Fraser.J.A:

Animals feelings are the same as ours; they don't "interpret" them as in think about them abstractly, but they would feel the same. But animals can reason and learn. For example, if a cat is trying to get up somewhere and it chooses a route that doesn't quite work, it will look around and pick out another path before trying it. My cats have certainly learned that if they're hungry and I'm at my computer, I won't get up to feed them until they jump up on my keyboard a bunch of times and get in my face; when they're not hungry, they'll just sit to the side. And pets definitely shit in bad places when they're pissed off with you; it's the only time they'll wait for you to find it and watch you clean it up.

I wasn't trying to say that they don't learn, though granted that's what it came out as. I meant to say that instead of being able to comprehend and analyze a situation, they rely on whatever their instincts tell them to do and act accordingly.

"There's something bad over there, run like hell."

"Something's trying to harm you, bite it."

Granted, animals can learn new instincts, particularly feeding habits. What used to be "I'm hungry, go hunt." is now "I'm hungry, go bug owner for Meow Mix."

This is opposed to our more advanced thought process, which is able to analyze and counter instinct.

"There's something bad over there, but it needs to be confronted. Go ahead and face it, but with caution."

"Something's trying to harm you, but it's not a good idea to fight back. Try and contain the situation."

"I'm hungry. I can either make a sandwich or order a pizza. Which one do I do?"

well all animals have motives and objectives, and it's been proven that with that comes emotions and drives, as minute as they might be.

so yes they actually do

Snowalker:
I think they do.

Aardvark:
Which ones? Insects probably don't.

If not then why do flies fly away from a flyswatter? I believe its fear

It's called survival instinct and wanting to pass on your genes.

Anyhoo as someone stated before me there are many different types of animals some most likely have some most likely don't have emotions. Fx Sponges, I'm pretty sure sponges don't have emotions.

I asked Mr. Whiskers and he said ''mmrraaoo" in response to the question. Mr. Whiskers meows for the enitre domestic feline population of north america. He was a bad kitty though a few weeks back. He sanctioned an illegal kitten fight in my living room. I came home to people betting on the fight and carousing about my house. He was pretty upset at me for kicking out all of his seedy looking underworld associates, and, for damaging his rep on the streets. So because of this I think that animals(mammals) have emotions(whatever emotion is).

I would say that Mammales, brids and some types of fish (basicly just groupers) have emotions.

fix-the-spade:
Yes, any sentient being has emotions. They are a survival instinct.

um...humans are teh ONLY sentient being on the planet Earth...but I'll stop being a nazi and shut up now...

fullmetalangel:
I want to know if you think they do or they don't, not the implications of reality.

What's the point of that then? I could not believe that any of you have emotions, despite the implications of reality, but that's just silly.

Hell yes! /thread

Why would there be laws against animal cruelty in the first place when it comes to pets and domestic animals basically?

I'm not sure about amphibians and insects though.

Point blank, most animals, if not all of them, have emotions. If not, then dogs would not have differing expressions, nor would cats. Apes would not cry over their lost children and carry them around for days. Cobras would not chase human beings for miles for destroying their eggs. They would literally only act from instinct, and there is no instinctual reason for a dog to go swimming for the hell of it.

Richard Groovy Pants:
Yes, all animals do have emotions. The more complex ones however are down to mammals.
I'm pretty sure this has been scientifically proven as well so there's not much of a discussion here.

If you still feel uncertain follow this line of logic.

Humans have emotions.
Humans are animals.
Therefore, animals have emotions.

Simple 11th grade philosophy.
The argument is strong because all of the concepts are true and it's maintained by a bounding deductive logic.

One little flaw in your argument. If one is a creationist, and therefor doesn't believe they are an animal, then animals may not have emotions. Also, your reasoning doesn't work. It would work in this way.

Animals have emotions
A human is an animal
Therefor, humans have emotions.

Yours looks more like this.

Elephents are huge (compared to humans).
Elephents are mammals
Therefor, mammals are huge.

I could never harm an animal if that animal had not harmed me.

Edit: Oh god I see the irony in that statement

Bored Tomatoe:
Hey, are you human? Yes? Ok, Are humans animals? yes? Ok, then animals have emotions......

What a fantastic syllogism. That is a beautifully framed argument, sir, I admit I would not have thought to make it. Good job.

On that note, I do know animals have emotions, if asked the question that is how I would reply. If this question is to become more specific, do amoeba have emotions? Do earthworms? That gets into the realm of: no / maybe / I don't know / wait... what counts as an "animal"?

Which makes it a little abstract for serious forum discussion. It would spin off to asking what is considered an emotion and references to various on-line biological sciences sources of different philosophical / theoretical concepts that are using different semantics.

