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Criticism Of The 's Poem ' Praise Of Feeling Bad About Yourself, ' The Line '

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1) “A jackal doesn’t understand remorse,” (Szymborska). Why Not? From what de Waal says, do you think a chimp experiences remorse/guilt? What evidence would we have for accepting or rejecting that claim? What enables typical adult humans to experience guilt while most/all other animals do not?

In Szymborska’s “In Praise of Feeling Bad About Yourself,” the line, “A jackal doesn’t understand remorse.” makes a poignant statement that resonates in the study of ethics, with blame in particular. Remorse is similar to guilt, which is a kind of response (e.g. emotion or feeling) of a person who is blameworthy. A jackal cannot be blameworthy because it is not a person capable of being accountable.
A jackal is not a person capable of being …show more content…

One expects an adult human to know that their child is screaming in distress because he or she is stuck without having experienced it; however, that is not the case with all animals. To argue that a jackal may actually know that its child is in distress because it is stuck would require the idea of the jackal understanding the environment and/or has experienced being stuck itself, rendering the jackal with an understanding for the distress. The final criterion for being fully empathic is the ability to adopt the perspective of another fully. To put oneself into another 's perspective, and see things as they do. Animals cannot fully adopt another’s perspective, this disqualifies a jackal from having empathy, or accountability; consequently, from Szymborska’s view will ultimately leave it without remorse. On one hand there is the Szymborska view of animals, notably jackals being unremorseful, however, on the other there is the compelling case that De Waal presents in “The Tower of Morality,” that although a chimp may not possess morality, it may actually be able to experience some type remorse albeit not the same as an adult human would.
Considering the three “building blocks” of morality according to De Waal, humans and animals share the first two, moral sentiments, and social pressure. When evaluating the final level, humans and apes do not share judgement and reasoning. As

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