Manoucheca Prevert PHI 2010 Class: M W F 10:25a.m. -12:40p.m. When I eat meat, I do not think about animals’ rights. According to me, animals don’t have any rights. I think that animals don’t have any rights for two reasons, first animals are inferior to humans; secondly, humans need animals for survival. There are a lot of things that humans can do that animals can’t. For instance, humans can interpret things, they can judge, they can choose. Animals cannot do any of that. We will always be superior to animals. If we are superior to animals, why should they have the same rights with us? From my own perspective, after God, humans rule the earth, not animals so humans have the rights to do whatever they please with animals. As a matter of fact, I am very pleased with the discoveries that scientists have been able to do by using animals. Humans have rights, therefore humans can reason, animals cannot reason therefore animals shouldn’t have rights. Other reason animals should not have any rights it’s because we need animals for survival. I cannot imagine a world without meats. Meats provide us some essentials vitamins that are good for our well-being. Of course too much meat is not good for you but if you eat it in moderation, everything will be fine. Like other animals need to survive, we, humans, as animals, need to survive also. Whether for experiences or for foods animals have been and will always be useful to the human society.
From deli cuts, to chicken, to steak, I eat it all. Do I think about the animal that was slaughtered and might have even suffered in the process, no. The reason I do not worry about these animals is mostly due to the fact they don't have much of a future beyond being a meal for me. I believe rights belong to any person or thing that has potential to become something. A cow or a pig doesn't have much of a future. The most it will do is take up space. On the contrary if any animal could make a difference, actually build something that we could not or serve a purpose towards the human race then I would be fighting for animal rights all day. The fact is that their purpose in life is just to exist, they do not serve any greater purpose, excluding the food chain. With this said, I am not pro-animal cruelty or torture. I do acknowledge the fact they have feelings just like us and brains but until they evolve to the point where they can demand their rights, I do not believe they should be getting those rights.
The fact is that their purpose in life is just to exist, they do not serve any greater purpose, excluding the food chain.
Daniel: Surely it's easy for a human to declare what the purpose of animals are. The interesting thing is that they were here before us (not excluding that we're also animals).
I believe that all living things that exhibit the six symptoms of life - birth, growth, development, reproduction, dwindling and death - are alive. Life is the symptom that the soul, the living force, is present, in all these varieties of life. It is more accurate to say they ARE souls, living out their lifespan in the dress of whatever body they may inhabit this time around, whether it be plant, insect, bird, aquatic, beast or human form. Although I do eat meat not because I believe it is essential for survival; quite honestly I am illiterate to the question many people have been asking for years and that is: Is meat an essential part of our diet? I do know that I enjoy meat but I always wonder, when it sits on my plate the life that this piece of chicken, pig, cow had. I wonder if they locked up 30 chickens in a small cage, or if they fed the pork or cow only hormones deriving it of the food it needed to be healthy & happy. Although I eat meat, every time before I eat it, I close my eyes to let it know it was in my thoughts and I begin pray. I pray for the meat because I do not wish for God to believe for one second I am ungrateful and uncaring of this creature’s being, because animals are not inferior to humans, we are equal. Despite the argument that we are smarter and all of that scientific crap, let us not forget we were both created by God and to that I believe we should hold our most upmost respect.
