tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post5029310721975586498..comments2023-10-09T00:45:55.603+09:00Comments on Shisaku: A small step away, a great leap backMTChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04626942240117432624noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-71564327968226988162008-01-23T16:45:00.000+09:002008-01-23T16:45:00.000+09:00Two points about the Chris Hogg article:He’s not a...Two points about the Chris Hogg article:<BR/><BR/>He’s not a bioethicist, that’s for sure. Peter Singer would immediately compare his consumption of whale meat to an undercover FBI agent participating in the mob torching of an uncooperative betting gambling joint.<BR/><BR/>Japan does not have a “Fisheries Ministry.” It has a Fisheries <I>Agency</I>. This is far from trivial. For one thing, the whaling lobby must beat out the more powerful agriculture lobby in order that the fisheries bureaucracy, a quite distinct and near-separate branch in the MAFF hierarchy, can even get a proposal to leave the IWC out of MAFF, let alone the Cabinet. What the Fisheries Agency bureaucrat no doubt meant was that the <I>fisheries</I> bureaucracy was serious about its threat to leave the IWC (an implicit one, mind you). You need a little more substance before you can use the blanket word “Japan” to describe what’s going on. Conclusion: He’s either dumb, or he fudged the facts to sex up his report. Otherwise, the article is about par for the course.<BR/><BR/>More interesting is the Peter Singer article. I’ve always had sympathy with that ethical line of thinking. I’m also uneasy with it though, because it opens the line to justifications for euthanasia, eugenics, and full-body cloning for organ harvesting, and other viscerally-charged and emotionally complicated issues. I’m not quite ready to go along with Mr. Singer’s bioethics, which destroys the “us”-“them” distinction between humans and non-, given all its implications.<BR/><BR/>BTW, WTF is Akebono doing in that illustration? Do you think he’s going to cook a <I>chanko-nabe</I> with <I>kujira-kama</I> for the Jolly Green Giant? I mean, you don’t believe that GG grew that big on tofu and vegetables alone, do you?Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.com