Comments on: How to Donate Your Money (I): Focus on Reducing Unhappiness First http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/12/how-to-donate-your-money-i-focus-on-reducing-unhappiness-first/ Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:15:58 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Nick http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/12/how-to-donate-your-money-i-focus-on-reducing-unhappiness-first/comment-page-1/#comment-383 Nick Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:53:15 +0000 http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/?p=460#comment-383 Hi Elisa, thank you for your comment. Yes, I completely agree, animals have to be taken into the equation as well. Every being capable of feeling pleasure and pain (happiness and unhappiness) should be included. Regarding your comment that happiness counts more in complex beings: I intend to address this in a future post. As of now, I cannot see why the same amount of happiness or unhappiness (if it is the same) should count more or less depending on what species or race the being who experiences it belongs to. But let's have a detailed look at this later. Hi Elisa, thank you for your comment. Yes, I completely agree, animals have to be taken into the equation as well. Every being capable of feeling pleasure and pain (happiness and unhappiness) should be included.

Regarding your comment that happiness counts more in complex beings: I intend to address this in a future post. As of now, I cannot see why the same amount of happiness or unhappiness (if it is the same) should count more or less depending on what species or race the being who experiences it belongs to. But let’s have a detailed look at this later.

]]> By: elisa freschi http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/2009/12/how-to-donate-your-money-i-focus-on-reducing-unhappiness-first/comment-page-1/#comment-380 elisa freschi Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:39:09 +0000 http://www.spreadinghappiness.org/?p=460#comment-380 Very interesting post, and thanks for addressing the question (in your 30 december post): "Why does happiness alone count?". I wonder whether happiness should not include also non-human happiness, so that donations to WWF and the like could also be justified in a similar way. The main difference would then be that WWF, Greenpeace, etc. (unlike PETA), more often than not focus on the preservation of a global environment and not on the happiness of the single animals inhabiting it (one could hence decide to preserve wolves although they will make a greater number of rabbits unhappy). Maybe one could object that a healthy environment will grant the future life of many more happy animals or that the happiness of more complex living beings (first of all human beings) counts more than that of simpler ones. What do you think? Very interesting post, and thanks for addressing the question (in your 30 december post): “Why does happiness alone count?”.
I wonder whether happiness should not include also non-human happiness, so that donations to WWF and the like could also be justified in a similar way. The main difference would then be that WWF, Greenpeace, etc. (unlike PETA), more often than not focus on the preservation of a global environment and not on the happiness of the single animals inhabiting it (one could hence decide to preserve wolves although they will make a greater number of rabbits unhappy). Maybe one could object that a healthy environment will grant the future life of many more happy animals or that the happiness of more complex living beings (first of all human beings) counts more than that of simpler ones. What do you think?

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