tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post2250663589216784891..comments2024-02-20T12:26:24.682-05:00Comments on language goes on holiday: Depriving others of potential goodsDuncan Richterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-64180067447782437832010-07-28T16:14:11.962-04:002010-07-28T16:14:11.962-04:00Yes, it's less tragic when someone who has had...Yes, it's less tragic when someone who has had a full life dies, but maybe not for the person dying. And there are so many variable factors that I would hesitate to generalize. <br /><br />I look forward to reading your paper.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-51305014445712640912010-07-28T15:09:34.540-04:002010-07-28T15:09:34.540-04:00I agree with your suspicion that "graphing tr...I agree with your suspicion that "graphing tragedy" is absurd. And it's true that usually, it makes obvious sense that we would be more torn up by the death of a kiddo or teen than we would of an elderly person. (Grief, however, knows no graphs.) But that perhaps only applies when the cause of death is an illness or (maybe) an accident.<br /><br />(I should have the revised paper up today or tomorrow. It should be much improved.)Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-5322951973988454292010-07-28T14:54:57.076-04:002010-07-28T14:54:57.076-04:00Thanks, I don't know Maguire's paper, so I...Thanks, I don't know Maguire's paper, so I'll look that up.<br /><br />I don't think Marquis wants this kind of comparison to come up particularly, it's just (or more) that his rather consequentialist kind of theory suggests it. But of course there are utilitarians who want to make precisely this kind of comparison. Ronald Dworkin, too, charts a graph of the badness of death, where the death of a newborn is less tragic than that of a teenager, and the death of a very old person is less tragic than that of most other people. He's got a point, I think, but there's something absurd about graphing tragedy. Some comparisons are very hard to make, and it might be better not to make the attempt. <br /><br />I hope you'll post a revised version of your paper when you can--it's an interesting topic.Duncan Richterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708344766825805406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6454161596094447448.post-83117824876119359292010-07-28T13:33:57.497-04:002010-07-28T13:33:57.497-04:00Yes, there's something suspect about attempts ...Yes, there's something suspect about attempts to make certain kinds of comparisons, as with your example of killing the old vs killing the young. Why do we need to make this comparison? What is it that we need to be reminded of here, such that the comparative remark is necessary? (I suggest something similar about this, in reading Rhees on animals, in the context of attempting to draw moral comparisons between harms to humans and harms to animals; I'm revising this paper right now...)<br /><br />On abortion: I spent a couple weeks focusing on this issue in a course on Philosophy & Public Affairs while I was at Truman. One of the best articles we read was by Daniel Maguire, called something like "A Catholic Theologian Visits an Abortion Clinic." It's more of an exploration than an "argument." (It's in the volume on abortion edited by Baird and Rosenbaum.) I think it's right, as you point out, that although Thomson says comparatively little about the "character" element in her classic paper, it's a very important aspect of thinking about particular cases.Matthew Pianaltohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16380038537888895216noreply@blogger.com