tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post112096522517140094..comments2024-01-28T00:20:40.933-08:00Comments on Agoraphilia: L&S: Of Drowning Babies and Starving VampiresUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1121054541953943152005-07-10T21:02:00.000-07:002005-07-10T21:02:00.000-07:00Ben -- the whole first section of the paper (which...Ben -- the whole first section of the paper (which I realize you haven't had the chance to read) makes the case for vampires' moral personhood.<BR/><BR/>As for why I've chosen to use vampires... well, the vampire part came first. I wanted to write a paper for the Undead and Philosophy volume, and watching Buffy had gotten me thinking about the possibilities for peaceful human-vampire coexistence. If I'd left out the vampires, the paper wouldn't have been part of the book.<BR/><BR/>Also, the thrust of the article is to argue *against* the stigmatization of vampires, and to suggest that a libertarian system makes such tolerance more likely.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1121037102874338242005-07-10T16:11:00.000-07:002005-07-10T16:11:00.000-07:00Maybe it is just because I haven’t RTFA but I can’...Maybe it is just because I haven’t RTFA but I can’t stop being suspicious of the choice of vampire when I can easily think of other possible roles to the main character of the metaphor. I guess I would be more convinced if you would provide a character for which we don’t have other reasons to leave to perish. To me “treating vampires as possessing moral personhood”is either imposible or requires that we think of them as “people with medical need of blood transfusions”. Wouldn’t it be more honest to use this definition instead, thus getting rid of the negative vampire connotation? I think the metaphor depends on the stigma of the vampire and the stigma requires that the vampire not have moral personhood. Using a stigmatic personage while asking to modify in our head, the characteristic that makes it stigmatic is contradictory.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1121023484152467442005-07-10T12:24:00.000-07:002005-07-10T12:24:00.000-07:00Ben -- you'll need to read the rest of the paper t...Ben -- you'll need to read the rest of the paper to see why I disagree. But the short version is that it *is* possible for vampires and humans to live together non-coercively. Vampires need humans to live -- but then again, so do I. If it weren't for farmers growing food and selling it to me, I'd die. The libertarian alternative to the mandatory blood-bank is the voluntary blood-brothel.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1121018902775842082005-07-10T11:08:00.000-07:002005-07-10T11:08:00.000-07:00Hum, the vampire analogy is obviously flawed. Vamp...Hum, the vampire analogy is obviously flawed. Vampires are predators to human beings while babies and third world citizens are not. There are clear drawbacks in making your predators subsist. For the same reason that it is considered OK to kill your enemy in war even though he is human, it is reasonable to keep your blood to yourself when it comes to help vampires.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1120988500592759532005-07-10T02:41:00.000-07:002005-07-10T02:41:00.000-07:00I do believe in foreign aid but not in the "feed t...I do believe in foreign aid but not in the "feed the starving masses" way. More schools need to be set up to educate and train the hapless people around the world so that they can fend for themselves with skills demanded by a capitalistic world. Capital needs to be provided for entrepreneurs and small business people at initially low interest rates so new businesses can get a toehold. It is that old story about teaching a man to fish as opposed to feeding him a fish to stave off hunger for a day. You forget that lesson at your own peril. You Libertarians denigrate Johnson's Great Society programs, but poverty reached an all time low in this country. I also say spend many more millions to teach and offer birth control to those people who can't afford to feed and clothe themselves let alone properly care for a baby. Societies are act foolishly to leniently allow kids to be born to mothers who can't even afford to pay the obstetrician and maternity ward costs. Nobody gives you a car for free neither should you expect a "free" baby. And is it fair to children to malnourish them and give them no prospect for a decent life? Bte, what are you going to do after you rescue the drowning baby from the puddle? Adopt it? I don't mean to be cruel, but I'd rather have a pet poodle, make that a collie than some brain-damaged infant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com