The Idea that "all People are Created Equal" is a essentially a useful moral principle: anti-chauvinism. If we treat all others as equals, it is to the benefit of society as a whole. — Relativist
That's what makes them equal. They are equally inequal.It seems pretty bogus to me. No two people the same in any respect. — Dusty of Sky
No two people the same in any respect. — Dusty of Sky
The point I was making wasn't "haha, some people are blondes and some are brunettes, therefore inequality". I agree, that would be stupid. The question I was trying to raise was whether all people are of equal value. That's why I used the examples of Abraham Lincoln and the Sandy Hook shooter. — Dusty of Sky
It is stupid. Again, I have to ask, do you have any idea about the context and the history of the phrase? Any idea at all? If you don't then the obvious thing would be to find out before attempting to philosophize. Post the question in Questions if you don't know how to use Google. — SophistiCat
But what if some lives are more valuable than others? Can our claims to life be equal then? — Dusty of Sky
But what does it mean that we should be equal?
Are you suggesting that we genetically engineer all humans to be equally attractive with equal IQs? What about the inequality of value that arises from the fact that some humans are just morally superior to others? Should we try to genetically engineer all people to be equally morally principled? Is that even possible? If it is possible, it sounds terrifying.
Or are you saying that even though we should be equal (in some ideal world, perhaps), we also shouldn't pursue total equality as a goal?
Or are you only referring to particular kinds of inequalities? — Dusty of Sky
others are born brilliant and driven with a tremendous amount of empathy — Dusty of Sky
Context and history do matter; the phrase "all men are created equal" is too ambiguous otherwise. — SophistiCat
We do our best to treat people with down-syndrome well. But we certainly don't treat them as equals. Nor should we. I wish them the best, and most of them are fine people, but clearly, they can't be trusted with regular responsibilities. So we deny them some of the freedoms we grant to the rest of the adult population. There are many categories of people that we treat differently, and depending on the category, this difference in treatment may or may not be just. — Dusty of Sky
Some people are born stupid, lazy sociopaths — Dusty of Sky
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