Carolina QuotesWe should care about the interests of other people for the same reason we care about our own interests; for their needs and desires are comparable to our own.
James Rachels Connected to the Carolinas
Source
The Elements of Moral Philosophy (McGraw-Hill, 1999), p. 95
- year
- 1999
- locator
- p. 95
Cite this record
“We should care about the interests of other people for the s…” James Rachels. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-A8821B36C6. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/a8821b36c6
More from James Rachels
Ethical Egoism advocates that each of us divide the world into two categories of people—ourselves and all the rest—and that we regard the interests of those in the first group as more important than the interests of those in the second group. But each of us can ask, what is the difference between myself and others that justifies placing myself in this special category? Am I more intelligent? Do I enjoy my life more? Are my accomplishments greater? Do I have needs or abilities that are so different from the needs and abilities of others? What is it that makes me so special? Failing an answer, it turns out that Ethical Egoism is an arbitrary doctrine, in the same way that racism is arbitrary.
Our triumphs seem hollow unless we have friends to share them, and our failures are made bearable by their understanding.
Human life will no longer be regarded with the kind of superstitious awe which it is accorded in traditional thought, and the lives of non-humans will no longer be a matter of indifference. This means that human life will, in a sense, be devalued, while the value granted to non-human life will be increased. A revised view of such matters as suicide and euthanasia, as well as a revised view of how we should treat animals, will result.