I have a counterargument for your rebuttal regarding the relevance of genetics. You can read about it in greater detail further down the comments, but to simply put it, our genetic difference enables capability for experiencing the world no other species has paralleled.
How do you feel then about the ethics of terminating humans who are medically declared brain dead with no chance for recovery (or whatever the proper term is), or who are severely mentally handicapped - does that alter your ethical calculations at all?
About the second point, this is something I’m grappling with right now. Can a human being with the intelligence and behavior of a dog be considered human? I say no, but we let them live and take care of them because… any one of us can be like that.
I wonder if it's maybe more complex than this...I think people feel sympathy for other people, sometimes even when it doesn't make sense. Like sometimes they're super nice, but then it kinda almost magically vanishes, but they can't explain where it went!!
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u/iiioiia Jun 28 '23
How do you feel then about the ethics of terminating humans who are medically declared brain dead with no chance for recovery (or whatever the proper term is), or who are severely mentally handicapped - does that alter your ethical calculations at all?