Fish do not feel pain and its implications for understanding phenomenal consciousness

Biology & Philosophy
Brian Key

Abstract

Phenomenal consciousness or the subjective experience of feeling sensory stimuli is fundamental to human existence. Because of the ubiquity of their subjective experiences, humans seem to readily accept the anthropomorphic extension of these mental states to other animals. Humans will typically extrapolate feelings of pain to animals if they respond physiologically and behaviourally to noxious stimuli. The alternative view that fish instead respond to noxious stimuli reflexly and with a limited behavioural repertoire is defended within the context of our current understanding of the neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of mental states. Consequently, a set of fundamental properties of neural tissue necessary for feeling pain or experiencing affective states in vertebrates is proposed. While mammals and birds possess the prerequisite neural architecture for phenomenal consciousness, it is concluded that fish lack these essential characteristics and hence do not feel pain.

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Citations

Jul 1, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Colin Klein, Andrew B Barron
Jul 1, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Brian KeyHoward I Browman
Mar 21, 2019·Journal of Molecular Endocrinology·Qi ZhangQing Su
Dec 11, 2019·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Reuben Message, Beth Greenhough
Oct 16, 2018·Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science : JAAWS·Frederic Chatigny
Aug 9, 2020·Frontiers in Neuroscience·Baylee A Porter, Thomas Mueller
Aug 22, 2018·Frontiers in Physiology·Brian Key, Deborah Brown
Aug 6, 2019·Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience·Cyriel M A PennartzKathinka Evers
Oct 10, 2020·Science·Robert ArlinghausHoward I Browman
Nov 15, 2020·Journal of Neuroscience Methods·Cynthia AbboudMarc Landry
May 28, 2015·Biology Open·Richard ShineJohn A Lesku
May 25, 2021·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Brian KeyDeborah J Brown
Jun 11, 2021·Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics : CQ : the International Journal of Healthcare Ethics Committees·Henry Shevlin
Jul 7, 2021·Zebrafish·Sibylle SabrautzkiMarkus Brielmeier
Nov 9, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Juliana Minetto Gellert ParisNeus Escobar

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