Well in our culture, it does seem to be the main criterion that gets invoked in discussions concerning the moral status of animals. The claim that man possesses a distinctive moral status due to his rationality goes at least as far back as Aristotle.
Jim F.
---------- Original Message ---------- From: Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Invertebrate tool use Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:43:27 -0800 (PST)
Nobody ever said intelligence had to be the ONLY criterion. (As an aside, there are in fact cultures in which a severely handicapped (mentally or physically) person is worth less than a dog or horse.)
----- Original Message ---- From: "farmelantj at juno.com" <farmelantj at juno.com> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Tue, December 15, 2009 7:56:10 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Invertebrate tool use
But absolute intelligence doesn't necessarily work well either because there are human beings who by virtue of being severely brain damaged might well have less cognitive capacity than say a dog or a horse. Yet, we still would not regard it to be permissible to kill and eat such people.
Jim F.
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