Re: Dating Adam

Bill Hamilton (hamilton@predator.cs.gmr.com)
Mon, 3 Jun 1996 10:34:31 -0400

Glenn Morton wrote:
>Bill Hamilton wrote of the manufacture of statues of naked ladies by
>fossil man:
>
>>I certainly agree that it's a uniquely human activity. And it certainly
>>could imply lust, as well as the ability to interpret abstractions.
>>However, I'm not convinced that it implies religion.

Glenn's reply:
>
>If it implies lust, then it MUST imply moral accountability. And if the
>maker was morally accountable, then regardless of whether he personally
>had a religion or not, he needed one.

The appropriate definition of lust, I believe, from Webster's ninth
collegiate dictionary is "intense or unbridled sexual desire." Based on
that definition my neighbor's Malamute Husky can experience lust, but I
don't believe he (the dog, not his owner) is morally accountable. I
certainly agree that art is an indication of the level of mental activity
that we might expect of morally accountable beings, but I think you need
more than art to establish it. Perhaps a legal code...

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