Animals feel human emotions

Question

Excerpt from OpenMind Article (claim bolded):

But scientists have been criticized for misattributing human traits to animals in their research. Barbara King, an anthropologist at William & Mary, says she has been accused of anthropomorphizing in her studies of animal grief and love. When King described an orca named Tahlequah swimming for 17 days with her dead calf as a whale in mourning, she was rebuffed by some colleagues who felt she was taking the comparison to humans too far. Although King supports careful research on animal emotions, she counters that the anthropomorphism criticism is often leveled unfairly. She says that many times, the accusation comes from other scientists who worry that using emotional terms like “grief” dilutes the rigor of the science. 

“Largely in my work, I have felt that [the charge of] anthropomorphism is weaponized as a dismissal,” King says. 

Accusing people of anthropomorphism is also sometimes used to deny the existence of emotions that animals genuinely seem to have. Valli Fraser-Celin, an animal welfare consultant who previously studied African wild dogs, argues that researchers need to find a balance—recognizing animals as individuals, yet ones we can’t fully know. Although humans and other animals have many similarities, “they do have their own capacities and their own lived experiences and their own ways of living in the world,” he says.

Answer 1

As early as 500BCE, great mind like Pythagoras posited that animals felt the full range of human emotions, just as humans do. Author of numerous animal rights essays, Dr. Marc Berkoff states that "rats, mice and chickens display empathy and feel not only their own pain but also that of other individuals" (Berkoff). Scientists can agree that human emotion has contributed to the survival and success of our species. Thus, it is only natural to assume the same for other living creatures. Using modern technology, animals can be observed in their natural habitat, unimpeded by human presence. There, they have been observed eliciting emotional responses to triggering events. Empathy in animals is described as "an evolutionary reaction to maintain social cohesion" by Johns Hopkins University Professor Dr. James C. Harris. Animals have been observed exhibiting the complex human emotion of empathy. Rats in a 2011 study saved fellow rodents from drowning by pulling a lever, allowing their furry friend to escape to land (NIDA). In doing so, the rat gave up their chance at a treat, displaying their value of another life over their own needs. Researchers at the University of Chicago conducting this rat study found that “acting on empathic feelings to help another in need is a biological…mandate” (Mason et al.). Prove of empathy in animals logically leads to the assumption that all human traits are felt in animals. Emotions are no longer a uniquely human trait, and can be found all over the animal kingdom.

https://online.uwa.edu/news/empathy-in-animals/

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/rats-show-empathy-too

Answer 2

I think this is a very interesting claim and one that piques my interest. As an animal lover myself I find myself being emotional towards animals. There is no doubt that animals experience emotions, but the level of extent animals can feel human emotion is something of question. I found this really good article that dives into the psychological aspects of animals and how they deal with emotions. The truth is that animal emotions vary from species to species, based off of intelligence and natural instinct. Animals that because accustomed to human tendencies and environments can experience some human emotion. When they are wild animals in the nature it is most likely they cannot feel human emotions.

How do we know what emotions animals feel?

Comments

This is a pretty good fact check; however, I think there needs to be less personal emotion and more factual information included. You answer touches on all the topics in the claim to fact check whether it is true or not. Your source that you chose to include is very scholarly as it is from a news cite, but maybe choosing a scientific article would be even more beneficial.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6041721/
Including a source like this would be more believable and scientific.

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Hello! This is an interesting fact-check. I like hearing about your experience but I would love to hear more concrete evidence. I would love to know what animals feel human emotions vs. which animals don't as much. But great job connecting the article and your personal stories to each other!

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Please provide further data points or information to support your fact-check. That would strengthen your case. Thanks!

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Your thoughts are really engaging, and I love how you bring in your personal perspective as an animal lover—it makes the comment relatable. One thing you could do to strengthen your argument is include a specific point or example from the article you mentioned. It would add more depth and show how the article backs up your point about animal emotions varying by species and environment. Also, you could consider exploring a bit more on what you mean by “human emotions” versus animal emotions—like, do you think animals might feel things like grief or joy, just in a different way than humans do? That might help clarify your perspective even more!

Answer 3

Its very intriguing to wonder if animals can feel emotions like we do. According to a report from the University of West Alabama, "In fact, researchers have observed empathy in them, as well as grief, fear and other complex emotions often associated primarily with humans." With that being said they also talked about the fact that these emotions are likely not at the same degree as humans. Along with that an article from the oxford academic explains that not all animals appear to have the capacity to feel emotions. They explain that a living organism needs a certain brain structure in order to have these emotions and not all animals have that. Overall, it appears that some animals are able to feel emotions but not to the same level as humans.

https://online.uwa.edu/news/empathy-in-animals/

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/50/10/861/233998

Comments

I really like reading your sources and how they come from universities and academic journals and how you did your own research outside of the original claim. However, who are the sources within those academic journals that make them credible? In addition, wouldn't you say that the claim was exaggerated/misleading instead of true since you said that animals do not feel emotions to the same level as humans which means that the original claim was exaggerated?  What about sources that claim animals do feel human emotions as strongly as we do?

Answer 4

Animals can have anthropomorphisms similar to humans. The article that was provided gave good conclusions and facts that animals can feel human emotions. We all have anthropomorphism and tend to share it and express it with animals. Animals can feel common emotions that humans feel. That’s why scientists experiment on animals since, “Animal studies in science are experiments that control an animal's behavior or physiology for study, often to serve as a model for human biology where testing on humans is impractical or unethical” (Science Alert Staff). We have similar anthropomorphize to animals, allowing us to have a similar sense of emotions on the reactions that animals receive in test labs and more. We also live in a society where people have emotional support animals that “decrease stress, blood pressure, anxiety levels and depression symptoms” (Pasols). We have come to rely on animals for us to be able to overcome our own emotions and allow us to function with ourselves. We have many different kinds of animals that allow us to handle our emotions which can lead us to be negative with ourselves. 

Guide To Emotional Support Animals – Forbes Advisor

Why Do Scientists Experiment on Animals? : ScienceAlert