Posted by special_k on March 21, 2006, at 2:30:21
In reply to Something I learned in jury duty, posted by Racer on March 20, 2006, at 11:46:19
> Basically, it was a case of "Does anyone here NOT agree [with/that] [x]?" Until we got to something someone didn't agree about, we could just keep going.
:-)
That is a really terrific idea :-)
I guess the trouble with that here is that some people might be reading along but not posting...> while I see what you're saying about moral facts, I disagree with their use because I think it's too easy to slip from something which might be universal, into something which is clearly cultural.
yeah... can be frightening where you end up at times... i take your point. of course that shouldn't happen upon ideal reflection ;-) but fact is none of us are idealised thinkers ;-)
> While torturing small children for fun might seem pretty universally rejected (I am having a lot of word finding issues these days, try to bear with me), that might lead closer and closer to the edge, until you're saying something like "spanking children for any reason should be illegal."
I would say there is an equivocation in the use of the term 'torture'. it means one thing when we agree it is universal... and then it means another when spanking children gets classified as torture (i dont like the idea of spanking children but i wouldn't try and argue that spanking children is torture...) also... i don't like the idea of spanking children for fun though i appreciate spanking children on discipline grounds is different from spanking them for fun. (and a playful wrestling smack is different from a spank>.)
but... i hear what you are saying.
your point does make sense :-)
> Keep in mind, I'm one of those who says that it's wrong to judge someone else based on culturally defined measures, if that person is not part of the same culture.though genocide? was an accepted part of nazi culture... how about (on some accounts) iran's desire to eradicate the israleis? can we not say that is wrong? i'm not iranian...
> It happened to me as a kid, too. "That's close to child abuse, giving those children alcohol!" Uh, no, it's about a spoonful of wine in our water at dinner at family dinners. It was considered appropriate to teach us to eat like the adults we would someday become. Culturally appropriate for us, but others saw it as Morally Wrong. Make sense?
yeah. makes sense. i agree that the latter eg shows insensitivity to others cultures... also... there is some evidence that teaching sensible alchohol usage (and aclimitising children to it) tends to lead to less problems with alchohol abuse etc later in life...
so... it some ways... it might even be thought to be (objectively) a better thing to be doing...
poster:special_k
thread:621784
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060304/msgs/622750.html