To start off, to answer the first question of, do animal deserve right? Some of us would answer no and some would just beg to differ. My opinion is yes animals should have rights; I would have to be in Kant’s team with him feeling sympathy of the suffering of animals. I think that animals should have the right not to be mistreated and to be treated with some sort of respect just like any living thing. As far as the article stating that we may not know if an animal is in pain is just simply ridicules, because it becomes very clear when an animal like a dog for example hasn’t been feed or has been mistreated. We really don’t have to make the solution any difficult than the problem. It’s simple we just need to have some respect for other things other than ourselves. Not to say that we shouldn’t eat meat but we should not mistreat them just because some individuals may think their less than. Sometimes as human beans we consider ourselves superior than anything else, we make the rules, we run the show and we have the most knowledge so therefore we know what’s right and what we think is right for us may not be what really is right. However, we need to humble ourselves and become willing to see other perspectives. Like for instances the animal life of the Florida everglades, sometimes we just decide to make the lakes and ponds smaller or shorter to build houses and business buildings because its benefits us, everything to us is me me me. The whole world reveals around us and what we believe but what we believe is not necessarily true. We have to sit back and realize the consequences of our actions by just wanting to make our own rules and thinking that we know what’s right. So respecting animals and their habitats is something that we should try to improve in. To sum it up animals are important and should have some rights to protect them from being mistreated. Let’s humble ourselves and maybe just maybe we can gain some real true knowledge. Taneisha Rodriguez
The question is do animals deserve rights? In my opinion I would agree with Kant that animals are just like humans that they should have some right just like a human being. The reason is because we as human beings are animals ourselves in some type of way if you really think about it were just like a chimpanzee the way they function is just like a human being for example they use sign language, so why should animals be left out and not treated equal to humans if were the same in some way? I agree with the article that Tom Reagan talks about how even though humans have certain abilities and some of those abilities are possessed by some non-human animals he says that “such animals must have the same moral rights as humans” which I explained my reason above about humans are some like chimpanzee in a way. Honestly I believe when humans and animals are being compared in most situations animals are likely to be overlooked or discriminated by humans which is not right because at the end of the day humans are like some animals rather we dislike it or not. Latifha Williams
I follow the belief that all living organisms such as in the plant world, animal world, human world, mineral world, and all those other that we can classify, are nothing more than types of evolving groups in the grand scale of life. What I mean by this is that the existence of animals and other living entities (including us humans) will embark on an infinite rise through life that will enhance our existence to steps unthinkable to the current man. In other words, as "god-like". This puts me in favor of animal rights and against their cruel treatment.
I admit my hypocrisy since I do eat meat and therefore contribute to this problem, but there has to be a change. From personal experience I know that their is such things as an addiction to eating meat. I've notice this a while back since I have tried to change my diet to an all living and raw foods consumption. This diet consist of foods that are grown strictly from the grown, that are natural and are given through nature. I have to say that the weeks that I was successful in doing this were life changing. I felt energetic, my thinking process was very clear, I felt very awake, and experienced countless epiphanies. My dreams were very vivid and I my body felt very clean. It seemed as if before all the dead meat in my body did not let it resonate to its complete vibration and therefore my self was unbalanced.
Also, the thought of staying away from meat gave me a sense of clean morality towards animals. Believe it or not, every cow and every pig has their own differences physically and psychologically. Just like humans, the differences in their behavior can come from interaction with others in their life. A good example is to know that a baby calf is friendly once it is treated nicely, as opposed to one that has been treated brutally can be fearful and grow up to being violent. To me the only reason why humans are the alfa race in this world is because we have evolved into intellectual beings. That does not mean that we should ignore the importance of the existence of other beasts in the world. We are not the only ones that can reason and feel, therefore we should respect ourselves and "all others" around us.
Analyzing whether non-human animals have rights, there is one clear truth: our society is hypocritical when it comes to these rights. A majority of people believe animals have rights. However, most subscribe to the belief that the more delicious an animal, the less rights it has. In most cultures if an animal is one that is eaten as food, their rights diminish to minimal rights.
Similarly, if an animal is used for sport, our protection of that species seems limited to prevention of abuse. For example, dogs that are used for sport are leashed. They are disciplined, and lead a life of servitude. Yet most people do not condone dogs being taught to fight each other. One may argue that the leash, discipline and servitude are abuse, but they are accepted. Maybe what is acceptable seems to depend on the level of abuse. Nevertheless, animals used for sport appear to have fewer rights than those living in the wild.
Animals in the wild are afforded more rights and protection the closer they are to extinction. Buffalo were once hunted to near extinction. When their numbers diminished, their rights and protection increased. Slowly their numbers began to grow and are now facing a diminution of their rights and protection.
Of course, the belief in animal rights depends on the culture. Our society embraces a belief in animal rights. However, other cultures do not follow this belief. Cock-fighting and whaling are examples of animal abuse we find deplorable; yet, this behavior is accepted in other cultures.
What appears clear is that humans believe animals’ rights are not bestowed by their creator. We do not hold animals as equals. This is an idea likely born out of our own belief of supremacy. If animals have rights, those rights are only those we have given them.
