An Analysis Of Ill-Gotten Gains, By Tom Regan

727 Words2 Pages

The essay “Ill-gotten Gains” first appeared in a book called ‘Health Care Ethics’ and was written by Tom Regan who is a renowned philosopher, author and animal rights advocate. The essay appeared again in Tom Regan’s best known book called ‘The Case for Animal Rights’ which states Regan’s beliefs regarding animal rights and provides a sound argument as to why animals should not be exploited for our own gain. Tom Regan believes all animal use that benefits humans is morally unacceptable including for food, entertainment, labour, experiments and research. “Ill-gotten Gains” argues that to be on the right moral path we need to view all individuals with inherent value as a ‘subject of a life’. Regan argues that any practice in which a ‘subject of a life’ is used as a resource is immoral, not because of emotion, but because of reason. Any individual with a sense of a future, awareness and purpose is considered to be a ‘subject of a life’ and has equal inherent value. Regan also takes time to explore the argument that humans have souls while animals do not. The fictional story at the beginning of the article is an extremely effective technique to engage the reader. I instantly felt outraged “Animals of different ages, sexes, developmental stages, and of different health status can all respond differently to experimental treatments. It is no surprise, then, that humans respond differently to administered pharmaceuticals than other animals” (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine).Thalidomide being the most well known example was a drug sold between 1957 and 1961 and was marketed towards pregnant women and was said to relieve morning sickness, stress and to help them sleep. The drug was tested thoroughly on mice, with no ill eff... ... middle of paper ... ...nimal rights yet I do question myself where to draw the line. I do not condone violence or harm against animals, yet I shudder at the thought of a mice plague and feel saddened by the extinction of our native animals by ‘feral’ or pest species. Is it right to kill one species to save another? I am appalled by the idea of ‘circus’ animals yet I will attend the horse races every summer for my entertainment. I think Tom Regan’s argument and reasoning for animal rights was extremely effective at making whoever is reading the essay question his or her own moral standards. Reading the essay made me delve into my own beliefs, morals and values which I think is incredibly important. To form new attitudes as a society it is important we start questioning how we view the lives of others, do we see animals as a resource to be exploited or as equals with rights just like we do?

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