leahgarces.substack.com/p/what-we-got-wrong-about-animal-pain
1 correction found
1984: An influential paper argued insects have no pain receptors.*
The 1984 paper did not claim insects categorically lack pain receptors. It said the absence of known candidate nociceptors was "of doubtful significance" and explicitly noted that finding such receptors would not, by itself, settle whether insects feel pain.
Full reasoning
The cited 1984 paper, “Do insects feel pain? — A biological view”, does not argue that insects simply "have no pain receptors." Its actual wording is much more cautious:
- it says “The apparent absence from insects of any known or likely candidate nociceptors is of doubtful significance”;
- and it adds that even if specialized receptors for noxious stimulation were found, that “would have no necessary bearing on pain perception.”
So the paper's argument was not a flat claim that insects lack pain receptors. It was a broader argument that the available anatomical and behavioral evidence did not support insect pain as the authors understood it, and that receptor evidence alone would not decide the question.
Later reviews also make clear that this article's phrasing is inaccurate. For example, Barron and Klein's 2016 review states: “There is no doubt that insects have nociception.”
That means the post misstates what the 1984 paper actually argued.
2 sources
- Do insects feel pain? — A biological view
The paper states: “The apparent absence from insects of any known or likely candidate nociceptors is of doubtful significance” and adds that receptors specialized for noxious stimulation, “if demonstrated, [would] have no necessary bearing on pain perception.”
- Do insects feel pain? A question at the intersection of animal behaviour, philosophy and robotics
The review states: “There is no doubt that insects have nociception.”