Scientist says new research proves 'dogs are people too'

reply to post by ImaFungi


Moral is the intellectual awareness of how to act. This is all that moral means. If I was congenitally kind, didn't give a thought to my kindness, but I just was: is that moral? Of course not. Morality loses it's meaning in the absence of temptation. To the option of not doing what I want to do.

A dogs desire to protect it's family is NOT MORAL in rational sense of the term. It acts that way because the owner is the prime benefactor; it has both emotional connections of trust and love towards them, as well as the more fundamental evolutionary instinct to seek it's own good. None of this, however, is conscious for the dog. The dog is not sitting there thinking in dog language "I sure do love my family" reflecting on it as a human would. To even think that wreaks of anthropomorphism.

That is the meaning of morals, knowing the value of life and choosing not to hinder life with ones actions.

Too bad you didn't even properly apply that definition to a species capable of moral evaluations.

When a dog is hungry and noone around to feed it, what stops it from eating a small child near by?

It thinks "I sure would love to eat that baby, but that would be morally wrong; it would be against the teachings of canine confucius". Sarcasm. These examples are honestly ridiculous.

A dog doesn't eat a baby because it is not that kind of creature. A dog has the conditioning of thousands of years of domestication directing it's instincts. It doesn't attack the baby because it is something dogs don't do; their instincts are primed to act in ways that are good for itself and the pack. In ordinary times, a dog is fed and taken care of by it's owner. If a dog happens to be a stray, it learns to fear humans i.e stay as far away from them.

Next you'll say Lions and Wolves are evil because they would eat the baby.

conscious beings as humans

Nobody denies they are conscious. How couldn't they be? The issue is WHAT are they conscious of? Morality is a useless construct for a dog. Moral evaluations do not occur in any significant way. And by significant way I mean in the face of temptation.

If a dog shows sympathy to another dog which is being mistreated by the pack, it likely responds this way out of feeling - not a recognition that this behavior is inherently morally wrong.

A dogs experience is conscious, but not conscious enough to be conscious of itself: a basic prerequisite for morality.

perhaps a worm or simple celled organisms.

Duh.

reply to post by hknudzkknexnt


"dogs are PEOPLE" lol??

No, PEOPLE are PEOPLE.

reply to post by ziplock9000


Dogs are Just as Good as Humans when it comes to Recognizing Good Pizza too.........





i297.photobucket.com...



Ever Wonder Who Ate that Last Slice ? ...........Hmm .....


i297.photobucket.com...

The belief that animals are somehow beneath us, being non- sentinent and acting purely on instinct, makes it so easy to carry on treating them the way we do!

As for communication, I'm not sure we have grasped the subleties of animal 'language' as well as they have learnt ours and adapted to it with their own sounds. Cats don't 'miaow' to each other, just us, same with dog barking. I have two African grey parrots who so often say things appropriately, far from just mimicking noises. Again it's something they do with us, not in the wild.

I'm glad this is becoming mainstream knowledge. I see animals as the same as us yet operating through a more limited body and mind network. Cats are another great example of this - I'm sure they also have the capacity for emotional feeling.

There's 5 stray cats that roam our back garden and our neighbours. They originally belonged to a local who stopped feeding them and unfortunately the animal shelter didn't have enough space. They were all fairly young and we took to a habit of feeding them. Overtime I built a strong relationship with these cats and genuinely miss them when I'm away for long periods! They really opened my eyes to how 'alive' cats are though.

For example they are always playing in new ways, ambushing each other and having epic chases around our garden (which has some great features and large plants for them) and such. When it first snowed they were so surprised and literally spent days playing in it and even making snow angels!! They are just like us, self conscious and curious. Some of them have even developed unique games with me. It's really beautiful and doesn't depend on a simple 'trick=food' system.

One event I remember quite well. When they were all younger, when I would feed then the strongest one (which I had named LIghtning) would bully the food off the rest. I caught him a few times and would push him away slightly. Then one time I saw him start hitting Luda (another cat, name means crazy in Bosnian!) for her food. Luda was abit mentally challenged and weak so I got really angry, pushed lightning away with my feet and didn't let him eat. Later that night I came home from being out with friends and saw Lightning outside our glass garden door, face touching the panel. This was strange as he never does this. I opened the door and knelt down to him. No word of a lie, he let me get within a centimetre of his face (he NEVER has let me get within a metre of him prior to this) and we stared each other directly in the eyes. He literally looked like he was crying and I was receiving strong apologetic vibes from him, I can't really explain it. I fed him alone that night and never again did he fight and not share food with his brothers and sisters!

There are many stories like that I have experienced with these cats. Likewise with dogs. These animals are no different to us in their escense!

bigfatfurrytexan

JohnPhoenix
What a horrible article.

Why mix science with such a false sensational headline as to make this article a big laughing joke?

Sure animals can " feel". Do they have feelings like humans do? No one knows. Does this make a pet " Human" Hell No silly Rabbit! Tricks are for kids and this article is full of tricks.

Sure my cats and dogs love me but they are " Dumb" animals no matter smart they seem to be to you and me. Equating animals with Humans is Dead Wrong on so many levels, These people should be removed from science entirely. Things like this sends confusing signals to young children. No wonder our kids are stupid with such bad science articles being written.

Perhaps you miss the greater point: to extend the same empathy you do to humans to other animals as well.

I don't think that is so hard to do. Afterall, saying "Dogs are people too" really means, "Dogs have feelings too".

I agree Bigfurrytexan!
This guy shouldn't own animals as he doesn't sound like he cares about/for them.