Clayton Mack

Animal Ethics
2-17-14
Reflection Paper #3
Mendel and Paul think that animals have a higher conscious
and emotional level than we think. Say that this is true, the way we
treat animals should change. They should be treated in a more
humane way than we do now. Animal cognition can tell us quite a bit
about the consciousness and emotion of animals (M Mendl and E.S.
Paul). We may also be concerned that animals should live natural lives,
and that there biological functioning should be unimpeded, but if we
are really convinced that they can not suffer, we would probably be no
more worried about there welfare than we are about that of plants. (M
Mendl an E.S. Paul Pg. 72) Since we do end up taking care of animals
and giving them there needs such as food and water then we must
think that animals have emotions of suffering and pain. Animals must
have some sort of emotion since they do display fear when they run
away with you when scared.
Metacognition and the blindsight test should yield fresh insight
into the issue of whether animal process information consciously, and
some of the techniques used could be adapted for common captive
species. Metacognition which is the ability to know that you know.
Mendl and Paul talk about how they test monkeys to see if they know

which button to push to get the just a normal reward if they can
remember which button to push to get the good reward. The blindsight
is another test they use to determine if animals are conscious which is
when they can not make out a clear picture in there visual field but still
detect and discriminate visual stimuli in the are (E.S. Paul and Mendl
pg 74).
I believe animals are conscious in the sense that they know
what is kind of going on. They do not have as much detail about things
as humans obviously. Animals do sense pain yes but I dont believe
they know when they are suffering. They depend on us for food and
water so they expect us to give it to them, which we should make sure
they are being taken care of. If we didnt take care of them properly I
dont think they would be aware that they are being abused they would
just realize they are hungry. Yes, animals sense of feelings but I am not
sure if you could call them emotions. They know when they are hungry
and when they feel pain but they dont display emotions like human
beings would.
Higher cognitive powers like language and the capacity to keep
secrets, to have knowledge of the demands of the social environment,
to judge the motives of others, and to evaluate the consequences of
behavioral alternatives in advance, are all prerequisites for
consciousness and the experience of suffering in order to get positive
fitness value (Bermond, pg 109-110). We have to be careful when

saying that when animals show these behaviors because they possible
could but that still doesnt mean that they are completely emotionally
aware and conscious.
Animals should be taken care of respectfully. It doesnt mean
the way our husbandry practices are ran now improper. We already
take care of our animals the best way we know how. Animals are apart
of our livelihood and we need to take care of them like they should be
taken care of. We do not nee to think that they show the same
conscious levels of thinking as human beings though.