On Wednesday, June 5, 2002, at 05:39 PM, Marta Russell wrote:
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "joanna bujes" <joanna.bujes at ebay.sun.com>
>>
>>
>>> Singer's calculus of "happiness" is that of a moron. There is no
>>> relation
>>> between being a perfect object and happinesss.
>>
>> There are certainly a great number of maladies that can detract from
>> human
>> happiness. We've all endured our share, I'm sure. However, this
>> doesn't
>> even begin to touch upon Singer's strongest conclusion: entities with
>> no
>> conception of self aren't persons. To claim otherwise, one must make
>> arguments that suspiciously mirror the ones made by those who protest
>> the
>> destruction of innocent embryos.
>>
>> -- Luke
>
> How does Singer know when the moment of "conception of self" occurs?
> He doesn't. He's full of BS.
>
i fear such stuff is more measurable than you would like to admit. in any event, leaving the limit cases aside, are you disputing that there are some living beings clearly lacking self-conception and, on the other end, some clearly exhibiting a sense of self? in that case, why is it even necessary to find such a "moment" in the abstract?
j