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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (100026)	2/12/2005 12:41:26 PM
From: DMaA	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793770

You need to differentiate between personal altruism and state mandated altruism.

To: LindyBill who wrote (100026)	2/12/2005 12:50:20 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793770

The definition of "altruism" I am using is that it is moral to sacrifice an individual for the the good of the group. Oh, THAT definition of "altruism." Yeah, sure. I believe that if you search definitions you will find that they all speak to the good of "others," not "the group." That distinction is significant in that, if there's any sacrificing to be done, it it sacrificing oneself for the others or the group, not sacrificing the others for oneself or sacrificing some others for the group. You have the shoe on the wrong foot. <<Etymology: French altruisme, from autrui other people, from Old French, oblique case form of autre other, from Latin alter>> In any event, Singer was about something quite different. He was about assigning moral standing to an individual based on the self-awareness of the individual, not on the species of the individual. He used that to argue for the moral standing of non-human animals. I can't imagine Hitler giving a thought to the question of self-awareness in his slaughter.