T19:36:55.814-05:002010-05-30T19:36:55.814-05:00This sounds a little like the movie/book Children...This sounds a little like the movie/book Children of Men.crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05681674503952991492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-6030081186505776522010-05-28T10:32:04.451-05:002010-05-28T10:32:04.451-05:00my intuition tells me: we strive to behave in the ...my intuition tells me: we strive to behave in the best possible way. <br />this creates and interesting asymmetry<br /><br />1) I cannot say an action is "good" just because there were worse alternatives<br /><br />2) I can say an action is "bad" if I see that there was at least one better alternative.<br />So, we cannot accept the murderer that says "hey I just killed chigionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-18854641216781605662010-05-28T10:13:21.786-05:002010-05-28T10:13:21.786-05:00On the "Eating animals the nice way" (by...On the "Eating animals the nice way" (by Jeff McMahan, reviewed by Parfit) pdf posted some days ago there was this relevant paragraph:<br /><br />"(There is, however, a deep, unresolved<br />problem here. Although we deny that<br />there is a signifcant impersonal reason<br />to cause individuals to exist because<br />their lives would be good, we accept<br />that there is a chigionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-62546838805986011782010-05-27T21:45:10.849-05:002010-05-27T21:45:10.849-05:00I do find it absurd, but Benatar's a smart guy...I do find it absurd, but Benatar's a smart guy, so I'm trying to think what his response would be.Jean Kazeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-67543470567067300542010-05-27T18:15:32.182-05:002010-05-27T18:15:32.182-05:00That does seem like a reductio to me.
You don'...<i>That does seem like a reductio to me.</i><br /><br />You don't find it absurd that every world is equal in value to every other world? What counts as absurd, then? :)Mike Almeidahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12001511002085064198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-21039817907196279432010-05-27T17:51:22.759-05:002010-05-27T17:51:22.759-05:00You are probably familiar with the Voluntary Human...You are probably familiar with the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.<br />http://www.vhemt.org/<br />VHEMT is predicated on the idea that it's better for the planet that we don't exist and we should do the right thing: live long and die out. That's not the same as Benatar's reason.<br /><br />Writing about euthanasia and what makes a life worth living, Philippa Foot says:<br />Taylornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-61890257003395523272010-05-27T17:23:08.611-05:002010-05-27T17:23:08.611-05:00What if we put in other terms? Instead of contras...What if we put in other terms? Instead of contrasting pain and absence of pain, we contrast life and non-life. I think that most people would opt for life, even though life contains pain and suffering. By the way, reducing human life to pain and pleasure is an extraordinarily reductionist view of human existence. In human existence, inspite of the pain, most of us have projects, s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-54320675391472546222010-05-27T16:20:09.519-05:002010-05-27T16:20:09.519-05:00That does seem like a reductio to me. I'm curi...That does seem like a reductio to me. I'm curious how Benatar would respond, or if he's responded to a similar objection in print.Jean Kazeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-31059434046268462482010-05-27T15:12:00.073-05:002010-05-27T15:12:00.073-05:00Absent pain is good, even if no one's experien...<i>Absent pain is good, even if no one's experiencing the absence</i><br /><br />Baffling. Absent pain, I gather, is possible, non-actual, pain. But ow much pain might there have been? Undeniably, an infinitely large amount, since surely there might have been infinitely many (more) people suffering a bit. So every possible world is infinitely valuable (given all the pain that does not obtain)Mike Almeidahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12001511002085064198noreply@blogger.com