Philosophical Questions: Freedom

[ysabetwordsmith]

People have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.

If freedom is simply being able to do what you want, are animals freer than humans?

Well, that depends on where the animals live.

* If they live in areas where there are no humans, or at least none close enough to encounter, then those animals are freer than humans. Little of this space is left.

* If they live in wilderness closer to humans, then they probably have to dodge humans or their leavings at least some of the time. This is a minor encroachment on freedom, but many animals still do okay in this environment.

* If they live with humans, but not contained by humans, then they are probably about as free as humans. City pigeons, rats, coyotes, etc. are good examples.

* If they belong to humans, they are not free, unless it's the kind of laissez-faire relationship as humans feeding birds or cats in the yard.

Comments

[siliconshaman]

I'd argue the counter-point. Wild animals are not doing what they want most of the time. They are doing what they need to do in order to survive. Thus they are constrained by the daily necessities of survival. This includes not wasting energy on non-survival related activities.

Now pet cats on the other hand are probably a lot freer than either wild animals or humans. They have food, water, shelter all provided for. If they are indoor/outdoor cats they can come and go as they please. Thus unfettered by the need to hunt in order to survive, secure in the knowledge their basic needs are met without effort on their part, they are truly free to do whatever they want.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That'd be more convincing if I hadn't watched decades of nature shows. Wild animals have to meet survival needs, but that's a baseline for all organisms. Some species actually spend a lot of time playing, exploring, or doing things that might be enlightening but are not immediately aimed at survival. That's not even counting bizarre hobbies like snow monkeys riding and humping deer. Which is definitely a case of freer than humans, because human societies really frown on interspecies sexual activities.

Re: Well ...

[(Anonymous)]

I'd say freedom is being able to say no, so some pets may have more freedom than others but they ultimately are not free.

Of course, by that definition, most humans are not free - how many of us must subsumed our wellbeing for our relatives, bosses, etc to meet our survival needs?

Another definition of freedom would include availible resources/opportunities, which seems to be one used by modern society - an "If we didn't have taxes and work 4hrs a week, we wouldn't have smartphones and vaccines" argument.

Interestingly, some animals get these benefits without working.

[pronker]

I'd take humans out of consideration completely and say yes, animals do what they want all the time. I often say to my two cats, "Be glad you're a cat!" :D

[mdlbear]

Housecats are like the ancient Greeks -- they can be as free as they are because they have slaves.

Or at least domesticated service monkeys.

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I must concede that is a compelling argument.

Humans domesticated other animals. Cats domesticated humans. This really shows.