[chezlaw]

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I only heard Dawkins talk for a few minutes in an interview (hope I can catch the rerun - interesting chap) and he seems to feel the same as you, chez.

Two things:


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Could any rational person want to cause needless suffering?


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Ignoring the question for a minute, what about those that are not rational? The insane for example - or those that simply chose not to be rational.

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Insane probably, in the same way the insane could believe they are Napolean or 2+2=5.

Pretending to be insane doesn't make any difference. Someone who pretends to believe they are Napolean, doesn't believe they are Napolean. Similarly, someone who pretends not to recognise that needless suffering is wrong does recognise that needless suffering is wrong.

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What about “needed” suffering? If I need you to suffer for a bit so I can experiment on your brain - is that ok? Or some other extreme (even not so extreme) example.

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I don't pretend to have nearly all the answers, I'm not even claiming that the initial bit is true, but I think it depends [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

It may not even depend, the answer may just be no (its the answer I like the most)

That Dawkins chap is too clever by half.

chez