 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
... When we examine the things to which we are inclined to attach intrinsic value, we find that they are all things that are desired or enjoyed. It is difficult to believe that anything would have value in a universe devoid of sentience. This suggests that ''intrinsic value’' may be definable in terms of desire or pleasure or both.
If we say "pleasure is good and pain is bad”, do we mean anything more than "we like pleasure and dislike pain”? It seems as if we must mean something more than this, but this is certainly a part of what we mean. We cannot attribute intrinsic value to everything that is desired, because desires conflict, for instance in a war, where each side desires its own victory.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, (1954), chapter98：Is there ethical knowledge ?
More info.:https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-0907.htm
* a brief comment
In the eyes of the universe at large, human beings are insignificant, but this does not mean that we need to despise them, but rather, we should be compassionate toward what is human as good (for human beings) .