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Originally Posted by Bulgaroctonus
The human body, as decades of scientific research has confirmed (and let's momentarily assume we have the ability to know things) is made up protons, electrons, and neutrons just like everything else. I don't see where you inject the difference between humans and the rest of matter.
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A bomb can explode, a book can not. A human can reason, a brick can not. Are you going to tell me that these things (though made up of the same basic components) are not fundamentally different?
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Although everything is made up of the same things (sub-atomic particles), the variations in the bonds (and such) changes the nature of the sub-atomic particles. So the particles in our brain has a different nature then the particles in the sun. They act and react in a different manner then anything else.
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Man does have instinct, try the sex instinct. Its hard to rationalize that desire except that its essential for the preservation of the species and has thus become an instinct. Humans across the board show a real susceptibility to this desire, and that leads me to believe its not just a decision (assuming we have free will anyway) and is instead an instinct. If you want more of my thoughts on the matter, I'm happy to oblige.
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An instinct is automatic knowledge/reaction. We have a desire to have sex, but we do not know that we must, and we certainly have the capacity not to have sex.
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Humans also pull away from something that is burning them, run away from danger, flinch at loud noises, and will try to find food an shelter. Humans run on instincts. Indeed, looking at our brains, the prefontal cortex and other parts of the brain that determine rationality and personality are new compared to the more primal brain stem (which controls many of the instincts I'm talking about). Man is still firmly in control of his animalistic past.
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Pulling away is not an automatic reaction, as we have the capacity to not pull away; to overcome that desire. So yes, we are fully in control of our "animalistic past" as you put it. So would it not be proper to call these things "desires" instead of "instincts"?
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Only some morality promotes life. Its hard to see how Catholic celibacy promotes life, or Islamic suicide bombing. It seems to me a lot of morality just keeps people under control and makes them more easily controlled.
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Then that morality is false, as it contradicts the purpose of morality.
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You say humans are distinguished by a rational consciousness. I think most morals are irrational products of emotion and sentimentality (just like religion).
What is rational to me, may sound fascist to you.
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I also said man was volitional, that he has the capacity to be rational or not. Yes I agree though that all false moral systems are the products of emotion and sentimentality, or at the very least ignorance.
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Finally, I'd like to see some sources on the "Law of Non-Contradiction." That sounds like metaphysics to me.
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Read Aristotle's Metaphysics.
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html
So you're in New Jersey aye? Where abouts? (I live in NJ too)