15. asymmetric attitudes ทัศนคติที่ไม่สมมาตร
To say that our attitudes toward
two things are asymmetrical is simply to say
that they are different. The asymmetric attitudes
arise as a particular puzzle when the things toward
which we hold asymmetric attitudes are apparently
the same in relevant ways.
A prime example of this is the asymmetric attitudes
we hold toward the time before birth and
the time after death. Both are long periods of time
in which we do not exist. It would seem, then, that
our attitudes toward them should be symmetric.
Intuitively, though, it seems reasonable to regard
death as a bad thing, and unreasonable to regard
the period of prenatal nonexistence as comparably
bad. That is, we hold asymmetric attitudes toward
death and prenatal nonexistence.