can’t believe there are still people who need it explained to them that the reason people say “killing is wrong” is not because killing causes pain, but because it causes death
this is an important distinction
and one that I know people must understand, on some level
and yet, they still keep equating “killing bad” with “killing painful”
in so many stupid arguments
obviously in animal-rights discourse, on both sides– the debate is often wholly between two of the weakest possible arguments, “it’s okay to kill this animal because it doesn’t feel pain” and “it is not okay to kill this animal because it does feel pain”
but also in disability rights, which terrifies me so much more
because there the argument goes “if a person is in pain all the time, then obviously painless death is the best option”
and if the actual person in pain disagrees and says they want to stay alive even with the pain, they can get totally ignored, like their viewpoint doesn’t even register in a mind that’s stuck on the idea “death is only bad because it’s painful”
sometimes i feel like sending a hitman to chase these people with a 100% painless lethal injection, while repeatedly asking them in a baffled voice why they’re running away
All online discourse will always be the least educated hurling nonsense at each other. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized it’s just not worth the time to read, much less respond.
But I think you’re focusing on the ability to feel pain when the actual philosophical barometer is capacity for suffering. Pain is a type of suffering, but so is despair in captivity, so is fear while someone chases you down with a magical painless lethal injection (not a thing).
And the answer to it is that if a being has the capacity to suffer, a just society should accomodate their needs and otherwise allow them to live their lives as they wish. Not that all pain needs to be eliminated by death sentence lol.
Absolutely true that the problem is people’s tendency to conflate “pain” with “suffering in general.”
But this tendency isn’t only something that shows up in uneducated online discourse.
“Basing choices about animal treatment on the results of studies about their capacity for pain sensation,” and “ignoring a disabled person’s desire for prolonged life even despite incurable pain,” are both things I frequently see outside of online spaces (and have since before the Internet).
And yeah, there’s no reliably totally painless death you could threaten people with in real life. I just find it bizarre that people who make arguments conflating ‘fear of death" with “fear of painful death” still obviously fear their own death whether it would be painful or not.