>
>>>Brad DeLong wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Is Singer self-aware when he is asleep? Is it legitimate by his
>>>> lights to kill him then?
>>>
>>>No doubt at all that I'm self-aware when I'm asleep, more so in fact
>>>than when awake.
>>>
>>>Yours WDK - WKiernan at concentric.net
>>
>>The abilities to be self-aware or to take an interest in your future
>>interests are standing, not merely occurrent dispositions. I am able
>>to bench press 150 pounds even though I am not exercising that
>>capability now. It's not like thinking of Paris, which is an
>>occurrent disposition; I am have it now, but didn't have it a minute
>>ago. So, no, Singer's argument is not that dumb.
>>
>>jks
>
>And the neonate is able to become president, even if he or she does
>not yet have self-awareness. It's not clear to me that the world
>slices itself into nice categories in the way needed for Singer to
>make sense.
>
>
No, it's different. I do not have a standing ability to bench press 250 lbs, though I might develop it. That is not the same as having thestanding ability to press 150 which I am not currently exercising.
Likewise, my 12 year old daughter will, if I don't ship her off to Ulaan Baator, come into the the legal capacity to vote in six years. That doesn't mean she has it now.
jks
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