Johannes--- I agree that the animal rights movement is goofy, and my argument is not that it is clearly wrong to eat a chimp. Nor is it that we should start shooting people for such ambiguous things, nor lock them up. I compared the level of such claims to courtesy, which has less dignity than strict morality, but is legitimately a part of ethics. We should cherish certain things, and revile others, as an extension of the values deduced from our ethics. We do not drown kittens not because it is clearly unjust, but because it is wrong to be gratuitously cruel, even to an animal. Even if we put animals away, we choose humane means. We make laws against animal cruelty, too, by the way, because it is our society, and we have a right to encourage certain values, or discourage others. The reason I am ambivalent about the whale hunt, though not knee- jerk against it, is that we now know that cetaceans are highly intelligent and sociable animals, and this creates a sense of kinship which, while it should not be exaggerated, is not trivial. If it really were a publicity stunt, as has been alleged by some, I would be against it. If it a meaningful revival of tribal custom, that will enhance the tribe's sense of traditional identity, I am for it. It should have a meaning that over- rides the legitimate reluctance to kill such a noble creature...
As for Might making Right, have you been hitting the ersatz Irish Creme again?<g> Would you care to "extend and revise" your remarks, as they say in Congress?.... |
