Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!ucbcad!ucbvax!faustus From: faustus@ucbvax.UUCP Newsgroups: net.philosophy Subject: Re: absolute value systems Message-ID: <419@ucbvax.UUCP> Date: Sat, 25-Jun-83 15:51:54 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.419 Posted: Sat Jun 25 15:51:54 1983 Date-Received: Mon, 27-Jun-83 18:46:49 EDT Lines: 25 Rh@mit-eddi makes a point that is a large part of the philosophy of Nietzsche (which, by the way, is very relevant to the present discussion): we are defeating nature and our own continued evolution by our charity towards the weaker members of society. To quote Nietzsche from "Beyond Good and Evil": "What, then, is the attitude of the two greatest religons... to the surplus of failures in life? They endeavour to preserve and keep alive whatever can be preserved; in fact, as the religons for sufferers, they take the part of those upon principle... [They] are among the principal causes which have kept the type of "man" upon a lower level- they have preserved too much of that which should have perished." This is a very extreme viewpoint; in fact, it is the starting point for the Nazi idealogy. I think the important lession that one can gain from Nietzsche is that if you are going to throw absolute value systems away, you had better have some source of values that will prevent society from degenerating into barbarism (of course, Nietzsche thinks that society should degenerate into barbarism, so you can't argue with him on this score). Wayne