What we can learn from animals about death and mortality

“We are not the only animal that understands death, nor are we the only one that mourns, nor the only one that kills intentionally or for fun,” she writes. “Scientists have long been trying to find a feature that will definitively distinguish us from other species. So far all candidates have fallen. Neither the use of tools, nor culture, morality, or rationality are reserved for humans.” is the concept of death.”

Ars chatted with Monsó to find out more.

Ars Technica: As a relatively new discipline, you believe that comparative thanatology needs philosophy. Can you tell us more about what philosophy entails?

Susana Monsó: I think philosophy is very helpful for science in general. You have to study philosophy when you do science because you have to make philosophical choices whenever you decide what topics to focus on, what kind of questions to ask, what kind of methodology to use, how to get the results analyze and how to interpret these results. All of these are philosophical decisions. So science already has philosophy within it.

But sometimes a philosopher’s approach is required. Philosophers are trained in conceptual analysis. Most scientists are aware of the importance of conceptual characterizations or definitions, but very often they think that as long as they provide a definition and the definition is clearly stated in the paper, they have to do anything. As long as we’re all clear about how we use the terms, that’s all.

I think this is wrong because not all definitions are the same. Not all characterizations are created equal, and the way you characterize your terms will determine much of what comes after. Therefore, I think philosophy has the ability to analyze concepts and determine how best to characterize them. Philosophers have an advantage because we don’t have to do empirical research, which requires a very narrow focus. When you do an experiment you can’t deal with a very big question, it has to be a small question. Sometimes scientists lose sight of the big picture. Philosophy has the advantage of being able to look at things from a larger perspective and think about how different issues relate to each other, how different areas are connected, and so on.