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The arguments of animal rights
Animal rights argumentative essay
Animal rights argumentative essay
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Although most people don’t believe non-human animals should have the same rights as humans, we should consider granting them more rights. The theory of animal rights is based upon the belief that animals deserve similar or equal rights to humans; the concept does not mean animals deserve the right to work or vote, but more of a right to live without being abused or having a torturous death. People who oppose animal rights believe that animals do not deserve even the basic rights considering they “lack mental or moral capacity,” Although people believe animals lack in such areas, they do not realize that animals can feel pain, loss, hurt and have thoughts of their own. If humans were treated the way animals are treated, we would beg for rights as well.
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For people to claim that animals do not deserve, at least, the most basic right to live without having to be kidnapped as young and taken away for experimentation, entertainment, food or clothing, because they “lack morals” is demoralizing in itself. It is arrogant for humans to claim that animals do not deserve rights due to the fact that they are deficient in mental sufficiency. Animals are just as mentally capable as humans are, yet we look down on them for what reason? Having no voice to speak for themselves? There are many tests that show animals do not lack mental capacity, and, in some cases, can be more intelligent than humans are; if an animal is capable of having a mental illness, it would be ignorant to think that they lack mental capacity. If animals have the ability to have their own thoughts and feel, what
Being able to think and reason should be a primary requirement for deserving dignity and respect. With no ability to think or reason how could an animal even understand that it is being treated differently than other animals. Fukuyama argues this point as well, “Human reason…is pervaded by emotions, and its functioning is in fact facilitated by the latter.” Clearly moral choice cannot exist with out reason but it can also be seen in other feelings such as pride, anger, and shame. Humans are conscious of their actions, in spite of acting on instinct as other animals do. Animals do not contemplate any deeper meaning of life or justify complex mathematical equations or even think about the question ‘why’; Humans, however, do think about those things. It is our conscious thought that sets us apart from any other animal in the world. Yes animals have perception and problem solving abilities, but unlike they are not able to understand complex knowledge based concepts, although they can solve problems within their normal parameters. Every animal on the planet should have the ability to solve problems but only to a certain extent, the extent of survival. When a situation becomes a matter of life or death animals must to be able to learn to live. Survival of the fittest has ultimately
Every person in this world should accept the fact that animals are living beings just like us. Additionally, every person should accept that animals are not ours to experiment on, to torture or kill them for our own purpose. It is a well-known fact that they are intelligent creatures and most important – they do have the ability to think, to feel anger and happiness, they want to make friends and to have life partners. Can you imagine the pain they feel when they are separated one from another or when they are simply excluded from the freedom to live only to die for cosmetics? Therefore, if we are against keeping people in captivity against their will, torturing them, doing cruel experiments on them and causing them to suffer and bleed to death then we should also be against animal testing. Consequently, if it is immoral and unethical to torture, do harm or kill a person then it should be immoral and unethical to do the same to these innocent living creatures
“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)
Many countries around the world agree on two basic rights, the right to liberty and the right to ones own life. Outside of these most basic human and civil rights, what do we deserve, and do these rights apply to animals as well? Human rights worldwide need to be increased and an effort made to improve lives. We must also acknowledge that “just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures” (Dalai Lama). Animals are just as capable of suffering as we are, and an effort should be made to increase their rights. Governments around the world should establish special rights that ensure the advancement and end of suffering of all sentient creatures, both human and non-human. Everyone and everything should be given the same chance to flourish and live.
animals. If they keep the animals, then the animal will be treated as a pet or
"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.
We subject billions of animals annually to enormous pain, suffering, and misery without the regards of their moral status. For example, if you ask an experimenter why they experiment on animals, their response would be, “Animals are like humans.” On the other hand, if you ask an experimenter why it is morally acceptable to experiment on animals, their response would be, “Animals aren’t like humans.” Animal cruelty in experiments rests on this contradiction. Animals don’t volunteer themselves to be tested on; therefore, an animal has no right to fight back if something detrimental is happening to them.
The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: should non-human animals have rights? I firmly believe that non-human animals should be given rights, rights such as the right to freedom, the right to be treated with respect and care, and the right to not be exploited. Non-human animals are similar to humans in many ways and they should not be subjected to the unsanitary and crowded living conditions that factory farms and other forms of non-human animal mass production factories force them into.. They have families that they care for females bear their children just as humans do. Many human beings take think they have an inferior position over non-human animals and inflict extreme suffering upon them. I believe non-human animals should be given rights.
Animals deserve fair and ethical treatment, however not necessarily equally. Non-human animals and humans are not one in the same, there is no way we will ever be defined and put in the same category. Humans have reference levels, the ability to reason and think logically. We have evolved to the point where we can study, contain, and determine the outcome of basically any animal on Earth, now it’s up to us to ensure they are treated fairly.
It is the notion of our time that non-human animals exist for the advancement of the human species. In whatever field -- cookery, fashion, blood-sports -- it is held that we can only be concerned with animals as far as human interests exist. There may be some sympathy for those animals, as to limit practices which cause excruciating suffering, but those may only be limited if they are brought to public light, and if legislators receive enough pressure from the public to change.
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.
Animals can be perceived in many different ways. While some humans consider animals to be mindless machines programmed with instinct, others view them as spiritual creatures capable of coherent thought and emotions. I feel that animals are somewhere in the middle. Although they rely heavily on instinct, the ability to feel emotions shows that their mental capacity is not far from that of a human.
One of the greatest arguments against non human animals having rights is that they cannot speak for themselves, they cannot think and they are less human and so they can be created as such. There are flaws on this argument. Humans have an obligation to the society in a certain manor and this determines how they behave. From a young age, people are taught how to behave and act in a certain way and animal neglect and cruelty goes against the basic principles we are taught as children. Secondly, In addition, opponents argue that rights only belong to moral agents and that animals like moral urgency. This is absurd because some animals for example primates actually think very well and this should not be used against animals being given rights. Animals may not be having self awareness and are not able to communicate well but at least they inherently have rights just because they do exist as living things and they are able to feel pain and other emotions. Their ability to suffer and feel pain gives them a right not to be subj...