5 ms·
> If an adult dog is smarter than a newborn, why the disparity in legal protection? That's a very interesting question to ask. I think in the end, what we are
by mapleoin 13y ago
> If an adult dog is smarter than a newborn, why the disparity in legal protection?
That's a very interesting question to ask. I think in the end, what we are rightfully protecting with our current laws is potential.
The baby (or the embryo?) has the potential to become a fully developed human being and maybe change (save?) the world in the most significant of ways. A dog will not. There is an infinitude of possible worlds that a baby can make possible and an infinitude of ways in which it could develop (which we are more sensitive to perceiving compared to those of an animal). Killing a baby is basically killing an infinitude of possible worlds.
- pgsandstrom 13y agoLegal protection is not and should not be related to intelligens. How about mentally retarded people? I have also heard people defend the eating of animals with that we are so much more intelligent. Funny thing is, we would not be accepting of a superintelligent alien consuming humans. We simply protect things that are sufficiently alike us. The line we draw for this protection is arbitrary and has changed throughout history.
- mbrock 13y agoIt seems fundamentally erroneous to attribute rationality to what's so obviously driven by instinctual processes and deep emotions. A baby is not a potential, it is a holy being, Christ, an intrinsic value, whatever you want to call it. Most of us don't see dogs like this (unless it's our dog).
- ignostic 13y agoThis doesn't make sense. As we engineer stem cells from skin cells, it becomes theoretically possible to turn every cell in your body into life. When you shower, you're killing millions of potential humans. We must treat things as they are, and not as they might become.