as i dream about movies they won't make of me when i'm dead - Post a comment

for your pleasure. ""twilight and philosophy: vampires, vegetarians and the pursuit of immortality."

"Of course Lao Tzu never imagined that a fi ctional character far in the distant future would exemplify the Tao. And Meyer herself probably did not realize how consistently she portrayed the character of Jacob within a Taoist framework."

"In the world of Twilight , death is not inevitable, and the purest form of love seems to have been found. Such a world not only allows an exploration of the human condition —facing our deepest and darkest fears, as well as our highest hopes. It also demands that we explore our condition — and there is no better companion for such an exploration than philosophy."

"

But even if we follow the chivalrous example of Edward —

the lion who fell in love with the lamb — and recognize that

our beloved has needs and interests of her own that set a limit

to how far we can go in indulging our desires, it remains true

that every form of sensual enjoyment resembles somewhat the

pleasures of eating.

But however mistaken

Edward may have been about his competition, his wrenching

internal struggle was very real. Aquinas undoubtedly would

have described it as a battle between concupiscence ( “ what I

wanted ” ) and conscience ( “ what I knew was right ” ).

beauty possesses a unique ability to

remind us of a joy that lies beyond this world and therefore

beyond mere carnal satisfactions."

"

Carnal lust is a desire to feast our senses on the voluptuous

pleasures promised by the beloved ’ s beautiful fl esh,

form, and in some cases fragrance. We know exactly what it

would mean to sate that sort of desire

Edward Cullen is a loving husband, a brilliant musician, a

devoted son, and a remarkable baseball player. But of course,

Edward is also a vampire. Do you need to be human to be

a person? What are the criteria for personhood? This chapter

will address whether you have to be human to be called a

“ person, ” or whether vampires like Edward and the Cullens

have more “ personhood ” than the rest of us.

"

"

But there ’ s a larger problem with the assumption that

humans are special because of our souls: How do you know

you have one? How do you test for a soul? Souls are a matter

more of faith than of fact; there is no test ever that could

confi rm a soul ’ s existence. So how can we say that vampires

don ’ t have souls? Imagine that a vampire argued that

humans don ’ t have souls! How would we prove that vampire

wrong? Vampires could argue that proof of their souls is in

their superiority over humans. The vampire might argue that

if humans had souls, God wouldn ’ t make them so easy to

kill. (This is exactly the argument we often use against

animals.)

This suggests a general policy for humans

and vampires alike: Moral personhood may be judged only

on a case - by - case basis. Each vampire should be judged as

a participant in the moral community as an individual.

"