--- Harvey Newstrom <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com> wrote:
> > On Thu, Jan 25, 2001 at 11:41:11AM -0500, Michael
> > Lorrey wrote:
> > >There are also
> > >taboos, like incest, murder, rape, theft, etc that
> > are universal to all
> > >cultures. These taboos wouldn't be universal if
> > there were not some
> > >objective basis for them.
> >
> > These are not universal taboos. Many cultures and
> > ancient tribes and
> > civilizations practiced incest, murder, rape, theft,
> > etc. Incest was
> > often used to keep royal, priestly or tribal blood
> > lines pure.
> > Murder was common-place between warring factions,
> > and was often
> > ritualized into their religions. Rape was rarely
> > seen as a taboo
> > since woman often did not have rights in many
> > societies. (Only
> > raping someone else's woman was seen as a crime of
> > property theft.)
> > Theft itself was commonplace between different
> > tribes or warring
> > nations. Not only would I argue against these
> > taboos being
> > universal, I daresay the reverse was true. Incest,
> > murder, rape and
> > theft probably were more common historically than
> > today.
>
> In many cultures (the Masai, ancient Celtic, ancient
> India) cattle theft was regarded as a perfectly
> honorable activity. One who could not keep his cattle
> did not deserve to do so. Rob Roy MacGregor was famous
> for being a great 'riever and retriever' - a cattle
> thief and one who could pursue and retrieve cattle
> stolen from him.
>
> Ron S
Even if all humans did share the same ethical values, surely this would not
constitute an objective truth? It would merely be a humanity-wide constant.
The basis for this constance could not be called "objective" either as it
would have to be based upon evolutionary processes, not ideals.
Does the void have an objection to rape and pillage?
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