Narrator feels saddened because "A flow of disappoint rushed across my mind." The creature felt amused because "He came straight up to me and laughed into my eyes."
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The phrase, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind, was intended to convey a respect for what mankind thinks. Opinions are biases indulged by mankind inside their thought-matrices. Mankind is the species known as Homo Sapiens Sapiens.
In ethics, value pluralism (also known as ethical pluralism or moral pluralism) is the idea that there are several values which may be equally correct and fundamental, and yet in conflict with each other. ... Value-pluralism is a theory in metaethics, rather than a theory of normative ethics, or a set of values in itself.
