"I will not admit that there is any race which has forfeited its right to existence, but there are certainly cultures which have." (p. 54)
Although the narrator refers to diverse intelligent species encountered in a fictional future, his comment is highly relevant to the histories of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and to discuss it in any detail would raise highly contentious issues here and now but, fortunately perhaps, I am in a hurry to keep an appointment in town!
Back here later.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
But I am inclined to agree it's theoretically possible some cultures can be so bad they should not exist. Such as the state/society of Stirling's Draka.
Ad astra! Sean
That I agree with.
Kaor, Paul!
Thanks!
Sean
Tho' all judgments of value are, IMHO, purely subjective. That doesn't mean I don't make judgments of value -- I do, and I will cheerfully impose them if I can. I just don't kid myself that they're anything -but- opinions.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
But I believe some judgments of value to be absolutely wrong or true. A simple example being premeditated murder.
I recall you commenting elsewhere, about nitwits who actually admired the Draka, that MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA and its three sequels were --dystopian science fiction-- and the monstrous Draka were not meant to be revered. That, to me, implies there were many things about the Draka you disliked.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: true. That was my -opinion-... 8-).
As I said, I don't need to think there's an "objective correlative" to my value judgments to -make- value judgments.
They're perfectly sincere, I just also know they're totally subjective, electrochemical events in my head and nothing else.
Basically, it's like liking or not liking french-fries.
Most human beings can't deal with this -- which is a testimony to the kludge-like way evolution operates.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I still can only partly agree. Many judgments of value are subjective, but not all.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment