(refutation of disagreement with 6. L.)
Refutation of claiming that animals are not harmed because they do not have self-consciousness:
- Self-awareness in humans is by no means total: we do not have awareness of all of our bodies in all of their microconfigurations, or all of our minds including all memories at once, for example. We are only ever aware of parts or aspects of ourselves at most. The same is true of animals, who are well aware of their bodies and are certainly aware of their perceptions: persons are conscious of consciousness by definition. An additional point is that animals need not have the concept or word "self," in any language, in order to be aware of their true selves, i.e., some aspect of their bodies or minds. To require a concept of self merely reflects a confusion between self-consciousness, and consciousness of a concept of self.