Might
we humans be the only species on this planet to be truly conscious?
Might lobsters and lions, beetles and bats be unconscious automata,
responding to their worlds with no hint of conscious experience?
Aristotle thought so, claiming that humans have rational souls but
that other animals have only the instincts needed to survive. In
medieval Christianity the “great chain of being” placed humans on
a level above soulless animals and below only God and the angels. And
in the 17th century French philosopher René Descartes argued that
other animals have only reflex behaviors. Yet the more biology we
learn, the more obvious it is that we share not only anatomy,
physiology and genetics with other animals but also systems of
vision, hearing, memory and emotional expression. Could it really be
that we alone have an extra special something—this marvelous inner
world of subjective experience?
Non-human animals.
Do they feel pain?
Are they really
conscious?
Would being
conscious be to their gain?
Granted, most
don't harm others for pleasure.
AND they appear to
prefer pleasant weather.
Deep thinkers
argue, “But do they think?
Is what they do
just reflex and instinct?”
Really, this
question strikes me as bizarre.
Don't ask if
they're conscious.
ASK WHETHER WE ARE!