Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
I'll give it a go. (I did this strip-down analysis at age 14). Three base questions - 1. What is inanimate and what is animate? and 2. What is sentineal and what is non-sentineal? and 3. What are my privileges and responsibilities to each class.
If it not alive, it inanimate. I should have no concern about using, changing, shaping, molding, or even scrapping inanimate things. They don't feel, think or sense anything that occurs to them. They can be used anyway that need or expedience required. Misuse of inanimate items is a matter of inefficency, not immorality.
Animate (but not seniental) things are alive. I may breed them or kill them (when necessary), or even use them as tools, but I try do do so in a manner that is not cruel. To me, living beings deserve that. There is enough pain in the world without my cheerfully adding more, unneccessarily. (I'm not Paingod). Please note, I kill to live - all animals do - even Bambi. A plant is every bit as much alive as deer, and eating plants does not make you less of a killer of cells.
Finally, sentenial beings. Do I have the right to use self-aware beings like either inanimate or animate things? I came to the conclusion of No. If I want to have priviliges of being self-aware then I must grant the same priviliges to any other self aware beings. The most important of these is the right of choice. Without choice, you might as well be a tree. And using another sentineal being as a tool denies them choice. This is the main stumbling block of all political discourses. A large group say Yes, sentinial being can be used as tools. They think it is a matter of some form of superiority to be the a tool-user rather than a tool. But they see nothing wrong with using sentineal beings as tools, and are unconcerned about the results to the tools.
This is enough of a primer, i'll go into sentinal interactions another time.
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Unfortunately my dictionary does not have the word "sentineal". Perhaps you meant "sentient" as it means what the context you use seems to indicate.
But who is to judge sentience? Is a dolphin sentient? A dog, horse, or cat? Is the world sentient, or the universe? Perhaps we, like the mayfly to us, live our lives so quickly that the world does not seem to be alive or sentient. However, some cultures would argue that the world is sentient and that perhaps humans are just "pests" irritating it the way a flea might irritate us.
For me, life is what I call a horse trade. I may plant vegetables in my garden and tenderly care for them in order to harvest the fruits. The same with certain animals. Like you, I try not to be cruel but that also includes the world and the universe.
Several years ago while renting a house, I planted a tree in the yard (with the owner's permission). When my wife pointed out that we would only be there a year, I replied that perhaps someone was planting a tree for me somewhere.
In a horse trade, we each "use" the other as a "tool" and are in turn used as a "tool". But we both agree, within our own capacities, to the trade. We each feel we get the advantage at the time. That's why some animals can not be domesticated because they don't agree to the trade we ask of them.
OK enough of my "high horse" (aka rant). Sorry.