I would like to begin by saying that honestly, I do not think of animals' rights when I am about to eat. It doesn't really cross my mind in any given moment, but now putting this situation into perspective makes think about it more. I saw a video once in high school about how animals are treated and abused for their coats and other aspects. I have to say it was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. These poor animals are put into boiling waters while they are alive. Why does it have to be this way? I mean if they are going to be killed, can't it be done in a different manner? A way that won't make them suffer. As much as I do love eating it, thinking of how they are treated makes me sick. I feel that part of me seeks this idea because I was brought up this way. I know that I can make that decision to go vegetarian, but it seems a little difficult. While I do believe that animals should have rights, it is also hard to make any specific judgement.
I believe that animals do not have rights although I also believe that animals should also not be mistreated. I believe that animals do not have rights simply because they cannot reason. There is a difference between reasoning and instincts or conditioning. Any animal can be taught to do a specific action, if conditioned properly. Instincts are “an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli.” But to reason is to be able to think, to understand, and to be able to form judgments by a process of logic. Animals do not come to logical conclusions as do human beings. One may be able to teach an animal that two plus two is four but they do not understand or have the logic to understand what that means or how to get there.
But simply because I don’t believe that they don’t reason doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that they can’t feel. They, as human beings, also have a nervous system. They feel physical pain and they feel physical pleasure. I wouldn’t torture an animal because as humans we understand that it’s not right to hurt people because it causes pain. Simply because animals don’t have rights doesn’t mean that they should be abused.
Although animals don’t get human rights like we do, but it is immoral to mistreat them. It’s not immoral to eat them, but we have to be human about it. They have a right to live. When we think about the basic value of equality, we can say that animals deserve rights as much as people do because they can’t speak for themselves. However, sometimes I feel like against some animal rights because it is impossible for everything to be equal. For example, if someone says that they value every life then what about the plants and the bugs. Don’t they deserve rights, too? All animals have laws to protect them from human cruelty and torture, but I don’t think that they can have rights because with rights, they will need to have responsibilities which they have none. Just think about the way they treat each other. For example, does a mouse have the same rights from a human as a cat? Hell no, so there can be no rights bestowed. Many people like them, and treat them like their child which is good. They are living creatures with emotions. They feel pain when they are injured, hunger when not fed, emotions when lonely, happy or angered. So, with all that I think that they just need to have the basic package which is not torture and abuse them. I like eating meet, don’t you? Mhhh…… that’s yummy.
In my opinion animal rights is nonsexist when compared to human rights. We are the Supreme Being and animals serve their purpose in providing us with necessities and desires. Animals will not hesitate to prey on humans and we as humans must not hesitate to use animals to provide us with shelter, food, pleasures, and advancing technology / products. The reason why animal rights are an issue is because we (humans) have consciences and we analyze what we deem to be right and wrong. Our thought process and our way communicating are more developed so this is why the argument is on the table.
That being said, after watching “Food Inc” some months ago, I can honestly say I do not agree with the way companies house and farm animals with such cruelty when they are our main source of food. Even though animals serve a purpose for us we do not have to abuse them in that manner. Animals were created to be in the wild and manufactures and farmers should create an environment that equates their natural environment. I would love to see the government set laws that would cease such practice, but it will never happen. As a little girl my family had a farm and I saw how animal farming is supposed to be. We should respect the laws of nature while remembering that we are on top of the food chain. Again I must be honest even after watching Food Inc, still I do not hesitate to eat the foods I have bought and I will not be one to start petitions / movements to force the government hands to start laws against animal cruelty.
I must add that I grew up watching my dad bred roosters and go fight them. It is a sport that most island men enjoy and I see nothing wrong with the sport. However, all actions have consequences and one should be prepared to face them.
I'm with Singer, animal's can feel pain and show about the same reactions as humans do. Weather crying, screaming etc. I understand that the meat that I eat comes from an animal for example I love ribs and know it comes from a pig but I'm okay with that. I just don't appreciate the many things that they do to the animals before death. There chickens that get so big that they end up not being able to hold there own weight and therefore when "Use the bathroom" there literally seating down in there own fecal matter. Animals deserve rights just like everyone else. If it wasn't for animal testing we wouldn't have all the different types of medications we have today. Yet at the same time the labs where the experiments are held in have to monitory, meaning they must have there cleaning and ethics on point. There are many diseases that can be created and if not taken care of someone can get hurt and by that I also mean the animals themselves.
