I feel it is important to think about it.
The purpose of this thread is not to take a position, but rather encourage discussion.
I have been thinking that our society gives the same rights and value to every human just for being human. This is the universal correct thought.
But what happens when we start taking certain characteristics into account? For example: the intelligence. Is someone with more intelligence more valuable than a dumber person, eve though both are human? What about people with down syndrome? And lets not stop there. What about the emotions and feelings on these people? Are the sentiments of an intelligent person more important/valuable than those of a dumb person?
We consider the suffering of animals less important than that of humans because they dont reason, have feelings, or a human consciousness (they feel pain, yes). So, in comparison, can we say that a dumb person is similar to an animal in that regard? The less intelligent you are, the more animal you are. And therefore, your emotions are less important. Would this also apply to people with mental disabilities? Probably yes.
So what do you think about it? Do we humans have inherent value, or does it change depending on our characteristics?
This can be expanded to topics such as age, sex, etc. For example, if you have to save an old man from or a little cute girl from a building in fire, who would you save? And why?
The purpose of this thread is not to take a position, but rather encourage discussion.
I have been thinking that our society gives the same rights and value to every human just for being human. This is the universal correct thought.
But what happens when we start taking certain characteristics into account? For example: the intelligence. Is someone with more intelligence more valuable than a dumber person, eve though both are human? What about people with down syndrome? And lets not stop there. What about the emotions and feelings on these people? Are the sentiments of an intelligent person more important/valuable than those of a dumb person?
We consider the suffering of animals less important than that of humans because they dont reason, have feelings, or a human consciousness (they feel pain, yes). So, in comparison, can we say that a dumb person is similar to an animal in that regard? The less intelligent you are, the more animal you are. And therefore, your emotions are less important. Would this also apply to people with mental disabilities? Probably yes.
So what do you think about it? Do we humans have inherent value, or does it change depending on our characteristics?
This can be expanded to topics such as age, sex, etc. For example, if you have to save an old man from or a little cute girl from a building in fire, who would you save? And why?
