Verwandte Artikel zu The Principles of Ethics (Volume 10)
Inhaltsangabe
This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1893. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... APPENDIX D. CONSCIENCE IN ANIMALS. Shortly after the publication in The Qwrdian of the correspondence reproduced in the preceding Appendix, I received from a gentleman residing in Devonshire the letter which I here quote:-- Dear Sir--The following earefnl observations on animals other than man may be of interest to you as supporting your idea that the idea of ' duty ' or 'ought' (owe it) may be of non-' supernatural' origin. [' Supernatural' is used in usual sense without committing the writer to any opinion.] My dog has an aversion to injure living flesh or anything that is' shaped.' He will not bite any animal except under the greatest provocation. If I press a sharp-pointed pen-knife against the skin of the back, he seizes my wrist between his hind teeth. The mechanieal advantage is such, that if he closed his jaw he could crush flesh and bone. But no matter how I increase or prolong the pressure he will not close his jaw sufficiently to mark the flesh. I have repeated this and similar experiments many times. I ean't find how the ' ought' was established. It is not hereditary. The father was a poodtempered 'fighting' dog--the mother most vicious; but I never allowed her to come into contact with the pup but in the dusk, in order to avoid imitation or unconscious education. Until' Punch ' was three yrs. old I never knew him give an angry growl I sat down on his tail, doubling it under me accidentally one day, when I heard a growl of a totally different timbre to what I had ever before. The odd thing was--when I rose the dog begged pardon for the unusual tone and temper in a way that could not be mistaken. Evidently he recognized his own violation of an 'ought' existing in his mind (conscience). Further, if I tease him with a rough stick he seizes it a...
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