RE: Does human life have value?
June 21, 2015 at 5:02 pm
(This post was last modified: June 21, 2015 at 5:09 pm by Catholic_Lady.)
(June 21, 2015 at 5:01 pm)Rhythm Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 4:19 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Are you able to explain why you think human life has inherent value, and how you came to that conclusion?
Explain as in provide rational justification...or explain as in describe the biological situation that creates this situation? Human life, btw, to me - the most valuable thing in existence, if for no other reason......than that I enjoy the hell out of mine. You?
You can do both. :-)
(June 21, 2015 at 5:01 pm)Rhythm Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 4:19 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Are you able to explain why you think human life has inherent value, and how you came to that conclusion?
Explain as in provide rational justification...or explain as in describe the biological situation that creates this situation? Human life, btw, to me - the most valuable thing in existence, if for no other reason......than that I enjoy the hell out of mine. You?
Me what?
(June 21, 2015 at 5:01 pm)Jenny A Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 4:08 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Do you, as atheists, believe that human life has inherent value? (this means human life has value, in and of itself, unconditionally)
Definition of inherent (as per webster):
a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute
If so, how did you come to this conclusion, and why do you believe this?
(PS - No agenda here, just honestly curious about what you think and why you think it. If you do not want to hear my opinions, don't ask. I promise not to talk about them otherwise.)
The problem with your question is that value or worth is generally defined in relative terms and those terms have to do with importance that people assign to a person, object, or idea.
This is not a problem. :-)
I asked whether or not you believe human life has inherent value because I want to know whether or not you believe it does. I see that your answer is you don't know. Thank you for your well thought out response below.
(edited)
Quote:Nothing has value in the abstract. Value is a term we apply to things we find of importance. So in answering the question I can't tell you if there is some permanent cosmic value to life, because unlike people, the cosmos doesn't assign values. Only people and perhaps some more mental advance animals do. And we assign value as valuable to people. If say lions assign value, I'm sure they assign it as valuable to themselves or possibly to lions. They wouldn't find human life anymore inherently valuable than we find lion life.
As a human I will say that people of any moral fiber find inherent value in human life. But that doesn't mean that when there are no more people, anyone will find human life to have been of any value.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
