Blacknad wrote:
"Who knows what a cockroach experiences and feels about it?"
Good call.
Except then you write:
"The best philosophers cannot yet decide whether an animal like a cockroach can actually 'suffer' in any meaningful sense..."
Philosophers? Who gives a rip about philosophers? Lets examine the facts. The article states: "its escape reflex disabled" so one might reasonably ask why the cockroach might wish to escape the situation given your assumptions.
However I would invite you to reread your words. Is it morally acceptable to torture those who we, in our infinite wisdom, determine won't 'suffer in any meaningful sense'? You might wish to reconsider the implications of your words.
You are correct about the yuch factor not equating with cruelty. But surely you must agree that if there is a deity that created the universe and all life ... that what we observe must be the intention of the creator and that therefore we should worship it as a divinely inspired work of god. I doubt you'll find much support for that, however, from the Church of England.
