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Final Individual Essay
Society has placed humans to be the highest life form because of their ability to think and reason and give consent. On these grounds it has allowed society to become numb to any injustice done to animals in any way. This essay will argue whether the subjugation of minority women is linked to the way society views and treats animals by defining current animal rights, the Women’s rights Movement and the process by which the minority is seen as an animal. In the article Do Animals Have Rights? By Barton Hinkle he writes of a dog that was hit by a car and badly injured. The driver then proceed to cut off the dogs already injured leg and leave it out to die. Luckily the authorities were able to get to the dog in time. But this brings up the issue of what right do animals really have.The argument made against this is that rights belong to moral agents and animals lack that moral agency. This argument becomes complicated because there are animals, primates especially, that do have the ability to think. Society has a way of separating issues and problems into exceptions.
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For a baby who cannot articulate itself we do not hunt them. But if the reason was not subjugated to just the animal we should be able to hunt more than just babies and person with a mental disability would then be able to be treated like an animal. But they are still given at least basic
...nger states “Equality is a moral idea, not an assertion of fact. There is no logically compelling reason for assuming that a factual difference in ability between two people justifies any difference in the amount of consideration we give to their needs and interests”. Singer argues that, as there is no justification for unequal treatment of human beings based on capacity, it is also unjustifiable to treat human and non-human animals differently based on their capacities.
Singer ensures that the reader can easily relate to this concept by drawing parallels between it, racism and sexism. Drawing this parallel also automatically associates speciesism with a negative emotion in the mind of the reader, since the concepts of racism and sexism generally carry powerful negative connotations in the modern age. It is then easier for Singer to convince the reader that a variance in treatment for animals simply based on the fact that they are not human is “morally indefensible” (Singer, Animal Liberation, p. 16). Speciesism thus becomes a powerful vehicle to convey the arguments he makes against the difference in treatment afforded by humans to animals as compared to other humans.
Throughout history, societies have been faced with many social issues affecting their citizens. Martin Luther King Jr, a civil rights leader for African Americans, was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement, a movement that fought to undo the injustices African Americans endure by American society in the 1960s. Martin expressed his disgust with the social inequality among citizens when saying “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (PETA). Taking the prominent leader’s words into consideration, we should progress as a society by participating in the animal rights movement that strives to extend the same compassion, felt by Martin Luther King Jr, to all living things (PETA). Popular criticisms report that animals are inferior to humans because they are a source of food, but I will argue that they are victims of social injustice. Validity for my animal rights argument will come from individual and organizational expert accounts and by Bioethicist Peter Singer, Author Francis Fukuyama, New York Time’s Mark Bittman and also Animal Rights organizations, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and Animal Equality, to help prove my argument. Animals are silent victims who are loudly crying out for someone to stand up for their rights; rights that can no longer be disregarded by being overlooked. It is my belief that animals should be respected, and afforded ethical and human treatment by society instead of being looked at as a source of food. In a society where animals have no voice, it is everyone’s civic duty to participate in the animal rights movement and acknowledge animals as living beings, which...
“The relationship of homo sapiens to the other animals is one of unremitting exploitation. We employ their work; we eat and wear them. We exploit them to serve our superstitions: whereas we used to sacrifice them to our gods and tear out their entrails in order to foresee the future, we now sacrifice them to science, and experiment on their entrail in the hope — or on the mere off chance — that we might thereby see a little more clearly into the present.” Brigid Brophy stated this quote in The Sunday Times in the year of 1965. It is a common belief that Brophy’s article may have been the spark for the animal rights movement. The Animal Rights Movement is the social movement that I have decided to write about. It was believed to have started
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.” (Gandhi). Sadly it seems that there is much to be desired from America. Over the past few years there has been an increase in animal abuse, sadly numerous cases go unreported and unrecognized. It is estimated by the HSUS that every year nearly one million animals are abused or killed with connections of domestic violence. From this growing issue, it is seen that humans have power over animals.
