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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (10684)	4/6/2001 7:56:12 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

No one here is disputing that countries are discrete entities, but the chair I'm siting on is also a discrete entity. I don't find the chair morally significant. I would grant more importance to a country but in moral and ethical terms I would not grant it a privilged position above that of an individual. The main importance of the country is the good it can do for individuals. I think similarly about members of a species vs. the species as a whole. That was brought up awhile back in a discussion about the importance of people vs. animals, but to avoid bringing that topic back I'll use an example that relies entirely on non humans. I would consider it a worse thing for 1/20th of all the wildlife on earth to die without causing any extinctions of any individual species, then if the snail darter or spotted owl or the California Condor to become extinct without causing any significant damage to other species. Just as I care more about the individuals in total then the species as a species, I care more about the individuals in a country then the country as a country. A country can be said to exist as an entity separate from the individuals in the country, but when considered as such I consider the country less significant not more. Tim