It seems apparent that Moreau's logic with regards to the purpose and methodology of his experiments is surely flawed in some deep way. In particular his stance towards pain seems to me to be self contradictory.
He first expounds on pain to Prendick in order to convince him of its superficial nature. He does this by describing it merely as an evolutionary tool used to avoid hazardous things in the environment. Pain is present because, for instance, it tells you to remove your hand from a flame, thus avoiding harm to your body. He makes pain out to be a sort of sensory tool, much like smell or sight, that is removed from the higher functions of the brain. To him it is a vulgar emotion which a higher order intelligence can distance itself from, relegating it to a position of relative inferiority.
However, as I understand it Moreau's whole method of humanizing the animals is to vivisect them so that their bodies are 'able vessels for humanity', and then inflict intense pain upon them to basically erase their minds. Then he is able to implant a human psyche on their now blank slate through his various methods of hypnotism.
Thus Moreau's stance that pain is a base emotion from which a mind can distance itself and his methodology of erasing a mind through the application of pain seem to me to be at odds with each other.
He first expounds on pain to Prendick in order to convince him of its superficial nature. He does this by describing it merely as an evolutionary tool used to avoid hazardous things in the environment. Pain is present because, for instance, it tells you to remove your hand from a flame, thus avoiding harm to your body. He makes pain out to be a sort of sensory tool, much like smell or sight, that is removed from the higher functions of the brain. To him it is a vulgar emotion which a higher order intelligence can distance itself from, relegating it to a position of relative inferiority.
However, as I understand it Moreau's whole method of humanizing the animals is to vivisect them so that their bodies are 'able vessels for humanity', and then inflict intense pain upon them to basically erase their minds. Then he is able to implant a human psyche on their now blank slate through his various methods of hypnotism.
Thus Moreau's stance that pain is a base emotion from which a mind can distance itself and his methodology of erasing a mind through the application of pain seem to me to be at odds with each other.
posted by David Staub at 3:20 PM
2 Comments:
I feel that pain, be it emotional or physical, is a powerful, if not the most powerful, factor that shapes our behaviors and decisions. We go to extreme lengths to avoid feeling that pain, which is part of what makes us human. I think this is the method behind Moreau's madness -- while humans try to avoid situations that might cause them pain (touching a thorny vine), animals many times don't, because things like touching a vine do not carry the threat of losing their lives to predators.
It seems to me that Moreau's take on pain is right in line with his use of it to erase a mind. He believes that higher minds (ie. Humans) can ignore pain while a lower mind, like an animal, must respond to pain and will thus avoid it at all costs. Hence the ability to use intense pain to erase an animal's brain.
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