Animal rights

“Animals with rights must be treated as ends in themselves, they should not be treated by others as means to achieve their ends.” (Francione) An idea opposing to Immanuel Kant’s beliefs. Animals are apart of the moral community, their intrinsic worth justifies this, and causes for certain rights to be established to uphold their worth within the community. To not respect the welfare of nonhuman animals, and to provide special treatment for humans, goes against Peter Singer’s ideas for a harmonious community, and instead showcases speciesism. The established thought that has been shown through the ages that certain races are more superb than others is the continuous downfall of nations and inhibits progression.

There is much disagreement as to whether non-human animals have rights, and what is meant by animal rights. There is less disagreement though when it comes to agreeing on the overall thoughts humanity has of allowing animals to have rights. This view in which humans have for animals more than likely stems from the Bible. The idea was established through St Augustine’s teachings, "by a most just ordinance of the Creator, both their [animals'] life and their death are subject to our use." St Thomas Aquinas taught that the universe was constructed as a hierarchy in which beings at a lower level were there to serve those above them. Human beings we’re above animals in this hierarchy they were entitled to use animals in any way they wanted. With such jurisdiction, humans’ have created their moral community and have excluded animals from it. Francione stated;

“Our inclination to disregard the moral worth of other animals must be examined in light of the principle of utility and the ideal of equality rather than our particular ...

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...h other and use and understand moral concepts and rules,” (Francione) the members of this community respect each other’s autonomy. Remembering that we are a moral community on our own but accepting and agreeing that animals have a place within it will allow for a more utopian world and provide humans with a better understanding of something besides our own well being.

Works Cited

Boss, J. A. (2014). Ethics for Life (Sixth ed., pp. 252-255). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Francione, G. L. (2012). Moral Concern, Moral Impulse, and Logical Argument in Animal Rights Advocacy. In Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach. Retrieved November 29, 2013, from http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/moral-concern-moral-impulse-and- logical-argument-in-animal-rights-advocacy/#.UpkCtKUsZBU

Rachels, J. (2008). Doing Ethics (pp. 435-443). Retrieved November 29, 2013