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To: Giant Conservative
Au contraire, it is an entirely rational on the part of the woman involved [unless it be in China, in North Korea prison camp or other such place] and on the part of those performing the procedure, sometimes on the part of parents and boyfriends as well. More, as long as it is voluntary and deliberate, it is always rational, as all voluntary and deliberate actions are [rational in the reference framework of the person performing the action].
Irrationality is "I have two [or more] courses of action, A and B. In my opinion, B is better than A, therefore I will do A"]. And such a person has not yet been born, and never will.
If what a person does [as an extreme example, a self-immolation in a public square] appears irrational to you, it does not mean that the immolator was irrational - it merely means that in immolator's perception at the time, the benefits of his action [such as gathering publicity for his cause, or whatever else might be in his/her mind] outweighed the drawbacks you [an outside observer] would perceive - i.e. that his reference [value] frame is, or was at the time, different from yours. And in that reference value frame of his, his action would be entirely rational. As a corollary of this line of thought, all insanity defenses are ipso facto bogus.
512 posted on 03/07/2007 7:05:06 PM PST by GSlob
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To: GSlob
Irrationality is "I have two [or more] courses of action, A and B. In my opinion, B is better than A, therefore I will do A"].

That's true, but you're missing a crucial point. Suppose that I have two courses of action before me, binge drinking and moderation in drinking. I know that it's better for my overall health to drink in moderation. But instead, because I so love the pleasure of drinking, I choose to drink myself to death. In this case, I am choosing the apparent good over the objective good.

No one chooses against what he perceives as good, but this does not mean that he is acting rationally, since he is acting against right reason.

The Goodness and Malice of the Internal Act of the Will

526 posted on 03/08/2007 5:40:18 AM PST by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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