Why would you choose not to have empathy for a living creature?
replyBecause lice are also living creatures. And I have no empathy for them, and hopefully never will.
replyLice have no choice in their lot in the universe. Do you think if they had intelligence the ability to choose their lot that they would choose their current one again? I doubt it personally. You can detest their mode of existence whilst still having empathy for them I think
replyCounterexample: Humans are lice to the ecosystem of Earth, and we choose to be that way.
replyI do, and I hopefully will eventually get to leeches too.
replyWhy not ? Do you think that in the grand scheme of the universe you are more important than a fruit fly ?
replyI'd hope so! The way that a planet is more important than a snowball.
replyDepends a great deal on the planet and the snowball, doesn’t it?
replyBut, that said, a mark of being more important than a lesser being would kind of be the virtue of still empathizing with that being, even if we assume there’s a hierarchy.
And considering you and I are really just elaborate transport vessels for E. Coli and a lot of fungal spores, I’m not sure we should assume there’s a hierarchy.