...Animal Rights Animal Rights Johana Diaz Professor Irene Silas April 2011 Animal Rights Animal Rights Like humans, animals feel emotions such as pain, anxiety, and affection then if humans have rights, animals should also have rights. It is true that animals are different from people but it doesn't mean that they are inferior to them. Animals are abused and killed for a variety of socially acceptable purposes: 6 billion are slaughtered as foods, 200 million are murdered by sport hunters, 50 million die in laboratories and 25 million are murdered for their fur. Numbers never lie, cruelty towards animals is a fact. It is important to let humanity know why animals should have rights. Informing on the physical and psychological abuse that they suffer through violence, research of educational and scientific purposes and for the entertainment of people. Animal Rights, also known as Animal Liberation, is the the idea that the most basic interests in animals should be allowed the same amount of attention as basic interests in human beings (Wise, 2007). Peter Singer, a philosopher with a sensible focus on suffering in animals, incites people to extend their moral care boundaries to include animals. He says that animals shouldn't be discriminate against because they are not part of the human species (Yount, 2008).I agree completely with that just because animals don't have the same rationality as human...
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...A debate about animal rights has been an ongoing problem around the world for generations. For the first time, according to Singer (2003), the Australian philosopher Peter Singer proposed the assertion that animals have ‘rights’ in the 1970s. Ever since then, this claim has been the topic of many emotional and ardent discussions. There are many areas in which the issue of animal right’s is an acute topic. For example, there are moral aspects of keeping animals in zoos, eating them, using for testing etc.? I tend to think that animals should not have rights because they are not humans, and they are not able to fight for those rights. I agree with the point of view of Linker (2014) that people should treat animals respectably. However, it should be because they are not like humans rather than because they are similar to human beings. Human dignity is associated with some the moral qualities that are often difficult to explain, and certainly cannot be seen in the behavior of animals. Obviously, people have to take care of animals and not hurt them because they are living beings also experiencing emotions. However, this cannot be the basis for granting them rights equivalent to the human. People are beings endowed with sympathies and emotions, and any normal society cannot be indifferent to the suffering of the animals. A cruel treatment of pets, like dogs and cats, will induce revulsion even from people who had never had pets and are not planning to. However, Schultz (2013)...
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...whether or not it is morally right to consume animals. Pollan’s opinion towards consuming animals is quite explicit in the beginning. He started out be seeing no harm in consuming animals, but his opinion started to change after reading Peter Singer’s book, “Animal Liberation”. While reading through the book, Pollan learned that eating animals, wearing animals, experimenting on animals, and killing animals for entertainment are all viewed as “speciesism”. He quotes, “speciesism”- a neologism I had encountered before only in jokes- as a form of discrimination as indefensible as racism or anti-Semitism”. (Pollan 361) Through this quote Pollan is explaining that he had only come across...
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...Animal Testing: A Reasonable Stance Animals can give us love and happiness when we are caring for them as pets, but what else can animals give us? Over the past century animals have also given us vaccines, drugs, and more that have kept our society healthy and safe from deadly infections, all due to animal testing. But are the welfare of animals something that should be risked to make our lives better? The issue of animal testing has caused an ongoing battle in our society that deals with both science and animal rights. There are those who favor it because it is allows for scientific progress, and there are those who oppose it because it is the ethically right thing to do. Both sides have valid arguments, which most people choose to side with one or the other. With a better understanding of each side of the issue, animal testing, we can conceive a credible truth. The complex issue of animal testing is one that should not be researched in a bias way. One must explore both and all sides of the argument to come to a valid conclusion. While I have yet to find a piece of writing that equally argues both sides of animal testing, the combined research I have done on both sides of the spectrum allows for a solid foundation for this discussion. These two stances on animal testing are opposite not only in position on the issue, but also in reasoning. The side for animal testing is reasoning on the means of science and research used to develop new medical treatment, while the side against...
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...| Multiple Choice | 20 | 17 | | | Grade Details - All Questions | Question 1. | Question : | What is Peter Singer’s point about performing vivisection on mentally disabled human infants? | | | Student Answer: | x | That if we say that it would be wrong to perform experiments on such humans but not on non-humans then we are showing bias based upon species alone | | | | That a good speciesist would not perform experiments on any being | | | | That we should test upon mentally disabled human infants because the results would be more reliable than tests on animals | | | | That anyone who would consider testing on a human infant is a monster | | Instructor Explanation: | The answer can be found on p. 6 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.” | | | | Points Received: | 1 of 1 | | Comments: | | | | Question 2. | Question : | Peter Singer’s “basic principles of equality” applied to animals means: | | | Student Answer: | | Animals should be given all the same rights as human beings. | | | x | Animals are not entitled to not all the same rights but to an equal consideration of interests. | | | | Animals should not be given the same moral consideration because they are do not have the same power to reason as humans. | | | | Animals do not have rights unless they can demonstrate the same abilities as humans. | | Instructor Explanation: | The answer can...
