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> That the captive rat was somehow causing distress to the free rat and the free rat was solely motivated to reduce that distress without any concern for the other rat.

Isn't that what empathy is, though? Distress caused by the perception of another creature's distress?

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I think they are arguing the difference between "that sound is annoying I'll turn that off" and "his situation is awful I don't enjoy being trapped"

But there's a whole spectrum of responses between the two, from "I don't like that noise" to "I don't like seeing that other rat in pain" to "I know if I don't do something about this, I'm going to feel bad later" or "It's wrong to let another animal suffer, therefore I should help him".

A small mammal doesn't have to have the exact same nuanced understanding as a human would in order to still be 'feeling empathy'.

>But there's a whole spectrum of responses between the two

What seems to be going on in recent decades is, through experimentation and arguments, the scientists are getting clearer on what are the various points on the spectrum.

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