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0TheSwerve0
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Is the brain a weapon, can it be immoral? are actions only immoral or just thoughts? Isn't a weapon just the manifestation of something the brain thought up?
selfAdjoint said:Or in other words, "Guns don't kill people; People kill people."
I think it must depend in part on who you ask. I'm not sure the question would even make sense to some people, like maybe Aiasruss_watters said:Are weapons inherently immoral?
0TheSwerve0 said:I think it must depend in part on who you ask. I'm not sure the question would even make sense to some people, like maybe Aias
So is the consensus that only something with a conscience can be good or evil? What about the usage of the word evil? It can describe objects too, or at least their purposes and effects. I guess my question is then, can an object's design/purpose be separate from its being/identity? If you say a weapon isn't evil because metal or wood isn't evil, then are you talking about the same thing or 2 different things? Is there nothing intangible that makes up a part of identity?
Just playing devil's advocate here, but a large calibre single-shot or semi-auto rifle is roughly equal in its ability to kill a deer and a human from 300 yds. What about a handgun? No, a handgun doesn't have a choice either, but it is designed to kill only humans.mtngoblin2000 said:I own a large caliber rifle. Tomorrow I can either go out and kill a deer to feed my family or I can go out and kill someone. The rifle does not have a choice, I do.
Antiphon said:It's also immoral to allow someone else to be killed when you could
prevent it - with a weapon or otherwise.
I say therefore NOT owning and knowing how to use a weapon is
quite likely to lead to immoral inaction by default.
GaryCGibson said:Morality is a description of what ethical relations people actually have; it is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
Those two things are not mutually exclusive.hypnagogue said:If this were so, we wouldn't be able to evaluate the morality of a person's actions as 'right' or 'wrong.'GaryCGibson said:Morality is a description of what ethical relations people actually have; it is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
hitssquad said:Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
That seems to be a mild rephrasing of what you just quoted from GaryCGibson. What was your point?hypnagogue said:If this were so, we wouldn't be able to evaluate the morality of a person's actions as 'right' or 'wrong.'GaryCGibson said:Morality is a description of what ethical relations people actually have; it is descriptive rather than prescriptive.
The evil comes from the arbitrary-ness of deciding who gets the right to life and who doesn't.CaptainQuaser said:Second: Seriously ask yourself, why is it immoral to kill people? Don't get me wrong, I would not kill another person, but I think it is important, (mostly for non-religious people, because religious people have an easy answer) but for the atheisists out there, why is it wrong to kill another person? If we just went around killing the weak, our population would be under control and the human race would be stronger as a whole. So where is the inherant evil in killing another man? (A question I had to think about in a class I took, Evil in World Religions)
CaptainQuaser said:Two thoughts
First: Weapons are a tool of humans, I don't have claws or particularily sharp teeth. If I want meat, (moose, deer) I am going to have to use some form of weapon (gun, bow, ect) Of course there will be the crazy vegitarians out there that believe killing is wrong, that we should be in harmony with animals. Well, they are blind to the real world, animals kill each other, right now there is a million animals killing a million other animals, its the way it works. Life cannot be sustained without death, it is an intrinsic balance. I think it is far better to have respect for your prey then to have no prey.
Second: Seriously ask yourself, why is it immoral to kill people? Don't get me wrong, I would not kill another person, but I think it is important, (mostly for non-religious people, because religious people have an easy answer) but for the atheisists out there, why is it wrong to kill another person? If we just went around killing the weak, our population would be under control and the human race would be stronger as a whole. So where is the inherant evil in killing another man? (A question I had to think about in a class I took, Evil in World Religions)
Brady said:.
If I buy a handgun to protect myself, that's not immoral. If I buy a handgun to murder my neighbor, then that's immoral. If I buy an AK-47 for protection, that's not immoral, etc.
Smurf said:Just wondering why the purpose of a weapon should matter. It's still meant to kill someone or something, wether or not you approve of why doesn't really matter I would think.