<<by why is it wrong to kill? ..... I argued there was only a religious underpinning to a notion that it is wrong in any absolute sense, to kill. And I've seen no arguments to the contrary. >>
What religion says it's wrong "in an absolute sense" to kill? The Christian commandment on that subject says, in the Hebrew, "murder," though it was mistranslated as "kill", as I understand it. There's authorized killing in the Bible (like, killing disrespectful children is okay), so it makes sense. (Maybe the Jains say you can't kill under any circumstances?)
The use of the word "absolute" in the question kind of makes it tautologically a religious proposition, anyway.
It's not necessary for its wrongness to be "absolute" for it to be wrong, though.
There are philosophical schools, complex and profound theses, that would in essence argue, on this point, that the greatest good for the greatest number is served by following the golden rule; and the golden rule would have us not killing others, as we would not have them kill us.
The golden rule is a good human rule, a version, and understanding, of which has existed among all peoples.
It seem to me that sociologically, it makes sense that those societies that get a grip on internecine killing are going to have survival and productivity advantages over those that don't. |
