I have read somewhere that dogs will protect you even if it means dying. They call this an emotion greater than love. Anybody agree? Feel free to write comments, notes, comments that disagree, anything, etc.
2007-02-22 17:35:35 · 17 answers · asked by John 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
yeah i think sum animals do have feelings...but how strong are they or exactly like the humans i m not sure
2007-02-22 17:38:28 · answer #1 · answered by Legant 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course they do. Happiness, boredom, depression, nervousness, neediness, pride, apprehension, anger, annoyance. I've witnessed at least all these in animals. Are they emotions? Or instinct? The dog next door spends most of his time chained up in the back yard. A lot of nights he howls his misery and it's a terrible, low mournful sound. Is that emotion or instinct? Those who insist that it's purely mindless reaction will continue to even though their only real evidence is grand assumption. I don't think there are even scientific sensors in existence that can measure human emotions, yet we accept that they exist. How can we tell when a mouse is happy? How do we know what an eagle feels for its young? Maybe it's simply that we don't recognise the signals to be able to tell. Can this be admitted as proof of their lack of emotion?
But I don't know about this "greater than love" stuff. Who knows what that means? Sounds like someone was trying to be poetic.
2007-02-23 10:01:31 · answer #2 · answered by q 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think animals have 'emotions' even though that term doesn't have a real definition, but most people don't and like to make humans seem superior. Also, dying for someone isn't greater than love, and while the dog may care about the person it also might just be brainwashed to protect them. Either way, both humans and other animals have emotions and are easily brainwashed.
There's a lot of crap about any sign of emotion being 'instinct,' but if you are any good at all at dissociating yourself, you will see how much our actions are like theirs. Just because they may look or sound different from us, it doesn't mean their minds are programmed deterministically any more than ours are.
2007-02-23 01:41:07 · answer #3 · answered by shmux 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe dogs for one type of animal dose have feelings, emotions. It would be silly for us to think any different.
They express there happiness. so yes they have emotions.
Some wimper when your going to work because they know they wont see you all day.
Some do amazing things to save there human owners.
And they seem to know when you need them.
A gentle look, or a head on your knee, just to let you know that they are there for you.
They will fight for you and yes to the death if it means your protected.
This is a bond some people share with there dogs. i for one had a bond like this. And after all these years i again have taken the time to have this bond again..
It is touching, special and emotional on both levels.
I dont see we are much different to any other animal on this planet.
2007-02-23 02:19:28 · answer #4 · answered by A Lady Dragon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Protection of a provider is an instinct. Yes? I don't think a dog protecting you and risking their life is an viable sign of humanlike emotions. When an animal is threatened, it will protect itself until the threat is over. If a dog is near a threatened human, is the threat tranfered to the dog? Pain isn't an emotion, it's a reaction.
I think the only animals that show emotions close to those of humans are elephants. They are known to grieve for their dead. Emotions are a form of complex thought.
2007-02-23 01:42:27 · answer #5 · answered by yobcox 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree that animals can feel emotion. Some animals that are "social" like a guinea pig, if left alone with out a "friend" whether it is a human or another pet can get lonely and depressed and quit eating. some become very sick and die. I was once quite sick and i was sleeping on the couch when someone walked in and they were talking loud my dog went after him growling.
2007-02-23 01:48:57 · answer #6 · answered by wsperingwasp 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes. They can't explain their emotions, but they have them. But I doubt they are as complex as various "mixed" human emotions. Our big brains can make things overly complicated compared to animals with less involved thought processes.
I do also believe that many animals have fewer more basic emotions for the same reasons.
2007-02-23 02:07:42 · answer #7 · answered by Daniel J 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pet animals which do not have to spend much time for food, self protection etc. do feel emotions, though not as acute as human beings. I have seen our cow when sold out and being taken away by the buyer actually shedding tears out of sorrow and refusing to go.
2007-02-23 02:15:56 · answer #8 · answered by small 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dogs can be loyal to even the most abusive of owners and not even attempt to bite them. This shows that they will put you before themselves. They surely feel in some ways that we do. They hide when your mad at them, and they get excited when you come home. I think that would count as emotions somewhat like ours.
2007-02-23 01:45:32 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I believe my dogs and cats have emotions or feelings. They listen when I talk to them, they love attention and affection also. They give me the emotion of happiness and love.
2007-02-23 09:43:01 · answer #10 · answered by Cheryl AD48 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's call devotion of the 'pack'; and yes, my dog would die trying to save me because in all ways I am the Alpha in our pack, not her! It doesn't mean that I am a bully ..it just means that I am top dog and she is subservient. (Don't worry,,,,,,I spoil her rotten! She even sleeps with me NOT ON THE FLOOR!) She is my 'ears' for me as I am hearing impaired and she only has one eye....thus, Sadie1eye! I love her more than life itself and I would probably die trying to save her life, too.
2007-02-26 20:32:07 · answer #11 · answered by missellie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