(March 27, 2018 at 12:25 pm)MysticKnight Wrote:(March 27, 2018 at 12:21 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: Let's just start with some preliminaries, then. We'll ignore evolution in this conversation.
If it turned out that every human body was inhabited by an immaterial soul, would that mean that it deserves moral regard (just based on that)? Why or why not?
Love values personality and intelligence as more beautiful than body beauty? Agree or disagree?
In this case, immaterial soul would not be a physical thing as well, it would be a program like a software generated by a material thing, would it not?
We were just talking about this in the other thread. Sentience is a good measure for moral regard. You can bang a rock against a wall (because a rock doesn't feel pain). That would be morally permissible.
It is not morally permissible to bang another person's head against a wall. Why? Because it would hurt them.
If we went by personality and intelligence, it might be morally permissible to take a severely mentally retarded person and bang his/her head against a wall, even though it would still hurt them. That doesn't sound right, does it?
Therefore, regardless of what "love values," intelligence and personality are not matters for consideration when when speaking of moral responsibility.
