“Is it really morally wrong to kill someone? That question, strange enough on its own, is downright bizarre when it’s asked in the Journal of Medical Ethics. In ‘What makes killing wrong?’, a paper in the Journal‘s January issue, [two scholars] argue that there isn’t, fundamentally, anything wrong with killing another person. Killing is only incidentally bad because of one of its consequences: ‘total disability’.”
Tag: 02.04.12
Admiring Verdi’s Favorite Creation
“[The composer’s] own idea of what his proudest legacy would be – he called it his favorite of all his works – was the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, a retirement home in Milan for musicians who had reached age 65 and found themselves in dire straits. … Casa di Riposo still stands today beside a busy Milan traffic circle, still active.”
Why Americans Love Zoos
Diane Ackerman: “More than 150 million people a year visit zoos and aquariums in the United States. Why do we flock to them? It’s not just a pleasant outing with family or friends, or to introduce children (whose lives are a cavalcade of animal images) to real animals, though those are still big reasons. I think people are also drawn to a special stripe of innocence they hope to find there.”
Actor Ben Gazzara Dead At 81
“In a 60-year career that began on stage, the gravel-voiced Ben Gazzara appeared in more than 100 films and TV movies. He also starred in the 1960s series Run for Your Life, enjoyed a renaissance in the ’90s and won an Emmy in 2002.”
The Dardenne Brothers On Directing Child Actors
“Many directors have said that you can’t direct a child. … It’s a delicate balancing act. If you direct or instruct him too much, he’s a child doing what an adult is telling him to do.”
Architecture, A Profession In Meltdown
“When the Great Recession dawned, architecture was the glamour profession of the creative class. … A once-thriving profession, one that requires considerable education and work ethic, and which has traditionally served a wide range of functions – designing mansions for the 1 percent as well as public libraries – is [now] in trouble.”
The World’s Most Read Newspaper Website Is No Longer NYTimes.com
“The most important thing to know about the Daily Mail‘s website (more properly called the Mail Online) is that it’s not really an online newspaper. That’s exactly why it’s so successful. Unlike traditional online newspapers, the Mail Online bears little resemblance to the British tabloid that spawned it.”