tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post7774617394783892194..comments2024-03-23T07:33:30.972+00:00Comments on Quodlibeta: A Rather Obvious PointJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594220073836613367noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-11117519932679354782010-07-11T19:44:26.477+01:002010-07-11T19:44:26.477+01:00"My suggestion was that considering the indiv..."My suggestion was that considering the individual life to be unsubstantial could very easily have the consequence of treating other people as if they were not substantial -- and not as a forced interpretation but as a very natural one."<br /><br />It depends on the context. What else does the Bushido code contain? What other beliefs does the individual hold? <br /><br />You cannot take -"The individual life weighs less than a feather" - as a belief held on it's own, in a vacuum. <br /><br />In World War One the Japanese Army treated prisoners of war with dignity and respect. In World War Two it treated POWs as sub-human. What changed? Not the Bushido code. However Japan had embraced Romantic Nationalism. And the Imperial Army began to treat it's own soldiers as sub-human. (It had found that a culture of brutality made Japanese soldiers more ruthless.)So I think that I am disagreeing. One abstract idea in isolation from other ideas, predispositions and social contexts will not have very many consequences. <br /><br />(I should add that my only sources here are Laurence Rees's books "Horror in the East" and "Their Darkest Hour", "Hell in the Pacific" by Lewis and Steele and a few articles by Col. Dave Grossman. I'm no expert!)Graham Vealenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-62032319905988095982010-07-10T20:45:26.127+01:002010-07-10T20:45:26.127+01:00No, I'm making a general claim about worldview...No, I'm making a <i>general</i> claim about worldviews, and using Islamic terrorism as a jumping-off point because that's the specific way the subject tends to be raised nowadays (at least in my experience). I used the Bushido code as an illustration partially to show that I wasn't only talking about Islam but about ideologies in general.Jim S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15538540873375357030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-48691194752248786712010-07-10T15:00:27.719+01:002010-07-10T15:00:27.719+01:00You seek to make an important point about Islamic ...You seek to make an important point about Islamic beliefs and their consequences by reference to the Japanese Bushido code. Why so oblique? Why not spell out exactly what the bad ideas are in Islam that you think have such bad consequences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-84885933291782662992010-07-09T22:03:34.098+01:002010-07-09T22:03:34.098+01:00Ideas have consequences - but we need to identify ...<i>Ideas have consequences - but we need to identify the ideas correctly.</i><br /><br />OK. The idea I identified is "The individual life weighs less than a feather." My suggestion was that considering the individual life to be unsubstantial could very easily have the consequence of treating other people as if they were not substantial -- and not as a forced interpretation but as a very natural one. Do you disagree?Jim S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15538540873375357030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-63461163168397845032010-07-09T12:53:59.529+01:002010-07-09T12:53:59.529+01:00Japanese soldiers following the Bushido code treat...Japanese soldiers following the Bushido code treated German prisoners of war honourably in WW1. <br /><br />Japanese society took a turn towards fascism in the inter-war years. The Bushido code was re-interpreted accordingly. <br /><br />Ideas have consequences - but we need to identify the ideas correctly.Graham Vealenoreply@blogger.com