Should we put a comma before "and Nazi experiments" to make the parallel sentence clearer?

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“What makes Human Beings into Moral Beings?”
1
The Significance of Ethics in the Process of Evolution
Babette Babich
2
Professor of Fordham University, New York City, editor of New Nietzsche Studies
E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT: Just as animals in general are described as “feeling” nothing like “pain” but “stimuli responses” or “behaviours,” scientific theorists once proposed to reduce the differences between socio-cultural expressions of pain to differences in general between the races: Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples and Nazi experiments on human pain extended the same test of pain thresholds from experiments performed on animals for centuries (the same experiments on animals unchecked to this day) to human beings designated as subhuman. Ethological studies by Franz de Waal suggest that animals share this capacity for sympathizing with the other. Schopenhauer’s notion of compassion thus serves as the basis for a new understanding of becoming moral. This essay situates Schopenhauer with respect to Kant as well as Nietszche and develops connections with Levinas and Adorno as well as Isaac Bashevis Singer.
KEY WORDS: Evolutionary ethics, animal empathy, Vivisection.

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Type: Question • Score: 2 • Views: 819 • Replies: 10

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Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples, and Nazi experiments on human pain . . .

I'd say yes, since this is a series of examples

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@PUNKEY,

PUNKEY wrote:

Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples, and Nazi experiments on human pain . . .

I'd say yes, since this is a series of examples

Nazi experiments are not parallel to Black, White, Asian. There are two sentences which have been put together to form a single sentence with the conjunctive word "and":

(the first sentence) : scientific theorists once proposed to reduce the differences between socio-cultural expressions of pain to differences in general between the races: Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples
(the second sentence): Nazi experiments on human pain extended the same test of pain thresholds from experiments performed on animals for centuries (the same experiments on animals unchecked to this day) to human beings designated as subhuman.

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OR you could read it as:

They (Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples, and Nazi experiments on human pain) extended the same test of pain thresholds from experiments performed on animals for centuries (the same experiments on animals unchecked to this day) to human beings designated as subhuman.

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@oristarA,

Use the comma. Nazi experiments on human pain. . . are not part of the group of aboriginal peoples.

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@PUNKEY,

PUNKEY wrote:

OR you could read it as:

They (Black, White, Asian, and especially so-called aboriginal peoples, and Nazi experiments on human pain) extended the same test of pain thresholds from experiments performed on animals for centuries (the same experiments on animals unchecked to this day) to human beings designated as subhuman.

It is doubtful that you can classify Nazi experiments into the category of (human) race, PUNKEY.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

Use the comma. Nazi experiments on human pain. . . are not part of the group of aboriginal peoples.

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Yeah, thus "Nazi experiments on human pain. . ." has to be another sentence that is parallel to the first sentence.

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@oristarA,

I'm not really understanding your use of parallel sentences, but if you're happy, I'm happy.

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@roger,

roger wrote:

I'm not really understanding your use of parallel sentences, but if you're happy, I'm happy.

"Parallel sentence" or "balanced sentence" can be highly misleading here. I simply meant two different sentences have been put together by adding "and" between.

We're all happy of course.

1 Reply

@oristarA,

oic

In that case, I still maintain you need the comma after aboriginal peoples. It isn't naturally grouped with Nazi experiments.

0 Replies

Ori:
Consider this: The author is listing people he classifies as a "race"

Black
White,
Asian,
aboriginal peoples
and Nazi experiments on (Jewish prisoners)

(All of these groups ) extended the same test of pain thresholds from experiments performed on animals for centuries (the same experiments on animals unchecked to this day) to human beings designated as subhuman.

But to settle it, why don't you email Babich?

PS - Two complete thoughts connected with a conjunction is called a compound sentence.

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Should we put a comma before "and Nazi experiments" to make the parallel sentence clearer?

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