I don't take Kant's hard and fast view that an action is itself immoral without consideration of the motivation behind that action, or its consequences.

Thank God.

Kantian ethics make me want to tear my hair out.

Quote from: HurtfulTurkey on June 05, 2015, 05:57:24 PM

I don't take Kant's hard and fast view that an action is itself immoral without consideration of the motivation behind that action, or its consequences.

Thank God.

Kantian ethics make me want to tear my hair out.

Well I respect his work and think he's got interesting and compelling arguments, but it seems impossible to apply.

Well if what you do during life determines what you get in the afterlife, then it would make life more valuable for most people.

Of course this is all presupposing that it is better to exist than to not, which I don't think is entirely valid.

@% $!

I think there's a strong argument for an action being universally immoral because it inherently leverages a person as a means to an end, or usurps their consent or autonomy.

Only because being the kind of person who leverages others is going to have bad consequences at some point, a la virtue ethics.

Interesting question. Every religion/belief/whatever tends to have the proclamation of an afterlife. Something cheery that you stop buy to after you kick the bucket.

So, what's your take on it?

If you're a particularliy devout follower, would the concept of "eternity, sunshine and bunnies" de value how much effort or how much worth you put in being alive?

I bring this up in light of one of those sects of people that let their kids die if they need a blood transfusion. No blood, their good book says.

Any ideas on how much this affects people and to what degree?

It doesn't realy devalue life when whatever concept of afterlife it is, is based on your actions in life (for example heaven and hell)

Being a believer, the only thing the promise of an afterlife does is make me keep going in life. Obstacles don't matter, because the other side is so much greater, worth it.

I have a determination and a confidence I wouldn't have otherwise. Motivation. Nothing is impossible.
Or to quote Shia LaBeouf:

The idea of a reward after a life of suffering can be quite motivating.

Just imagine having a miserable life, with no afterlife? No reward?

Even if there isn't an afterlife, I'd rather believe it exists and be incorrect then just assume it doesn't exist from lack of evidence.

You are making the assumption that an afterlife is just the same as the life we have right now, only more peaceful and without violence. But I believe it is infinitely more profound than that. If you are to believe that there is an omnipotent, omniscience God who loves everybody intimately, then you would want to be with that being, as well as be with the spirits of all those whom you love. And if God is infinite, then the creations he can make are infinite as well, since his imagination is not limited by stimuli or experience. After all, if he can create and maintain a universe as complex as ours, what is to stop him from doing it again, only completely different? Plus history is an ongoing thing, new ideas are always being presented, new events keeps happening in the cosmos, we may get to witness that.

Now the next question is obviously "What's the point of life then? Why not just skip to the afterlife?". Some religions teach about mortal sin, about some transgression humanity committed against God. I doubt any of the literal interpretations are true, but they probably have basis in the truth. If you believe in a soul, then you must also believe that it can be affected by evil. If you lead a life of violence and crime, then that paradigm will ingrain itself in your spirit, which may carry over into the afterlife. Since its not a thing that can be measured with science, there is no way we know for sure what happens. But perhaps this is a possibility: If one can accept the existence of a guiding hand, then we must account for the fact that this entity knows what is happening at every moment. It knows and maintains all the processes and the machinations of our universe, sustaining the laws of physics. If one can accept this, then they must know that logic dictates that such an entity also knows each of us on an intimate level.

Now if you are an omnipotent entity who knows no threat or felt any need to fight for his life, then you would never know hatred, it would be an alien concept to you, or rather an incompatible one. If you are the only thing in existence and you create life...would it be unreasonable to assume that you love that life? Maybe the reason you created it is because it was new and you wanted to see what it would do with the laws of the universe, to see what humanity could create with the tools it was lent. But when their physical bodies die, you would still want them to live wouldn't you? But if they have that incompatible concept on their hearts and if they aren't willing to surrender it, then they must be sorted from those that do. A bit deep, but that's my guess.