When it comes to animals, many people debate over whether they should have rights based on things such as their ability to reason and understand. Some people believe that animals have feelings while others don’t. I personally think that animals have feelings based on the way they act. For instance, I’ve seen someone grab a dog abruptly by their skin and as a result, they’ll end up making this high-pitched squeaky noise, and I assume it’s because it hurts them.
In 1910, there was an experiment performed by Wolfgang Köhler, a German psychologist, with chimpanzees, that shows to us that animals solved problems by understanding, just like humans, which are capable of insight learning. Köhler also discovered with von Restoff the isolation effect in memory, contributed to the theory of memory and recall, and developed a “non-associationist theory” of the nature of associations, showing another point of similarity as humans.
Other than that, there have been people that have said that animals don’t have a “language”, therefore, making them less human-like. For all we know animals could have a form of communication and we just haven’t gotten to that discovery yet. Dogs bark, cats meow, cows moo, and chickens cluck. I mean, I’m Cuban-American and I don’t understand Japanese, but that doesn’t mean that Japanese isn’t a “language.” Maybe all that barking and clucking is their diverse form of communicating to each other.
Animals have rights and we should respect them, just like we are given a set of rights to respect. We’ve advanced so much in technology that we should be able to not have to rely on animal testing to see if products work or not. There should be other reliable resources that don’t involve humans or animals that we could test on.
I don’t agree with people that have animals held in captivity for our own entertainment such as in the zoo or circus. I also don’t believe in killing and skinning animals just for fashion. That’s cruel and selfish. Animals should be out in the wild where they belong. They have lives they attend to just like we do, and eventually will die just as us humans, and we shouldn’t go around messing with their habitat just for “entertainment” and “fashion.” Why tamper with something that should be left alone?
Honestly, I’m not a vegetarian and I like eating steak and cheeseburgers and all those things. I don’t agree with the torture they put these animals through, and normally I don’t even think about it when I’m eating meat, but animals shouldn’t be put to die and go through all the suffering that these companies make them go through. They treat these animals like cheap products, giving them low quality food, and taking them into very little consideration just to save money. If they’re going to kill an animal so that we can eat it, might as well not put them through all that suffering. Peter Singer has a point when it comes to animal rights and their ability to feel pain. Although animals cant scream like we do or clutch a part of they body, they still squeal and make noises. For all we know, that could be their form of showing pain from all their suffering. I’m pretty sure that if we were to be put in tiny cages and eat cheap food that has plastic pieces, drugs, and other health hazardous chemicals in them we wouldn’t like it very much, so I believe that animals deserve their own rights, just as we do.
Today, many people see animals as nothing more than a childhood pet, as not having source of education, as a useless annoyance. People have only observed the beauty of animals at the zoo, just to make money, which maybe leads to a lack of concern that they feel toward animal rights. It is happening all over the world. Unfortunately, many people have believed that animals were put on earth for human use only. Just as to other people, they see animals as beautiful and exquisite creatures that should be protected and cherished. Philosophers have proffered many criteria as sufficient which includes sentence, a sense of justice, the possession of language or morality, and having a rational plan for one's life. If they use animals for testing or experimentations for human purposes, so why not give them their proper place or right as human do. Animal experimentation has become one of today's largest controversies that many animals rights activitists should turn their focus to. I consider the fight against animal experimentation as a simple subject of moral duty, of ethics, or even of religious obligation. Human life is not that superior by virtue of being human. Still, there is law in some countries, but most of them just ignore those law which increases animal cruelty. If humans are capable of suffering, and that to inflict such pain is unethical, also there should be sympathy for animals as to limit practices which cause severe suffering. STEEVEN DIVERS
Nerline Theodorice Do animals deserve rights? In my opinion, I can say “yes” to that question because all animals supposed to have the right liked human being. As a human being we justify our domination and abuse of animals because we are capable of doing so. Even though animals are not able to talk or react, but they have feeling as human also. We supposed to treat them with respect and love them like we did it for ourselves. As myself I don’t like animals, but that doesn’t mean I will do something bad to them. To be honest I hate when people are abused them because I don’t take advantage of this at all. For example, when someone abuses an animal It likes the same way someone abuses an animal is the same way that person can abuse a kid too; therefore, there is no way I will accept someone to abuse an animal. Being animals don’t mean people should abuse them, they should protect animals in all circumstance. Love and protect them that exactly how we should treat them, we need them like they need us. Nerline Theodorice
“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us.’ Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us.’ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction,” was said by Charles R. Magel, a professor of philosophy. This quote brings up the heated debate on whether animals deserve rights. Well, who is to say that animals should get tortured and slaughtered before they die? Who is to say humans should feel they are superior to other animals just because they cannot communicate and express themselves the way we do? Us apparently. Many times humans have made the mistake of treating others who appear different than us horribly. Humans need to realize that just because they feel animals are inferior does not meant that they should treat them with such bizarre cruelty.
