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Regarding the "inhumane"...

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Chesterton

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"Humane" may be partially an expression of aspiration, but it's also a recognition of fact that humans have a capacity for cruelty which animals don't have, which is to say a capacity for morality which animals don't have. At least we think they don't; I've seen a domesticated cat seemingly torment a lizard, but that's rare in nature I think, and we really don't know what's on animals minds. So it's a recognition of both aspiration and capacity, a recognition that we are different from the lower animals.
Ana the Ist said:
Yet as the meaning of "terrible" changed over time (and held an entirely different meaning in other cultures) the characterization of this czar likewise changed to conform with the word's meaning.
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I was in a bar one time and this drunk guy was giving me this tale about how the night before he'd beat up three guys at once. I paid him a compliment and called him a liar at the same time by telling him "Wow, that's a fantastic story! You're incredible!" "Fantastic" of course in the old sense meaning "the stuff of fantasy" and "incredible" meaning "not to be believed".
 
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Eryk

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Ana the Ist said:
Well, since when has it been "inhuman" to be cruel?
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We made it this far because we had to cooperate to survive. It enabled our ancestors to hunt in groups and civilization was invented by people who built massive irrigation projects to grow food. Pro-social behaviors that reinforce trust and cohesion are known as good not because of sentiment but because of necessity. They are life.
 
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Dre Khipov

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1) Words can mean whatever we can collectively and contextually agree these to mean. These don't have to refer to the same concepts, and these generally don't. There's plenty of confusion because people end up arguing about what they impose on any given label, and it's a pointless argument IMO. There's plenty of room for disagreement in that respect, of course it's easier to communicate when we are on the same page about meaning.

2) Not sure that we can generalize concepts like "humane", since it generally deals with surrounding culture and upbringing and not something that's "embedded" in all of us.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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quatona said:
I´m not sure that etymology explains the current usage of words. After all, we have those two words "human" and "humane" - both with the same etymological roots; so it´s reasonable to assume they aren´t supposed to express the same concept.
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Yes; in English, the 'rules' are more honoured in their breach; hence weird situations like 'flammable' and 'inflammable'...

Wittgenstein suggested that words have no intrinsic semantics beyond how they are used; i.e. their useful semantics are a collaborative, social construct. That's why words change meaning over time and across social groups.
 
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FrumiousBandersnatch

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In Scotland they'd say, "Did ye aye?", or - for more emphasis - "Oh, did ye aye?" (as in 'a likely story'). Sarcasm.
 
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Tree of Life

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The notion of "humaneness" and "inhumaneness" is rooted in the notion that human beings are created in God's image. And so, in a sense, to be "humane" is to be what God intended humans to be - like God. Of course, Christians believe that this isn't the whole picture. Humans are both like God and unlike God because of sin. But Christians teach that sin takes away from our humanity. When we sin, when we're cruel for example, we become less human. This is also connected to the notion that to be what our creator intended for us to be is to be truly human. Jesus Christ, being sinless, was the only true human being the world has ever seen.

But if Christians are wrong then all of the above is hogwash and to be humane would include cruelty.
 
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