Not For Humans Only By Peter Singer Summary

things that we cannot. As mostly everyone knows, plants make oxygen. Now, that may not seem like such a big thing, but it is that oxygen that keeps us alive. Because of that, I would say that what plants do is pretty amazing. We are not biologically the same as animals and plants, but that does not mean we are better. We should not think that they are inferior to us because of our intelligence, or neglect them because of it. In Peter Singer’s essay “Not for Humans Only: The Place of Nonhumans in Environmental Issues from Environmental Ethics,” he writes, “That one being is more intelligent than another does not entitle him to enslave, exploit or disregard the interests of the less intelligent being,” (57). Our intelligence is the reason that

we play such a big role in the environment. It allows us to make rational decisions, and we need to make decisions that will benefit all beings on this earth. It is ultimately up to us to fix the damage we have done.
Building a relationship with nature and figuring out our role are great steps in helping to bring positive changes to the environment, but they are simply not enough to change human action. One must take the time to learn about the environment. The natural world is a lot like the human body. It is a complex system made up of several other systems that carry out certain processes. It would be helpful for one to learn about these systems and how they function. One of these systems is an ecosystem, which is a community of living and non-living things, and their interaction with one another. In an ecosystem, there are decomposers, producers, and consumers, which make up the food chain. Studying the food chain may not seem important and maybe even useless; however, learning about something as simple as the food chain can have a lot of impact on one’s actions. Let’s take the action of hunting as an example. Unlike for those who lived in the Stone Age, we do not need to hunt for food to survive.

People today use hunting as a sport. Of course, not everyone agrees with hunting, but those who like to hunt justify their actions by saying that they are helping with the overpopulation of animals, like deer. The truth is that we are affecting the population of animals. Animal overpopulation can be due to the loss of an animal’s natural predator. Predators are extremely important in an ecosystem, and they are nature’s way of controlling the animal population. In William Stolzenburg’s book, Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, he addresses the importance of predators in an ecosystem. He discusses an experiment done by a zoologist named Robert T. Paine. Paine decided to do an experiment to see what happens when one disrupts an ecosystem. He conducted his experiment on rocks along the shore in which a species of starfish was the top predator. Paine’s experiment consisted of grabbing the starfish off the rocks and throwing them into the ocean. His results showed that one single species has a tremendous effect on its ecosystem. After getting rid of the top predator, about half of the species that

existed on that rock had perished. From his experiment, Paine concluded that the “’Local species diversity is directly related to the efficiency with which predators prevent the monopolization of the major environmental requisites by one species,” (Stolzenburg, 25). Getting rid of the top predator in an ecosystem affects the diversity of species. If we hunt species that are the top predators, they will become endangered and eventually extinct. Once they are gone, they are gone for good. We cannot bring them back. Without them, their ecosystem could fall apart. It is important that we stand up for predators and do everything we can to help preserve them. If people took the time to research and learn about the environment, they would realize that some actions, like hunting, can cause a lot of harm to ecosystems. By hunting the top predator, we take away its job of maintaining a good balance of animals, and ensuring that diversity remains present in its ecosystem.
The loss of biodiversity is one of the many environmental issues that exist.

The problem is that people do not know that they exist or even why they do. As mentioned earlier, hunters defend their actions by saying that they are controlling the animal population, but have they ever taken the time to think about why there are some areas that are overpopulated? One reason that causes some places to be overpopulated by deer is by damaging their habitat. By destroying forests, they really have nowhere else to go. Eventually, some species just cannot survive and they die off. Deforestation is a major environmental issue. It results in a great loss of different species. An environmentalist named John Muir was very passionate about preserving trees, and helping to prevent deforestation. In his essay “Save the Redwoods,” Muir tells us that “we cannot escape responsibility as their guardians.” We can help decrease the number of trees that are cut down by recycling materials and using recycled products. Sure, this will not completely stop deforestation, but it helps. What is important is that people become informed of what is going on with the environment. Being informed about issues can help encourage people to do something about

them.
Sadly, our world is filled with environmental issues. What is even sadder is that we are to blame. It is because of our actions, and even because of our refusal to act, that the natural world and everything in it is suffering. Our actions not only affect us, but those that we share this earth with. It is difficult to change the way people act or behave, but there are some things that can be done to help them want to act and behave morally. There are four steps that people can take to make positive changes in the environment. I would not say that these four steps are the only steps that can be done. What I have learned this semester is that there is no single answer to our environmental problems. There is no “one size fits all” answer, since not everyone is the same; however, these are the steps that have helped me personally want to do better and be better. The first step is connecting with the environment. Again, everyone is different, so I cannot tell you a universal way to approach this; however, to connect with the environment means being present