Re: If life is a benefit...

Tim wrote:

> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 18:01:58 GMT, ipse dixit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > If life is a benefit, then it's logically certain that
> > no life [ie never existing at all] is a loss.
>
>
> Life is not a benefit.

Exactly right.

> Life is not an argument. Logical certainty and loss
> are meaningless, unthinkable, and impossible without the existence of some
> being capable of  harboring them. To the best of our knowledge humans are
> the only beings capable of  logical certainty. Other (some) critters are, I
> believe, capable of a sense of loss. Both cases require life; specifically
> animal life. If life never existed it could not possibly be a loss. We can
> contemplate the extinction of all life and make value judgments as to
> whether or not it is a loss (noting that the extinction is, in one sense, a
> definite loss. Extinction = all life - all life. - as subtraction is a
> lessing or loss), but never existing at all prohibits the possibility of
> loss - one needs something to loose.