The difference in size between a human brain and a rat brain is significant. An average adult human brain is 1300-1400g and the average rat brain is 2g. There’s no reason to peg the capability of the latter to generate vivid mental states as within the same order of magnitude, or two orders of magnitude in my opinion, of capability as the former.
The brain structures that make humans happy look similar to the brain structures that make rats happy.
Yes, but one is much larger and more powerful than the other.
Rats behave in similar ways to humans in response to pleasurable or painful stimuli.
So do all sorts of non-conscious entities.
Most of the parts of the human brain that other animals don’t possess have to do with high-level cognitive processing, which doesn’t seem to have much to do with happiness or suffering.
But the difference in size and capacity is altogether too large to be handwaved in this way. Besides, many components of human happiness do depend on higher level cognitive processing. What constitutes brute pain is simple, but what makes someone truly satisfied and grateful for their life is not.
The difference in size between a human brain and a rat brain is significant. An average adult human brain is 1300-1400g and the average rat brain is 2g. There’s no reason to peg the capability of the latter to generate vivid mental states as within the same order of magnitude, or two orders of magnitude in my opinion, of capability as the former.
Yes, but one is much larger and more powerful than the other.
So do all sorts of non-conscious entities.
But the difference in size and capacity is altogether too large to be handwaved in this way. Besides, many components of human happiness do depend on higher level cognitive processing. What constitutes brute pain is simple, but what makes someone truly satisfied and grateful for their life is not.
Yes, I’d treat the ratio of brain masses as a lower bound on the ratio of moral patient-ness.