tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post5144497331569810706..comments2024-03-28T19:56:42.305-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Will dogs live forever?Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-38186602613334420522019-03-25T08:40:52.346-05:002019-03-25T08:40:52.346-05:00This is why dogs are happier than us.This is why dogs are happier than us.Dagmara Lizlovshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14744785407281199347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-89934081838487783302019-03-24T18:12:53.748-05:002019-03-24T18:12:53.748-05:00All I know is that when Christ comes to make all t...All I know is that when Christ comes to make all things new, and that is all things, my horses, cats and dogs will be restored without their infirmities. I don't know how this will all happen, i just know that it will and that that is sufficient.Dagmara Lizlovshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14744785407281199347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-10337979509259570342019-03-21T14:08:14.846-05:002019-03-21T14:08:14.846-05:00Alex: Well, I don't think the matter would be ...Alex: Well, I don't think the matter would be different in kind. Glorification of matter is simply something being added to the matter (God's grace?), which could be categorised as accidental change.<br /><br />When Jesus was resurrected, His body at that point was essentially the same as before His resurrection. The matter of the body might have been changed in the sense that it was glorified or transformed, but it's still the same matter that actually existed before the resurrection. So the identity of the matter will remain. <br /><br />Which means any potential resurrected animals will have essentially the same bodies and matter they had before their resurrection, only this time glorified and transformed.<br /><br />It's the same kind of matter, because otherwise it wouldn't be the same animal if it was a completely different kind of matter altogether. But it's glorified matter, meaning the matter has something added to it.Wesley C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05903323901343952714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-55842759259752191042019-03-21T08:17:55.112-05:002019-03-21T08:17:55.112-05:00Wesley: That's a nice move. So the animals wou...Wesley: That's a nice move. So the animals would be no longer made of the same kind of matter as they are now or supervenience would no longer hold. I guess that's possible.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-36856276367160599842019-03-20T12:35:15.695-05:002019-03-20T12:35:15.695-05:00One possible response to the objection that a dog&...One possible response to the objection that a dog's life just wouldn't be a flourishing life if everything is repeated for it is that this smuggles in the implicit anthropomorphising tendency to view animal life as requiring the same as human life does.<br /><br />So while a human life repeated forever without anything new and only being one large repetition might be ugly and not fitting for human beings, the same may not be true for animals. Animals are below is in the great chain of being, so what is fitting for them is not the same as what is fitting for us.<br /><br />And what for us may not seem like a flourishing life to have, may be just fitting for animals to have.<br /><br /><br /><br />Another, and much larger response to the repetition objection, is that it's just false. As you yourself said in your blog post about fictional characters and Heaven, things may have infinite subtility and infinite depth of participation in God. Nothing is actually boring, and repetition does not suck the enjoyability or wonder out of things. Everything can be enjoyed infinitely many times, and will in reality never get boring. The only reason why things get boring now is because of original sin; our mind is clouded and cannot see the glory of created goodness that is inexhaustible. <br /><br />So even if a dog were to experience nothing but repetition of everything, it still wouldn't be bored; on the contrary, it would enjoy it always without getting tired of it. <br /><br />What this means is that repetition is not something evil, so a dog's life isn't being restricted from flourishing properly because of repetition.<br /><br /><br />And the biggest response to the repetition objection comes from Chrisitan eschatology. All of reality, at the end of time, will be glorified by God. This is referred to as the New Earth and New Heaven. Just as Jesus' resurrected body is the same body He had before the resurrection, so too will all of material reality be resurrected and glorified as well.<br /><br />What this means is that material reality will in some sense be much more than it is today. It will be more beautiful, more interesting, more diverse and more wonderful than it is today. Another important point is the very real possibility that God may always continue to glorify reality in this way. The increased goodness, beauty and wonder of material reality will not cease; it will continue happening. This means that creation will always progress more and more in being glorified and being added upon.<br /><br />Obviously what this means is that nothing will be boring. But what it also means is that creation will have an inexhaustible aspect to it, since it will keep being elevated. So no activity may in fact be perfectly repeated. It will always not only continue to be interesting and enjoyable, but it will become <b> more interesting</b> and <b>more beautiful</b> as time goes on.<br /><br />So dogs won't actually be having the same exact experience over and over again. Fetching sticks, for example, may become more and more pleasurable for the dog's nature, and as such it will never be perfectly repeated because it will always be more and more enjoyable because it will be more and more glorified.<br /><br />Wesley C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05903323901343952714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-76777821865903460642019-03-20T11:52:33.846-05:002019-03-20T11:52:33.846-05:00If my dog, Ellen Barkin, lived forever, she would ...If my dog, Ellen Barkin, lived forever, she would gladly chase, catch and retrieve the frisbee a billion times, stopping only for the occasional rest and drink of water. She would be happy forever. I, however, would have grown weary of this process several hundred thousand times ago.bruce brittainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02668986574894493601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-18646915940827167962019-03-20T10:11:18.182-05:002019-03-20T10:11:18.182-05:00I'm scared of dogs anyway.I'm scared of dogs anyway.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-65099149160803584682019-03-19T20:58:06.076-05:002019-03-19T20:58:06.076-05:00I have read your argument several times. I don'...I have read your argument several times. I don't pretend that I completely understand it. I confess that I am a bit dim when it comes to philosophical reasoning. However, your argument made one thing crystal clear to me. <br /><br />You should not own a dog.<br /><br />Yours very crankily,<br />The New York Crank<br />TheNewYorkCrank.blogspot.comThe New York Crankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04489472134701718697noreply@blogger.com