The Difference Between Animals and Humans

Animal rights are an important topic to discuss and review. The trouble is the vast diversity of how people see humans and animals and how they are different and yet the same. Animals are in every aspect of our lives in how they are utilized to make our lives easier, to sustain us, or as a pet. Unfortunately, the line of animals and humans blurs as the widely known belief that we are a derivation of an animal and we should treat them as we would ourselves. This viewpoint, however, can be taken to an extreme as we see pets that can be pampered quite a bit. Relating back to the four authors in our text, there is considerable controversy on how animals should be treated. While some interesting positions arise with the various authors, to argue that we are animals, or animals are humans seem invalid, as humans have a higher potential to be great than an animal does.

“The fundamental wrong is the system that allows us to view animals as our resources, here for us – to be eaten, or surgically manipulated, or exploited for sport or money” (E, p. 532). This statement has quite some claims. Regan’s viewpoint on animals rights are quite different from the typical views that are mostly being held today. What does this mean? The human race has historically used animals to be eaten, manipulated, and exploited for centuries. Any shift in this ideology would require a considerable change in the view of animals. Regan goes on to explain how this might happen. “People must change their beliefs before they change their habits.” (E, p. 532) This, however, seems unlikely because this type of change must have a universal agreement that what is being done, is wrong, and changing that would require changing centuries of a belief that what they are doi...

... middle of paper ...

...ls as all the articles agree, they can feel pain, and to some extent have a level of sentience, so we should treat them as such. Using them for the furthering of scientific discovery at the risk of loosing a rat is totally agreeable, as long as there is a reason. As we conclude, Frey, I think mostly has it right. He seems to argue the most logical case of them all. Although Regan, Singer and Fox has some interesting approaches to how we should treat animals, they are largely unattainable and lack popularity with the general populous. To resolve, this conflict of animal rights, we should respect animals as a lower moral class yet not allow them to trump human rights and life. I cannot think of a situation where a human life is worth less than an animal.

Works Cited

LaFollete, Hugh, ed. Ethics in Practice. Third Edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007.