- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Well, first, I can tell the difference between humans and animals (humans are moral agents, animals aren't). I'm surprised that you can't.
That fact that humans are moral agents is exactly why they should behave morally. No, I do not expect bulls to enact a law against people-fighting.
However, I think the difference between humans and other animals is this. Humans can think, and can think about their thought processes. We are conscious, and are conscious of our state of consciousness. We can reason, and can catch ourselves in the act of reasoning. We can analyze our capacity to analyze.
This double whammy of the human brain is why we (modestly ) call ourselves not just homo sapiens, but homo sapiens sapiens. We are not only smart, we are capable of congratulating ourselves on just how smart we are.
Other animals can’t do this (so we assume -- not sure about chimpanzees).
Do we have some sort of “soul” that other animals lack? All sentient creatures have Buddha-nature (sometimes translated “soul.”) My wish for Johnny is that he will exercise his uniquely human gift to meditate on these things.
(And if you can snatch this pebble from my hand, Grasshopper, you might win an Olympic gold medal. )
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