Comments on: Pity the Prawns: Scientists say that Crustaceans Suffer Pain http://alistairrobinson.co.uk/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain/ Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:34:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Alistair http://alistairrobinson.co.uk/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-17727 Alistair Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:15:48 +0000 http://www.alistairrobinson.co.uk/blog/2007/11/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain.html#comment-17727 Thanks for the comment Kory. Actually, one can just as well say that we're made of the same stuff that robots are: atoms and molecules. This proves only that reduction to our constituent "stuff" is irrelevant here. It is obvious that prawns and humans are both kinds of animals, and therefore share many characteristics. Whether pain is shared is the issue here. Remember also the oft-quoted fact that we are 98% genetically the same as chimpanzees. Considering the vast differences between chimps and humans, this only goes to show how little genetics determines the characteristics we deem most human. In this article, I am placing pain in the real context in which we use the word, to discover what it really means. I contend that this meaning is so specifically human that applying it to animals is liable to lead to equivocation, i.e., one slips from talking about pain as we commonly understand it to a stripped-down mechanical definition. Thanks for the comment Kory. Actually, one can just as well say that we’re made of the same stuff that robots are: atoms and molecules. This proves only that reduction to our constituent “stuff” is irrelevant here. It is obvious that prawns and humans are both kinds of animals, and therefore share many characteristics. Whether pain is shared is the issue here.

Remember also the oft-quoted fact that we are 98% genetically the same as chimpanzees. Considering the vast differences between chimps and humans, this only goes to show how little genetics determines the characteristics we deem most human. In this article, I am placing pain in the real context in which we use the word, to discover what it really means. I contend that this meaning is so specifically human that applying it to animals is liable to lead to equivocation, i.e., one slips from talking about pain as we commonly understand it to a stripped-down mechanical definition.

]]> By: Kory http://alistairrobinson.co.uk/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-17721 Kory Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:52:59 +0000 http://www.alistairrobinson.co.uk/blog/2007/11/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain.html#comment-17721 Because we're made of the same stuff prawns are. Because we’re made of the same stuff prawns are.

]]> By: Gordon McCabe http://alistairrobinson.co.uk/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-95 Gordon McCabe Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:14:00 +0000 http://www.alistairrobinson.co.uk/blog/2007/11/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain.html#comment-95 Spot-on, Mr Jar. Spot-on, Mr Jar.

]]> By: Anonymous http://alistairrobinson.co.uk/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Anonymous Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:13:00 +0000 http://www.alistairrobinson.co.uk/blog/2007/11/pity-the-prawns-scientists-say-that-crustaceans-suffer-pain.html#comment-94 Is it OK if I slash my dog's legs? Is it OK if I slash my dog’s legs?

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