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From: esk@wucs.UUCP (Paul V. Torek)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: moRe: Politics, morals, & nukes
Message-ID: <408@wucs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 14-Oct-84 14:33:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: wucs.408
Posted: Sun Oct 14 14:33:51 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Oct-84 04:48:07 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Washington U. in St. Louis, CS Dept.
Lines: 39

From: faustus@ucbcad.UUCP
> The only thing that IS a moral issue is something that is pretty obvious 
> -- nuclear war is bad.	Wayne

Wrong!  There are plenty of other moral issues, like:  is it right to
target civilians (arguments over the "Principle of Double Effect", the
innocence of civilians, etc.)?  How much money should we spend on 
security vs. other things?  Should an all-out attack be retaliated for,
even though our nation's doom is then sealed (an eye for an eye?)?
Besides, even if there were only the one issue -- I was defending Reagan's
use of the term "moral obligation" in regard to this issue.

>> But issues such as nuclear war are eminently public--we are talking not
>> just about the American public but the future of the whole human race.
>> If that is not a moral issue, I don't know what is.  
From: faustus@ucbcad.UUCP:
> You are missing a few important points -- morals are SUBJECTIVE. 

It ain't so.  And even if it were, the next statement would be a non-
sequitur.

> That means that there can be no such thing as "public" moral issues that
> the government should be dictating to us. 

Morality inevitably involves public issues -- issues of interpersonal
conduct.  Look under "ethics" in a dictionary of philosophical terms.

> I am thinking of things like abortion and religon when I use the term. 
> Nuclear war, however, is not a moral issue, because whether somebody 
> wants to destroy the human race is not a relativistic thing.

Hey, neat! -- just redefine some terms and you can apply them however
you want!  Never mind being true to the English language ...

				--The insufferable iconoclast,
				Paul V Torek, ihnp4!wucs!wucec1!pvt1047
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