In this sense, it is imperative that animals should be treated how humans would want to be treated- good. However, there comes the issue on how useful they are to humans such as for food, clothing, research for advancement, and amusement. In many meat production factories, animals are slaughtered as if they are unable to feel pain. This conduct is outright absurd and there should be an end to it. It is felt that animals do not feel pain and cannot reason, therefore it is considered okay to treat them horribly. In my opinion, animals should be treated with respect. It is felt that we should not have to depend on them for food, clothing, research, or entertainment. If we do, then the process of killing them for food and such should be in a morally better way. The killing should be fast so the animal does not have to suffer. There is no point to having an animal suffer; this is just demented. Equality and the idea of all parts making up a whole should be taken more into consideration by humans who take part in this behavior. I have seen the movie “Food, Inc.” and the horrible conditions of how farm animals live in before they die is portrayed throughout the movie.
Singer’s outlook on this subject leans toward the protectionist side of the animals’ rights movement. I agree with his views in the sense that animals should not have to suffer. However, I feel that it is not entirely wrong to use animals as resources. I feel that they just help us for whatever we want. It can be looked as a necessary evil somewhat. Subsequently, before an animal dies for humans, that animal should not have to suffer. This fits under the concept of animal welfare, which means nothing is wrong in using animals as resources, just making sure that it is performed without the suffering.
Imagine yourself to be a cow or a goat, how would you like human being to treat you? It is true that some philosophers say, you have to experience something to know about it. However, does necessarily to be a woman to understand a woman? This is the same principle that applies to animals. Animals have been on the planet earth before us. They are in a way our food but we must respect them. They play an important role in our ecosystem. They keep the nature in balance. Animals are a great help to the technology. They contribute to the development of drugs and medicine. And furthermore, they help us to understand our own genetic system. Besides that, do we choose to be a human? I don’t think so. The same thing applies to animals. We have to accept them for who they are; we need to care for them, and at last, we have to understand that animals and human are complementary to one another which means we depend to each other.
I don’t agree with people that have animals held in captivity for our own entertainment such as in the zoo or circus. I also don’t believe in killing and skinning animals just for fashion.
Do animals deserve rights? What is the difference between animals and humans being? We are not so different from them. They can feel pain, sadness, hungry, and sickness, so can we. Why can we treat them with respect? Animals are not humans, but they are not objects either. They do have rights and they deserve them. Image that one you wake up and are not a human being anymore, you have been changed to a dog, you would you think that would be fair to you for a person to kick you. I do not think that anyone would like such thing to happen to them because they know how some people are abusing pets. I am a pets lover specially dogs. I do not like when people are abused them. Animals are like babies they need love and affections. Even though they can’t talk, they can understand things in their way. If a pet or an animal has been abused by his or her owner, you will be able to see that. This animal is going to be afraid of his or her owner, like a child who has been abused by his parents or someone else. Animals are like us they need to be treated just like us. We do not have the right to abuse them. They are humans in their way. Sophia Augustin
Jor-El Vasco PHI 2010 Prof. Alfredo Triff July 3rd 2011 Do Animals Deserve Rights? I must start by saying that I’ve been ignorant to the economic, social, and physical, consequences of eating meat. I have never put into consideration any of these factors while eating my food. I have only thought to myself that I’m hungry therefore I will eat. By spending money on meat foods and fast food chains I am simply contributing to the issue of animal cruelty, poor economic spending, and an annual national health cost of approximately 147 billion dollars for obese Patient’s alone. Yes! I absolutely opine that animals should posses certain rights to life. Who am I, just because I am hungry, to kill another living creature? I have never stopped to think if it is even healthy for me to eat meat. Sure, I cut out the parts of my steak that has the fat, but is the meat still damaging my heart or arteries. Heart disease runs through my family as much as the trend to eat meat such as cattle and pork. To those who say that meat is necessary for humans to survive, I argue that Even though Bonobo Chimpanzees, who are 94- 99% human DNA compatible are classified as omnivorous as well as humans, yet, the prefer to eat fruits and veggies primarily over meats. Survive you say? Chimpanzees have been alive for millions of years more that the human race, while we have only been here for 50,000 years. I say that animals should be left alone in their natural habitats undisturbed by human intervention. Also, that humans have no inherent right to keep animals as domesticated pets, furthermore to mistreat and encage them is morally, emotionally and physically disturbing and upsetting.
