Thursday, October 18, 2007

Kant and Bentham battle it out over the Armenian Genocide Resolution

For the Kantian argument that the means matter, not the ends, try TAPPED here.

For the Bentham utilitarian argument, try TAPPED here.

As for me, I think I'll have to go with Kant on this one. Voting against the resolution is too close to lying about genocide.

Rossmiller, who argues against the resolution at the second link above, says "I studied Middle East international politics in Istanbul as a college student, and as a result I'm a great fan of Turkey and its people, so perhaps I'm slightly biased." If only he had met some Armenians during his time in Turkey, he might have seen both sides. Oh wait - I think there's a reason why the Armenians were missing. The genocide seems to have accomplished its goals in the sense of making sure Rossmiller only saw one perspective.

Kant is his own biggest problem when he says "let justice be done, though the heavens fall." I'm not going that far. The consequences of this resolution don't go that far either, but they're not good. Still, I don't see an ethical alternative to supporting it.

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