tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post7925051111277681166..comments2024-03-28T19:56:42.305-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Agents, patients and natural lawAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-18216523514066096392017-09-15T11:23:24.093-05:002017-09-15T11:23:24.093-05:00I think the "order of charity" is ground...I think the "order of charity" is grounded in the agent's nature. It is our nature that specifies which beings we should care more about. We should care more about siblings than cousins, say. But there could be beings similar to us who should care about cousins equally with siblings.Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-74237150359287350052017-09-14T19:48:23.021-05:002017-09-14T19:48:23.021-05:00I think a highly relevant distinction is between p...I think a highly relevant distinction is between people who are close to us (like, say, ourselves) and people who are "ethically distant" like, say, strangers.<br /><br />My thought is that my duties to people qua patients diminish as they get further away from my central circle of concern. I have very strong reasons, qua patient, to preserve my own life and those of my immediate family, but less strong reasons to preserve the lives of distant strangers. So, for example, if my son asks me to prioritize his fun over his understanding in some instance, I have pretty strong reason to override his wishes in favor of his good, but if a stranger asks me to do so I have much less reason to override.<br /><br />OTOH suppose my duties to be non-self-aggrandizing toward others are mostly agent-centered duties; yes it's annoying for others if I am self-aggrandizing but mainly this practice keeps me humble. Then my duty to be NSA in the presence of distant strangers will be about as stringent as my duty to be NSA in the presence of family.<br />Heath Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13535886546816778688noreply@blogger.com