I recently read an article somewhere about intrinsic value. The concept of something being intrinsically good has baffled people for ages, and even now people disagree - what is it about something that makes it good in and of itself?
Suppose that someone were to ask you whether it is good to help others in time of need. Unless you suspected some sort of trick, you would answer, “Yes, of course.” If this person were to go on to ask you why acting in this way is good, you might say that it is good to help others in time of need simply because it is good that their needs be satisfied. If you were then asked why it is good that people's needs be satisfied, you might be puzzled. You might be inclined to say, “It just is.” Or you might accept the legitimacy of the question and say that it is good that people's needs be satisfied because this brings them pleasure. But then, of course, your interlocutor could ask once again, “What's good about that?” Perhaps at this point you would answer, “It just is good that people be pleased,” so as to put an end to this line of questioning. Or perhaps you would again seek to explain the fact that it is good that people be pleased in terms of something else that you take to be good.
Let us look at the case of psychedelic drugs, like marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, whatever - these drugs supposedly give you a high that can bring you to a sort of supra-rational state; is this good? I say yeah, sure. Why not? People in pain take drugs - it's as simple as that. Those in physical pain take tylenol, and those in emotional pain take tylenol. Why not let people smoke? say it's all just bureaucracy and red tape, and some sort of age-old racial stigmas, too, that is keeping people from havin' a toke every so often.
But that's not my point, the point here is really kind of stupid; it's just that it's real tough to say you know, "GUYS COCAINE IS BAD, DON'T DO IT!" What do you judge things by, their merit, the pleasure it induces or the pain it will help you forget? I don't know, really!
Cheers
Kamster
Saturday, May 23, 2009
WHAT IS LOVE!
Posted by kamster on Saturday, May 23, 2009
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1 comments:
whether a drug is 'intrinsically' good is not the point. of course people could argue about that. what you cannot argue about is:
-cocaine and crack leads to fatal death from heart attacks, brain seizures, depression, stroke, and paranoia.
-cocaine makes you lose control of your life
-loses your social relationship with your friends and family
-people take it just to feel 'normal' again
-families get torn apart when addicts decide (and they can't help it) that the drug is more important than their relationships
-even with proper support and medication, the long lasting effects of cocaine makes it nearly impossible to continue to live a normal life again
my argument is not that people should not take pain-relieving drugs, i am saying that this stuff is too dangerous to go unregulated. 300 000 people die of cocaine related deaths each year in the US.
yes, it is possible to say that cocaine is harmful because the effects far outweigh the minimal benefits (that can be solved using pharmaceutical drugs, even though they are addictive as well)
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