If one innocent person is tortured so that everyone else can live and the world doesn't end, is that simultaneously unfair but also morally preferable over complete destruction of everything? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by SeahorseTreble@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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[-] HeyHo@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

But it shouldn't. Our empathy with other humans all boils down to knowing their ability to suffer. And science today agrees, that most animals are able to suffer and feel pain just like us. We really should include them into our circle of moral consideration and thankfully more and more people already do

[-] gapbetweenus@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Empathy is not rational. It's more based on ability to relate to others experience. We are more empathic to people closer in our life and to people who made similar experiences as we. The same goes for animals, we have much more empathy towards pets and animals we perceive as intelligent. But it would be nice if we expanded our empathy - but first it need to include all humans and even that is quite the large asking.

this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023

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