RE: Ethics in a void (Re: meaning of life (RE: (repost) ))

From: denis bider (denis.bider@globera.com)
Date: Thu Jan 25 2001 - 11:43:36 MST


Michael Lorry writes:

> There are also taboos, like incest, murder, rape, theft,
> etc that are universal to all cultures.

This statement seems rather simplistic to me.

Incest: wasn't a taboo in Europe's aristocracy for a long long time. [Now
that we have birth control and adoption, I don't see why it should remain
taboo either.]

Murder: different groups of people have quite different conceptions about
which kinds of homicide constitute murder and which do not. [Countries with
capital punishment vs. countries without it seem like the most innocent
example, but there are probably more examples - whoever said something about
Iceland(?) and how they only interpreted homicide as murder if it wasn't
reported to neighbors?]

Paedophilia: see one of my earlier messages regarding Greeks.

There are probably more examples like this; if there is a historian or an
expert in cultures on this list, they will be best equipped to comment on
this issue.



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