(May 17, 2015 at 7:08 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote:(May 17, 2015 at 6:55 pm)Freedom4me Wrote: Actually, I don't think you explained anything. As some atheists have suggested here, our individual rights come from a consensus within our tribe, group, nation, etc. So the USA tolerated slavery that was based upon the notion that Blacks are only 3/5 human. But here, you seem to take a very different approach. Your approach to individual rights involves empathy. In your opinion, is your personal empathy an adequate justification for anything you might decide to do?
Do you need to look up the word consensus? Where do you think the consensus comes from?
Individuals make up the tribe, group, nation, etc. Those individuals draw upon many things to come up with their mores. Environment, familial upbringing, social sphere, etc. One of those things they draw upon is their sense of empathy. I wouldn't want to be treated this way, so I shouldn't treat others this way.
But, to answer your question with a question, what does the golden rule say?
I see what you're saying. Empathy is just one of many factors by which people form a consensus. But there is still something that is unclear to me in all of this. If the consensus here in the U.S. never changed, and it was still the consensus that Blacks are only 3/5 human, and that race-based slavery is OK, then what? Would that mean that Black Americans have no human rights?
