The Wanderer

Here's more! I'm 23 years old, and I'm about to graduate college. I'm unsure what I want to do with my life because I'm almost completely out of touch with my true self. A couple years ago, I cheated on my girlfriend and made the decision to cover it up. I experienced firsthand the slow, suffocating death of the true self because of immorality. Thankfully, after listening to FDR and meditating for a while, the blinding light of truth pierced my wall of illusion, and I came clean to her-- and she forgave me! Now, I'm dream journaling, reading John Bradshaw's "Homecoming," and trying desperately to blow oxygen on the still-smoldering embers of my true self. I'm also reconsidering (or, perhaps, considering for the first time) my relationships with others and my experiences as a child. I am so, so excited to be here. P.S.- I'm also interested in politics. I went through the Ron Paul phase, but I'm now coming around to the idea of a stateless society. I'm done railing against the Fed, and I'm starting to rail against my own self-ignorance.

Ruben: Thank you for pointing out the inapplicability of the term "parenting" to domestic pets (and thank you for being the first one to welcome me to the FDR boards!). However, I think a pet owner's responsibility as caretaker warrants ethical deliberation comparable to that required by parenting. My family inadvertently adopted our dog from a puppy mill. When we first got her, her health bore signs of neglect. As she's aged, we've realized that she has got to be just about the most "clingy" animal we've ever had (and we have had many.) She fears abandonment, and she gets jealous when other animals get more attention than she. In short, I think her personality was shaped by her puppyhood trauma of not getting the amount of love and attention requisite for a healthy adult life. As I think along these lines, it strikes me that "parenting" animals during their "childhood" plays a huge role in determining the nature and quality of their adult lives-- as it does with parenting human children. But that's something we can mostly agree on, I think. Here's something else. I have a one year old kitten who desperately wants to go outside. But I live in an area with a moderate amount of danger for outside cats. Is it morally worse for me to keep her locked inside, effectively extinguishing by force her want to go out; or is it worse for me to facilitate her want, let her out, and subject her to a danger that she doesn't know is out there? Or is it beyond the realm of moralty altogether? LovePrevails: I agree that there are certain acts of "parenting" animals that are clearly impermissible, but it gets murky for me when I try to adhere to principles of negotiation and the right of my pets to self-determine their own lives in particular situations.

Hello, Freedomain Radio boards! My name is Kevin, and I live in the U-S-of-A. I'm in need of some real self knowledge-- and I love philsophy and argumentation- so I'm happy to be here!

What is the nature of the moral overlap between peaceful parenting of children and peaceful parenting of domestic pets? What is the difference in terms of morally permissible behavior? Keep in mind, the morality of parenting domestic pets must not necessarily subscribe to the premise of non-aggression, but it should reflect the principles that construct non-aggression’s ethical underpinning.