Writer's Block: The Undead
Can something without a mind suffer? Science gives an emphatic no where some religions have allowances for suffering where there is no mind even possible. Since we are not considering zombies created by hypnotic/subconscious suggestions, we will need to allow the viewpoint of religion.
Without arguing the nature of suffering, the unthinking hordes of shuffling bodies could be considered to suffer if you allow that spirits exist and if the spirit is tied to the body after the process of entering the realm of unlife. If this is true, that may also apply to the donated organs of the recently deceased. What about those that donated multiple organs; Is their spirit stretched or sundered in order to occupy all their still leaving tissue? If the spirit is broken, stretch or torn from its proper place, that would definitely cause suffering, whether it would be felt by the zombie is another issue.
If, according to some religions, a place or object is entitled to a spirit by varying criteria, then a zombie may have a spirit separate of its host. Where would this spirit come from? Is it the spirit of another possessing the body, is the spirit created when the corpse begins to move or a combination. Being the submissive spirit may be a form of suffering., especially if they were the previous inhabitant.
I would say that in order to conclude that zombies can experience suffering, one would need to determine whether zombies do have spirits and whether the spirits are able to receive feedback from the undead shell.
Questions are the seeds for the love of knowledge and the flesh of the fruits of that tree sustains the spirit only long enough to wait for another seed to bear fruit. Knowledge, for those unable and unwilling to break free of its grasp, is a dangerous and lifelong addiction.
Random Philosopher link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._M._Hare
Without arguing the nature of suffering, the unthinking hordes of shuffling bodies could be considered to suffer if you allow that spirits exist and if the spirit is tied to the body after the process of entering the realm of unlife. If this is true, that may also apply to the donated organs of the recently deceased. What about those that donated multiple organs; Is their spirit stretched or sundered in order to occupy all their still leaving tissue? If the spirit is broken, stretch or torn from its proper place, that would definitely cause suffering, whether it would be felt by the zombie is another issue.
If, according to some religions, a place or object is entitled to a spirit by varying criteria, then a zombie may have a spirit separate of its host. Where would this spirit come from? Is it the spirit of another possessing the body, is the spirit created when the corpse begins to move or a combination. Being the submissive spirit may be a form of suffering., especially if they were the previous inhabitant.
I would say that in order to conclude that zombies can experience suffering, one would need to determine whether zombies do have spirits and whether the spirits are able to receive feedback from the undead shell.
Questions are the seeds for the love of knowledge and the flesh of the fruits of that tree sustains the spirit only long enough to wait for another seed to bear fruit. Knowledge, for those unable and unwilling to break free of its grasp, is a dangerous and lifelong addiction.
Random Philosopher link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._M._Hare