From: Russell Wallace (russell.wallace@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Mar 23 2007 - 11:16:49 MDT
On 3/23/07, BillK <pharos@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Now, revealing new research shows that people with damage to a key
> emotion-processing region of the brain also make moral decisions based
> on the greater good of the community, unclouded by concerns over
> harming an individual.
>
There's a critical omission in the above quote. It should read "...based on
what they _wrongly believe_ to be the greater good of the community".
Because let's face it, such judgements _are usually wrong_. Look at history,
look at all the people who've lived by philosophies like "the greatest good
for the greatest number" and "the end justifies the means". The track record
hasn't been all that great, has it? In fact, it's been mostly a string of
bloody disasters, hasn't it? And the smarter the people involved, the worse
the disaster.
There are damn good reasons why we have limits on what we're allowed do no
matter how loudly we chant the slogan "greater good of the community" while
we're doing it.
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