“Certainly animals do not have the same abilities as humans. They can’t talk, write books, or drive cars, but neither can some humans. Do we say that humans who lack these abilities have no value and no rights? Certainly not…” (Animal Liberation 31)
Simone De Beauvoir's, "Biological Data" dismantles how females came to be labelled as "other," in which she describes their physiological disadvantages but claims that is not significant reasoning for the oppression of women. In proving this, I will first explain her use of biology in examining equality between the two types. Secondly, I will analyse her engagement of the species hierarchy to display that physiology is not valid in the oppression of women. To conclude, this paper will assess how Beauvoir sees humankind as a society rather than a species, further proving the injustice of the oppression of women.
This view, that humans are of special moral status, is constantly attempted to be rationalized in various ways. One such defense is that we are not morally wrong to prioritize our needs before the needs of nonhuman animals for “the members of any species may legitimately give their fellows more weight than they give members of other species (or at least more weight than a neutral view would grant them). Lions, too, if they were moral agents, could not then be criticized for putting other lions first” (Nozick, 79). This argument, that we naturally prefer our own kind, is based on the same fallacy used by racists while defending their intolerant beliefs and therefore should be shown to have no logical merit.
"The Case For Animal Rights" written by Tom Regan, promotes the equal treatment of humans and non-humans. I agree with Regan's view, as he suggests that humans and animals alike, share the experience of life, and thus share equal, inherent value.
The debate of whether animal rights are more important than human rights is one that people have argued mercilessly. Some people think all animals are equal. To understand this, humans must be considered animals. Humans are far more civilized than any animal, they have the power, along with understanding to control many types of sickness and disease. This understanding that humans have, keeps them at the top of the food chain.
... concept. An animal cannot follow our rules of morality, “Perhaps most crucially, what other species can be held morally accontable” (Scully 44). As a race humans must be humane to those that cannot grasp the concept. Animals do not posess human rights but they posess the right to welfare and proper treatment by their handlers.
Animals are so often forgotten when it comes to the many different levels of basic rights. No, they can’t talk, or get a job, nor can they contribute to society the way humans can. Yet they hold a special place in their owners’ hearts, they can without a doubt feel, show their different emotions, and they can most definitely love. In recent years there has been a massive increase in animal rights awareness, leading to a better understanding and knowledge in the subject of the humane treatment of animals. Where do humans draw the line between the concern of equality, and simple survival?
Animals DO have feelings. They may not be able to talk and tell us where it hurts, but they do feel pain, just like humans. There are laws to protect animals, just like humans. I do not feel as though the laws are strong enough, nor are they enforced the way they should.
Animals have their own rights as do to humans and we should respect that and give them the same respect we give each other. Animals deserve to be given those same basic rights as humans. All humans are considered equal and ethical principles and legal statutes should protect the rights of animals to live according to their own nature and remain free from exploitation. This paper is going to argue that animals deserve to have the same rights as humans and therefore, we don’t have the right to kill or harm them in any way. The premises are the following: animals are living things thus they are valuable sentient beings, animals have feeling just like humans, and animals feel pain therefore animal suffering is wrong. 2 sources I will be using for my research are “The Fight for Animal Rights” by Jamie Aronson, an article that presents an argument in favour of animal rights. It also discusses the counter argument – opponents of animal rights argue that animals have less value than humans, and as a result, are undeserving of rights. Also I will be using “Animal Liberation” by Peter Singer. This book shows many aspects; that all animals are equal is the first argument or why the ethical principle on which human equality rests requires us to extend equal consideration to animals too.
Throughout the history of the world, there have been subjects of heated debates; there are a few facts that are undisputed. One of the undisputed facts is that animals existed and inhabited the planet before humans did and humans have been dependent on animals for thousands of years. Animals have played a very vital part in our history and one wonders whys should they be treated with much cruelty. While animals have been a great resource, a steady supply of food and clothing and even security, our treatment towards them has become nothing short of appalling. Since humans are dependent on animals for their well being, their comfort and at times their religion, there should be a moral obligation to treat animals.