(November 22, 2024 at 7:31 am)Belacqua Wrote: We cannot know what another person's pain is like. We assume it is the same kind of thing that we feel, because we describe it in the same way and react in the same way. This is what intersubjectivity means.
Let's try a simple thought experiment involving a blow torch and your scrotum. Due to >Insert Daft Bafflegab Here< we can't know for certain that you're actually suffering from the application of a welding flame to your genitals. We cannot know what your pain is like. The only objective evidence that we have is a little testicular charring and a rather unpleasant roasting smell, but for all we know you're having the time of your life.
Or do we assume that what I've written above is utter absurdity, that any needless suffering is morally wrong regardless of variations in experience, and that anybody supporting said suffering is misguided at best and probably ought to be placed on a watch list?
