CIN wrote: ↑Mon Jun 26, 2023 12:37 am
Veritas Aequitas wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 4:35 am
CIN wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 8:26 pm
Since all the other sentient beings on this planet that we systematically torture and kill every day would be happier after we have been exterminated, this would probably be a very good act.
The point;
Morality is confined to humans only.
I hope you don't mean that there is no moral issue about how we treat other species. That would be immoral crap.
Killing is one of the most critical element of morality per se.
There is a dilemma if morality is cover to other species in the absolute sense.
It follows from the above, we cannot kill all living organisms, from those that are necessary for food to the good and bad microbes, insects that are killed with or without intention.
I wrote earlier;
While morality is species oriented, considerations need to be given where other species are essential to the survival of a species.
In this sense, while morality per se is confined to the human species, rational and optimal non-moral considerations must be given to other species where their extermination or reduction in numbers would have an adverse effect on the direct or global basis on the survival of the human species.
Note the stupidity of the Jains when morality is extended to all living things; the Jains would cover their mouth so that they do not kill insects that are likely to fly into their mouth; they would sweep the floor in front of them when they walk so they do not step and kill on any living things. But they are ignorant they are killing millions of bacteria and viruses every day.
While morality is species oriented, considerations need to be given where other species are essential to the survival of a species.
For example in the thought experiment above, it is likely humans could save elephants if there is an virus pandemic that could kill all elephants; therefore it is short-sighted for elephants to be happier, if the human species were to be extinct.
Rubbish. Far from humans being essential to the survival of elephants, elephant populations have declined drastically because of human action (ivory poaching, habitat loss, etc). If humans became extinct, elephant populations would recover. Humans are bad news for elephants. There is the remote possibility that they could all be wiped out by a virus, but it is far more likely that they will be wiped out in the next few decades as a result of human action.
You are guessing that elephant populations have declined drastically.
In recent years [compared to that of the last 100 years] there has been serious efforts to preserve the elephant species.
There are serious laws against the importation of ivory.
As a result of the above, the elephant population has increased in some places while continual greater awareness and emphasis will likely stop the reduction in the numbers of elephants elsewhere.
Resulting from the continued good work done by the wildlife services and NGOs of East and Southern Africa, elephant population sizes, by in large, are growing.
According to a presidential statement, the Tanzanian elephant population size grew from 43,000 to 60,000 between 2014 and 2019. This number has not been verified by international surveyors. The Kenyan government has, similarly, reported on population growth. Kenya’s 2021 national wildlife survey counted over 36,000 individuals.
If these numbers are accurate, between the two East-African nations, some 96,000 elephant are extant. That is already an increase on the 2016 estimate of 86,000 for the whole of the region, and it does not include figures from Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda, nor the figures from the Horn of Africa nations.
In Southern Africa, elephant population sizes have remained robust. In fact, the Zimbabwean government reported on a 16,000 individual increase between 2014 and 2021. The IUCN, writing in 2021, reiterated on the stability of African savannah elephant populations in Southern Africa.
https://tsavotrust.org/are-africas-elep ... ecreasing/
Note my principle:
While morality is species oriented, considerations need to be given where other species are essential to the survival of a species.
Thus
in principle [theory], while a virus pandemic is remote, it is still a possibility, as such iff elephants are evolved with human-type intelligence, they should not expect the human species to be extinct.