I don't buy that. If they aren't capable of having regard for my feelings, that means they aren't capable of abstract thought. That means they aren't capable of "feelings" in the human context at all. Yet I'm supposed to treat them as if the opposite were true, as if they had "feelings" like a person.
We project our own feelings and worldviews onto lesser animals and pretend that they share them. I don't think they do. I hate to say this, but I think our relationships with our domestic animals are similarly skewed. Unlike most animal rights people, I'm willing to be proven wrong, but it's going to take more than "You should have seen the look in Muffy's eyes when I gave her Fancy Feast. She was sooooooo happy!"
Gads.
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