[lbo-talk] Invertebrate tool use

[Matthias Wasser]

The difference between an Einstein and someone suffering from Down Syndrome
is really quite slight compared to the difference between you and your dog.
(Many of Pete Singer's early arguments rested on the assumption that the
mentally retarded were dumber than chimpanzees, which they, well, aren't. He
later revised his views, but hasn't gotten much credit for it.)

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 11:56 AM, farmelantj at juno.com
<farmelantj at juno.com>wrote:


>
> But absolute intelligence doesn't
> necessarily work well either because
> there are human beings who by virtue
> of being severely brain damaged might
> well have less cognitive capacity
> than say a dog or a horse. Yet, we
> still would not regard it to be permissible
> to kill and eat such people.
>
> Jim F.

Well, in my culture we don't eat dogs or horses either. (We do eat pigs, who
are probably more intelligent than dogs.) It's a matter of personal
attachment, presumably.