To me, a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether you have … - J. M. Coetzee

Same topic Authors

Quote of the day

Our talk of external things, our very notion of things, is just a conceptual apparatus that helps us to foresee and control the triggerings of our sensory receptors in the light of previous triggering of our sensory receptors.

J. M. Coetzee

To me, a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether you have a white or a black skin, and a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether or not you know the difference between a subject and a predicate, are more alike than they are unlike.

Animal, Depends, Differences, Nonhuman, Predicate, White

Same Author Quotes

(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.

Simple, Generosity, Guilt, Fear, Let

Let me say it openly: we are surrounded by an enterprise of degradation, cruelty, and killing which rivals anything the Third Reich was capable of, indeed dwarfs it, in that ours is an enterprise without end, self-regenerating, bringing rabbits, rats, poultry, livestock ceaselessly into the world for the purpose of killing them.

Holocaust, Poultry, Purpose, Rats, Rivals, Self

Children all over the world consort quite naturally with animals. They don't see any dividing line. That is something they have to be taught, just as they have to be taught it is all right to kill and eat them.

Children, Animal, Pet, Taught, Consort

The highest type of intelligence, says Aristotle, manifests itself in an ability to see connections where no one has seen them before, that is, to think analogically.

Thinking, Connections, Type, Ability, Aristotle

Machiavelli says that if as a ruler you accept that your every action must pass moral scrutiny, you will without fail be defeated by an opponent who submits to no such moral test. To hold on to power, you have not only to master the crafts of deception and treachery but to be prepared to use them where necessary.

Action, Crafts, Deception, Opponent, Says, Use