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...Animal Experimentation “The heart of the issue is whether animals should be used for medical research” (Wright). This is very true whereas some find that animals and humans are seen as equals where others maybe not so much.Animal experimentation is starting to become a concerning issue to many. I believe that animals should not be tested on because humans are beginning to take advantage of animals, their animal rights and aren’t taking it into realization. Humans are beginning to take advantage of animals. In ways that are cruel and are very harmful to the animals well-being. People my even “capture them, hold them in tiny cages, even subject them to artificial whiplash”(Wright) and much more. This is just one of few examples of how humans take advantage of animals. While humans are taking advantage of animals they are also invading the animals rights....
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...Animal and Human Research Ethics Paper In any aspect of life, the well being of oneself comes before any other considerations. With in mind, medicine has a very similar view. The health and prosperity of the human race comes before any other considerations. This brings about the grounds for the practice of nonhuman animal testing. With this, professional and ethical issues are raised and must be explored in order for a conclusive answer to be given. The statement that “animals have rights” is one that very few people will disagree with. There are those, however, who see animal cruelty as a form of entertainment. The ethical question then arises asks whether the “cruelty” against an animal can be benefited for humans or should humans benefit from themselves. It is evident that the human race is at the pinnacle of creation as they have achieved progressive heights that cannot be matched by any other species. Unfortunately, animal research has been a fundamental part of their continued progress. Since Aristotle, animals have been used utilized for the benefit of humans. The question of why this has occurred for some time is because they had no other alternative than direct human testing. Man has come a long way and must find seek other testing techniques that are advanced in order to eliminate this harmful practice. One possibility is from Professor Joordens in which he indicates that humans should test on humans who have the desired disease. This would bring about greater...
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...The Ethical Treatment of Animals in America Arline Edmiston SOC 120: Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility Professor Susanne Elliott September 11, 2012 As with the majority of subjects that involve ethics, there is always more than just one point of view. It is not any different when it comes to the ethical treatment of animals. In fact, it has been the subject in which a few near war like situations have happened. For example, there are people who believe that any time an animal is killed even if that animal did not suffer they still see it as being wrong. Although, on the other hand there are people who relish in the ability to be able to eat meat and kill animals. However, the bottom line is that most people are somewhere in the middle over how they feel about what happens to the animals of the animal world that we share our world with. I will be going over some of these ideas and also be talking about some the groups associated with these ideas. The issue of animal rights is a very complex and touchy subject. There are both positive and negative sides to the animal rights issue. Both sides of which seem to have major contradictions to both themselves and to each other. Animal rights people have proposed that in the basic interest of the animals such things as avoidance of suffering should be given the same attention that it would be given to any human being. One such animal rights organization that believes this is PETA or People for the Ethical...
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...talk about ethics, they will think about rules to differentiate right and wrong. It might be wise maxims of Confucius or religious beliefs. The most general way to define “ethics” is that “moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior” (American English in Oxford Dictionary). Bioethics is a pretty young interdisciplinary study, which is considered with ethical questions related to the relationships among human beings, animals, and environments in the late twentieth century. Based on this, bioethics derived three main subdisciplines, which are medical ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics. Although each sub-discipline has particular study area in bioethics, there still are overlaps of ethical considerations and approaches. This makes it difficult to easily discuss ethics questions such as stem cell research, xenotransplantation, the ethical status of animals and the ethical status of the environment. Further discussion about the vital issue of moral status solutions is necessary at the same time. In the rapid development of the natural sciences and biotechnology has greatly promoted better living conditions and improve the living standards of people around the world. On another hand, there are opposite consequences, like water and air pollution, nuclear waste, tropical deforestation, as well as large-scale livestock farming, as well as special innovative technologies, such as gene technology and cloning, resulting in doubts and even fears about the...
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...Reasoning Instructor Galen Johnson June 23, 2014 \ Animals: Deserving of Utilitarianism? 1 Utilitarianism is best defined as given a choice between two acts, the one that creates greater happiness for the greatest number of people should be chosen. This should be applied to non-human beings as well. Animals are essential in our everyday lives. They provide companionship, nourishment for our bodies and can provide amazement to our eyes when seen in their natural habitat. They are important in human life. They deserve respect. We as the superior being should make decisions for non-humans based on the utilitarianism approach creating greater happiness or good for the greater numbers. Our decisions based on this approach when making choices where non-humans are concerned will be a beneficial choice for both humans and animals. So what do humans and animals have in common? René Descartes, for instance, regarded animals as simply “physical bodies that lacked minds or souls; thus, animals were similar to organic machines.” (Mosser, 2013) This type of thought is also coincides with Western and Christian thinking. That is, all is ranked from highest to lowest. God and Angels are the highest with humans, animals and plants to follow in order. Present day this is conflicting...
