Is there an objective way to compare the magnitude of other minds' suffering to our own, or is that type of empathy doomed to be forever subjective?

I've been a vegan for almost a decade now. I feel as though there's no possible world where the pleasure someone else gets from eating a cheeseburger is greater than the horror that the cow must go through in the process of becoming a cheeseburger, but I can't and don't think that I ever will be able to really know how a cow feels. <br><br>Similarly, while I can relate to a friend who recently went through a breakup, there's no way for me to really understand what they're going through without having been through their exact experiences. <br><br>Does anyone know of philosophers that have seriously investigated this kind of inquiry?