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Consciousness and Its Implications

Book by Daniel N. Robinson · 2 quotes · Consciousness, Coma, Death

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Consciousness and Its Implications Quotes

“We not only care about creatures subject to pain and suffering, we care about our own character. And that character expresses itself and develops itself--it refines itself--in just those settings in which even the wishes of others cannot defeat the principle that we take to be the grounding of our humanity. Our humanity: it seems to begin and end with conscious life--with consciousness. It's this that opens the door to all the rest. And it's how we use all the rest that serves final judgment on whether that consciousness was a gift or a test that we have failed.”

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“We do not know what it's like to be a bat, we do not know what it's like to be in coma. we can't even say that we know what it's like to be sleeping. We can say what it's like to be restored to consciousness after sleeping. If there are no dreams during our sleep then the sleeping life is an empty life. We might say of such a life that it's not like being anything. We protect that life on the assumption that come the morning its normal functions will be restored. Suppose it was the case however that such functions were only restored every two days... every eight days... twice a year but only briefly. I assume the point is clear. Actions that end life are irretrievable. If we are mistaken at that point there is no going back.”

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