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...Today, the debate over animal rights is widely spread around the world. A lot more leather and fur companies found the business over making clothes from real animal skin, very beneficial for making a lot of money. Usually, those companies follows fashion and demands of famous people because they can bring the companies a lot of money. Therefore, many non famous people look up to the famous ones and see that they wear expensive fur on their jackets. So, this becomes a huge demand in 21st century. However, there are people who would not wear fur and leather because they stand for the animal rights. The debate whether we should put animals through misery in order to make fashionable and expensive clothes to feel more "sexy", became a sensitive question among people. I think animals should take place in our world not as equal to us but as a kingdom which is the most close to ours. That means we should respect them and satisfy their needs as much as they satisfy ours. The business that deals with making real animal fur and leather became such a good deal today. The companies that work in this business became very popular because the demand for real leather and fur has increased. This demand increased due to the fact that so many famous people wants to wear it. They have a lot of money, so they usually do not care about how much they will spend on clothes and they especially do not care how that clothes is made . Many of them want to look fashionable, to show the world that they...
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...Animal Welfare The concern given to non-human animals with regard to physical and psychological well being known as animal welfare. Animal welfare advocates enhancing conditions for animals while still permitting human beings to benefit from various uses from the animals (Preece & Chamberlain, 2007). Animals play diverse roles in human lives. Whether an animal is being used for law enforcement, or being used in a rescue mission, or being used as pets in human beings households, the animals make the lives of human beings better (Haynes, 2010). In a regular basis, animals used in research, to help medical doctors in discovering new treatments for diverse diseases. Animals used in research have assisted in saving millions of lives globally. For years animals have also been used as a source of food, clothing and in diverse products. If animals are so significant in our lives why destroy and mistreat them? It is quite clear that the society need the animals for the survival, protection and entertainment. Therefore, the society should ensure the animals well protected and handled with care (Mellor, 2009). Animal welfare established to ensure animal rights observed, and violations of the animal rights will result to serious consequences to the individual. Animal welfare concerns began thousand years ago and were even known in the Greek society. In the 15th century, the first recognition of the animal welfare made. The English government...
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...When an individual makes the complicated decision of adding a four-legged member to their family it should be viewed as a lifelong commitment. The majority of people who decide to take in a new four legged family member usually have the best intentions at the time. However, life happens and things tend to change. The puppy who was once small and adorable is now full grown, becoming ignored, and is chewing for attention. The kitten who was once a cute little ball of fur is now not so little and clawing the furniture and using the potty in paces other than the litter box. Maybe there was a job loss in the family, or the individual has become homeless because of financial mishaps. With foreclosure on the rise these days due to a bad economy this is happening more often than not lately. One must plan for these types of issues that may arise in the near or distant future. There are a lot of individuals who believe that an animal shelter is the answer of all answers. The awful truth is they are mostly overcrowded and under staffed. More animals get euthanized inside the shelter due to lack of space than adopted by potential lifelong owners in the animal shelter. The animal shelter should not be used as a way to ease guilt on the former owners’ conscience. It should not be used as a dump site or a place to put your older animal like you would a senior citizen in a nursing home. Is animal abandonment ethically and morally wrong no matter what the circumstances? It would depend on each individuals’...
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...definition of rights between humans and animals are different. Animals do not have some rights as humans because there "is no morality for them and animals do any moral wrong. Therefore it is impossible to empower the same rights to humans and animals, and animals should not be considered for the same position as humans. For example, the laws of human provide us a guarantee that every person has the right of not being hurt. If the application is also suitable to the animal, of course scientists should not be allowed to use animals in the experiments, but the laws of the animal world cannot offer that, because of the fact that wild animals prey on other animals for their food. It is conceivable that animals do not have a sense of duty like people, so they should not be equated with human beings. However, using animals for scientific experiments should not be argued. Using animals is not mistreating animals, the use of scientific research has a more meaningful and essential purpose. Secondly animal testing standards are acceptable as they are controlled by many laws and regulations. In Australia, all research and teaching that involves the use of animals must be according to the "Australian code of Practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes." Each animal testing must be assessed by an" institutional Animal Ethics Committee (AEC)". The AEC decides whether or not an experiment can be conducted, and can place provisions on the numbers of animals used. The AEC...
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...Freedom is one of the most important rights that all of us want to have. I sure, no one wants to be locked up in the room for most of the life. Not only human that want to have rights to protect us, but animals need protection. Even though some people believe zoos can gain benefit to people by educational and economical, so we should support them. For freedom, environmental, and zoos are not for educational or protection place, three reasons I believe zoos are cruel places and they should all be shutdown, set the animals to be free. The first reason why I believe all zoo should be close and all animals should be free is freedom. Animals belong in nature and each animals' species have their own natural behavior. When people imprison them in the cage where limited spaces, the animals can get the negative effect in their physical and mental. Animals can lose abilities to do physical activities, they won't be able to hunt because people always feed them, and they won't learn how to escape because there are not any animals can hurt them. The physical...
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