Originally Posted by
The_Child
then you terribly have a misconception of what Ethics is if you consider, granting that it is true, that the motivation and justification for human survival is not ethical.
you misconstrue that ethics is those humane, cute stuff. The very principle that guides laissez-faire capitalism is the ethics of Selfishness best propounded by Ayn Rand which was inspired by the Austrian School of Economics. Being selfish, is a ethical justification. see.
I don't know how many times I have to explain to you what ethics per se and what ethic is in broad terms as you want it to be described or connect. and what's that Randian rambling that you're talking have to do with the whales and the dolphins?
Again spare us your philosophical annotations The_Child...the fight against the whale hunters will never be won by the amount of personalities you quote or by the philosophies you read. Show me facts that your philosophy is going to be that panacea to preserve the whaledom or dolphindom or at least change the minds of Danish or Japanish whale hunters. Just give one of your favorite philosophies that will override the thinking of environmentalists that this whale/dolphin killings is not an issue of the environment but merely an issue of wrong philosophy and i will rest my case.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
and there is no such thing as primordial calling, and if there is such a thing as a primordial calling the very word primordial has already disqualified itself in the context of an issue as complicated as this issue. the primordial issue might be related to first level needs, but when you extend the primordial calling to the complexity of the late logic capitalism, the state we are now, it totally become stale - that is, unintelligible in our situation.
Who says so, you? So survival is not primordial and ethics is? Come on. I thought you know your philosophy The_Child. Since when did man know his ethics more than his survival instinct. Interesting but ridiculous. I'm sorry...
Originally Posted by
The_Child
the second statement is a rash conclusion, who could you even prove even by theory that ethical issues are not considered in policy-making, again if such is so, people in manila as far as our country is concern should not bother offering diploma courses in Bio-Ethics, to say the least. So if it is not ETHICS PER SE, what in god's name do you consider Ethics to be? pure abstractions? which is of course the total opposite of ethics - ethics is practice for the most part.
Don't put your words into my mouth. All I'm saying is that at this point you can't invoke ethics as a strong argument to influence global policy to save the whales. And if we did, whose ethics is this going to be, yours? or that bearded man named Mr. Bungoton? Come on The_Child, you can't stick your nose to your philosophy books when this issue stares you at the belly, can you? Remember, utilitarianism?...this is how this fight is going to be fought.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
am i joking?
i leave it to your interpretation. but really, i do not see the humor in it. but then again, who am i to judge what humor must be.
excuse my honesty, i thought you were.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
so whoever said im trying to solve the whale-hunting issue, all i am saying is that the issue is an ethical issue. I do not have a messianic complex of saving the whales and dolphins, and also, i am not a tree-hugger, or a whale-lover neither am i captain ahab.
You can fight it that way. But then again, it is just unfortunate that environmentalists are not going to fight the whale hunters by such complex issues between your and my ethics. Because it's lame. The fight, for the whales/dolphins, is to be reckoned by facts -- their impact to the very survival of the ecosystem not just the dolphins or the whales but to humans in the long term. And as I have said, this may sound "ethical" to you but this is not ethical per se.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
a fair share alot. but philosopher does not help solve particular problems sir, rarely do they do that,
what they do sir, is to present a principle, formulation that reverberates not merely in particular issues but universal issues - such that philosophers fair share in this whale-hunting issue is the formulation of justification that motivates human beings to rethink our actions. Animal rights did not came out from a biologist practicing biology, it came from persons with a fetish for ideas who wrote down the justification for safeguarding animal rights. nada!
As you admit, yes philosophers do not offer practical answers. But I don't see their value at this point to provide practical answers to an impending/urgent problem. Let the facts of the case (impact to the environment) be known straight than reflect on the ethics of it.
The fetish for ideas you mentioned isn't only the monopoly of philosophers alone. The idea of the animal rights wouldn't have been won if such ideas weren't shared by people. But then again, no matter how voluminous the philosophical principles embedded in the animal rights policy...the point of contention between scientists and whale-hunters isn't really about animal rights alone as I have said... this is an issue of the environment.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
oh yeh, philosophy is suppose to be scientific, and that science is suppose to be govern by philosophy. how? philosophy clarifies terms, the terms used in the sciences, are filtered by philosophy.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Can you experiment Metaphysics/Ontology, Ethics? The only part science CLEARLY AGREES with Philosophy is logic. Period.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
so you cannot say or imply that russell frowns at philosophy, as merely something different and perhaps inferior to the sciences, exactly the opposite. thats why he is a philosopher above all, and then a mathematician. noteworthy; the similarities between philosophy and mathematics is its critical quality and precision and yet remains to be abstract.
So i still dont get the value of the quote in this context.
You will find no value in Russell's wisdom when one refuses to find that distinction between science and philosophy. That is what that quote is supposed to mean.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
remember that environmentalists are motivated to act not because they feel like it, but rather because they have rational justification for their actions - ethics.
Ethics maybe or just one of them. The larger calling or as i have said the "primordial justification" is survival. And that is the very statement they want to echo.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
really i dont care if people mis-appreciate philosophy or literature or the humanities, that is a given i have long known. the point is not about mis-appreciation but rather of the leaving important notions behind in the issue.
And it will always be mis-appreciated when philosophy comes at the wrong place and at the wrong time.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
We have to remember the limitations of science, what the empirical sciences gives are purely data, it is left to the human sciences to give meaning on these data.
Wow...that sweeps me for the second time. Just as when man learned to map accurately his very own anatomy down to the last strand of his own DNA now you're saying we just entrust these data to the very people in the human sciences (like the philosophers) who don't even have the slightest clue as to what a mitochondria means.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
So what does science care if the dolphins go extinct? nothing. it is us, human being, who cares if they go extinct, why we care depends on the principles that we use: whether it is useful to us in the future or because we recognize the worth of every single dolphin to life.
Science wouldn't have been the first to come out in the open if it didn't care at all. Unfortunately you can't push that manner of care to people in the physical sciences as people would in the humanities. So its best you just leave them both alone.
Originally Posted by
The_Child
p.s i still do not understand why you insist that policy-making frowns at ethics. really i dont, when people and foundations funds institutions to do just that, ethical oversight and research on contemporary issues. which among other things have very powerful political repercussions.
I DID NOT SAY that.
What I'm saying is ... at this point, to argue on the side of ethics/animal rights may not be the correct approach to win this battle against whale hunting. We all know that there is no difference killing a roach by the shoe and killing the whale by the spear...that's why global policy makers need to approach the issue on the environment to make a good case... and this is heart of the issue.