Full Idea
I instinctively recoil from stepping on a spider or a forget-me-knot in my path, but neither of these responses expresses the fellow-feeling that forbids me to step on a rabbit or a mouse.
Gist of Idea
I may avoid stepping on a spider or flower, but fellow-feeling makes me protect a rabbit
Source
Roger Scruton (Animal Rights and Wrongs [1996], p.41)
Book Reference
Scruton,Roger: 'Animal Rights and Wrongs' [Demos 1996], p.41
A Reaction
It is fellow-feeling that makes us prefer mammals to reptiles. It seems wrong to build a moral system purely on empathy, because psychopaths don't even empathise with nice human beings. Externalism in morality.