Say there is a alien planet that does not have more complex life than bacterial life that is native to that planet. If somebody nuked that planet and said “Do not worry bacteria are not concious so this is not a shady act” would that be a sufficient reason to stop pondering the ethics of it?
My gut feeling is that nuking a planet for no reason is quite shady on its own, even if we take for granted that no life forms whatsoever are present on that planet. Of course, now we could ask “what about a smaller planet?” starting a new chain that will terminate with the conclusion that destroying a pebble for no reason is still shady.
Thinking about it, I surely don’t care about pebbles, but the idea of someone enthusiastically smashing pebbles with violence still leaves me with a vague sense of wrongness (probably it’s just the idea of smashing things for no reason that feels shady).
My gut feeling is that nuking a planet for no reason is quite shady on its own, even if we take for granted that no life forms whatsoever are present on that planet. Of course, now we could ask “what about a smaller planet?” starting a new chain that will terminate with the conclusion that destroying a pebble for no reason is still shady.
Thinking about it, I surely don’t care about pebbles, but the idea of someone enthusiastically smashing pebbles with violence still leaves me with a vague sense of wrongness (probably it’s just the idea of smashing things for no reason that feels shady).