<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Justin wrote:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>> A pleasant philosophical parlor game. If you like, I will also prove to you that there > is no such thing as personal identity through time, and therefore you should care less > about what happens to you in particular;</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>That such "parlor games" convince a person here or there (sometimes maybe more, but I'm not going to argument with you again) is enough to plausibly ground the claim that they have some practical significance.</DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> <DIV><BR>> It will not because people have been persuaded of the correctness of some </DIV> <DIV>> metaphysical views, </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The proposition that "fetuses aren't persons" just is a metaphysical view, although you're probably right that the possible mass acceptance of such a view wouldn't be owed to the musings of metaphysicians.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jim wrote:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>> Well, I think that Miles is on to something here.  The<BR>> extreme enphasis that our culture places on the role<BR>> of individual intentions as the determining factor in<BR>> human social behavior, goes far beyond what can<BR>> be vindicated by modern behavioral or social science.</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>I responded:<BR>> I can't really see the conflict here. One can acknowledge that intentions<BR>> generally move action (I'm inclined to accept the stronger claim that they<BR>> always move action) while granting that they don't arise ex nihilo. Social<BR>> convention plays an immensley large role in shaping the preference<BR>> structures of individual agents.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Justin wrote:</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>> Sure, so?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Just pointing out that what Jim wrote didn't support Miles' thesis in any way, shape, or form, a point that you later made yourself.</FONT><BR><BR>> Because not everyone is hard determinist or an autonomist?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That libertarians believe in moral responsibility doesn't strike me as odd.  That the majority of determinists do, does.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> </FONT>Anyway, stop with the metaphysics. It's mere entertainment, in fact self-indulgence,</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Metaphysics has altered the way I look at the world in ways that I consider to be significant.  I'd wager that the same could be said of you.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-- Luke</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>