At that point, does it matter?

does anyone think the creature from Aliens has Emotions?

Pigeon_Grenade:
does anyone think the creature from Aliens has Emotions?

Is kill everything that moves an emotion

rokudan:

Pigeon_Grenade:
does anyone think the creature from Aliens has Emotions?

Is kill everything that moves an emotion

i dont know, it might, no one ones what they think like

My bird(refer to the avatar) seems to be a heartless, emotionless bastard. My iguana though seems to have a vague set of emotions like anger and apathy.

If you've lived with an animal for any period of time, it's quite obvious they do. If people they expect to be around, go away, they pine for them. You can clearly tell when they are happy, for example, when we put our previous rabbit into the garden for the first time he charged up and down it, then did a huge leap into the air, stopped and looked at us. With our rabbits, you can even tell they are being indignant, and even cheeky. They wait till you turn your back, and sneak off.

Stuff like that is why i can't stand people hurting animals.

Eggo:
Has anyone produced any scientific sources? Or is it just more of the typical pulling whatever you want out of your ass?

Ever owned a pet, Eggo?

When my baby cousin comes over, my dog has extreme feelings of jealousy. If I stop giving my dog attention, then she tries to catch my attention. She can feel happy, sad, angry, proud, jealous, embarassed, and a whole spectrum of emotions.

My cat definitely has emotions, from having an amused playfulness with our kitten to getting irritated by it, biting it slightly and making it run off.

Oh and from when I was younger whenever someone was crying (from having tripped over and grazed a knee or whatever) he came over and sat by you meowing.

And that's just the start of it.

yes they do.

Most animals can act with the base emotions due to basic survival instinct and can be observed readily. Cats, for instance, will protect both their ears and whiskers in a fight because they are their main sensory organs. Some caged bears show fear and anger readily, can be shown to have stress due to the increased level of acid in their stomach at non-feeding times, and in some cases have even show self-mutilation due to despair, one of the higher terms of emotion. Similarly, animals released into a facsimile of their homeland show obvious contentment against the animals released into a hostile environment.

Whilst the emotional sates such as maternal, paternal or 'love' can be explained away by survival instinct, I don't believe there has ever been a scientific explanation for 'love' either.

My aunt had a pair of great danes. One of them got cancer and died. Then the other one moped about the house for a few days, stopped eating, and died shortly after.

Too depressed to go on.

Eggo:

Bowstring:

Eggo:
Has anyone produced any scientific sources? Or is it just more of the typical pulling whatever you want out of your ass?

Ever owned a pet, Eggo?

I have a beautiful cat that I love very much. What's your point?

When my baby cousin comes over, my dog has extreme feelings of jealousy. If I stop giving my dog attention, then she tries to catch my attention. She can feel happy, sad, angry, proud, jealous, embarassed, and a whole spectrum of emotions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphic

Differentiating between the above and emotion in animals is where scientific sources would come in handy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3659416/Dogs-can-be-jealous-say-scientists.html

I don't just go by observation. I read a lot to cure any traces of ignorance. Take a few lessons.

Having worked with them 5 days a week for the last couple of years I can say with the authority of first hand knowledge that yes, animals DO have emotions on a similar level to our own.

Eggo:

Bowstring:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3659416/Dogs-can-be-jealous-say-scientists.html

I don't just go by observation. I read a lot to cure any traces of ignorance. Take a few lessons.

Take a few lessons from me and try reading more than adorable pop science articles from the Telegraph:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2346530&tool=pmcentrez

You expect me to read a thesis? Knowing full well you probably haven't even read it yourself?

I don't just read 'pop-science' articles, but thanks for that.

animals do have emotions

I don't believe it! 14 people on this forum think that animals are mindless meat automatons. And I thought this forum wasn't frequented by morons, just goes to show, even I can be mistaken!

Eggo:

Bowstring:

Eggo:

Bowstring:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/3659416/Dogs-can-be-jealous-say-scientists.html

I don't just go by observation. I read a lot to cure any traces of ignorance. Take a few lessons.

Take a few lessons from me and try reading more than adorable pop science articles from the Telegraph:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2346530&tool=pmcentrez

You expect me to read a thesis? Knowing full well you probably haven't even read it yourself?

I don't just read 'pop-science' articles, but thanks for that.

So much for someone who proudly states he "read(s) a lot to cure any traces of ignorance."

Is Wiki more to your level? I'll remember not to overestimate next time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind

I'd read it if I had any interest. But I'm not trying to prove anything to myself, or anyone else; so I don't see the point.

I read a lot of the Wiki article, and I still stand by what everyone in this thread has said. No, it's not wishful thinking or a 'theory of mind' - Animals CAN feel emotion.

Edit: The second Wiki link proves nothing. If anything it works in my favour.