RicOlie_2 said:
You are, whether intentionally or not, avoiding my main question. How can you be sure that murder is wrong if it can have practical benefits for society in some cases? What are your reasons for thinking that empathy is not a weakness and a fault itself? Is survival of the fittest, the most cooperative, or the competitive cooperative the way to go and what makes you think that instead of something else? If someone disagreed with you why are you so sure you would be right?
I wasn't trying to avoid it, I just thought I'd answered it already. But anyway murder does not "have practical benefits for society in some cases" because the family of the murdered person would be harmed, the person themselves would be harmed (They are part of society) and society would be less-rich to the tune of one life. If a percentage of the population were happy about the murder then those people lack empathy (As I've already said). For the record I'm against the Death-Penalty in all cases (Except littering and talking/texting in a f*cking cinema!).
"What are your reasons for thinking that empathy is not a weakness and a fault itself?" Fairly abstract question but my sense of empathy is directly derived from my own sense of self-preservtion and well being (As I've also already said) or to use a quote I read somewhere (I forget where) "Do unto to others as you would have done unto you".
"Survival of the fittest" only applies in pure terms to animals as they lack a sense of empathy. Empathy is what makes us uniquely human. Sure in most human contexts the "fittest" will win but they had a choice to concede or to never compete... an animal does not. For example, my cat derives pleasure from toying with a mouse, torturing it and then ripping it's head off and giving it to me as a present. My cat isn't evil, it just lacks a sense of empathy for the mouse. But my cat still has emotions and feelings however and would be hurt if I treated it in the same way as it treated the mouse but that would never change it's behaviour. That's only something we humans have evolved.
It's a shame when religous people choose to ignore this sense of empathy and instead choose to act against their own nature to follow the commandments in a book. e.g. "Homosexuality is wrong because my religion says it is, despite the evidence of my feelings of empathy for them (Because I'm a good person) and them being happy that way, them doing no harm to anyone else and me knowing that gay guy at work that is actually really nice etc etc".