Honor Animal Rights. Eat fruits and vegetables! Write your senator and ask to stop funding us meat farms.
Andrea V. Lopez Class of PHI2010 So the question is: Should animals have equal rights? Yes or no? In order for me to answer this question, I must break down my arguments into segments. 1. First there is the notion of animals serving their purpose by feeding us. I am not a vegetarian and have no shame in indulging myself with the variety of meat that I can get my hands on. However, even if it does “taste good”, the question of whether if it’s “healthy” is something that should be taken into consideration. In my senior year in high school, I viewed a presentation done by a man (who was a Vegan) who explained the nasty, and vulgar “surprises” that were inside a cow’s milk, a chickens egg, and a Thanksgiving Turkeys bottom. I suppose when one really considers, the food that Vegetarians and Vegans eat is perhaps the healthier way to feast, since they keep themselves away from food that this most likely questionable. Furthermore, Vegetarians/Vegans have proven to be very hale and hearty people. They have also proven to live happily in a society that depends greatly on meat. So if a Vegetarian/ Vegan can live without the necessities of meat, cheese, milk, and eggs, couldn’t all other human beings live without them? Of course we can. It is all a matter of choice. One may choice to eat, or not to eat meat. So to say that animal’s serve their purpose by feeding us is somewhat incorrect, since humans can live without meat, eggs, milk, and cheese, and still live pleasingly. 2. So what is an animal’s main purpose if it is not to feed us? Let us first consider that animals were here before humans came to be. Biblically speaking (I’m a Christian), when God created the world, He created the animals first before He created humans. God also told the animals to “be fruitful and multiply” and then afterwards created man. In reading that, it makes one wonder if that was their real purpose: being fruitful and multiply. Even in theory of evolution, the animals are still here first, and spend many years living and multiplying amongst themselves. So perhaps the real question is this: Is the purpose of animals meant to benefit us? I think most humans like to believe they do, since many humans consider animals as mindless creature with no feelings. This leads me to my next point. 3. I own a Labrador retriever and he hates taking baths. I try to call him in the bathroom, but he refuses to leave the kitchen. I grab a piece of bread and try to trick him into jumping into the bathtub. He however, lies down on is belly and does not move. He knows very well what I’m trying to do. My dog is not mindless but smart. All animals are smart and all feel and express many emotions. Even humans can’t ignore the capacity that animals have in being able to express feelings and have a sense of personality. However, an animal does not reason the way a human does. While we know the difference between wrong and right, good or bad, an animal’s mind is based upon its instinct. A Lion kills and hunts to survive. A honeybee collects pollen for their colony. Their nature and lifestyle does not call on them to reason why they do what they do.
So after covering all these points, I would have to say that I am against animal rights. I believe that animal's ways of reasoning has not grown enough for them to comprehend and choose their own rights/freedom. Yet, I do believe animals are beautiful. This is true and good. They’re purpose in life is much more than what we humans assume to believe. They are intelligent and full of emotion. The issue of them and their purpose/rights will always be a conflict in the mind of us humans. We choose to see them in our own way, whether it may be beast or not. But for those who see them as beast, I would ask them this last question: Who is a greater beast? Them or us?
Despite the argument that we are smarter and all of that scientific crap, let us not forget we were both created by God and to that I believe we should hold our most upmost respect.
Alina: As humans, being created by the same god as animals, should respect not mean that we leave them to live rather than kill them in their prime age and simply say grace to show that were appreciative?
If I kill a fellow Human Being can I be free of criminal prosecution if I say grace before I eat him or even say I had to do it for survival?
Humans do need animals for survival, but this does not necessarily mean that we need to eat them to survive. Human survival depends on animals because of our ecosystem. Without them there is no us, and at the rate human consumption of animals is going the only animals left soon will be chemically enhanced cloned animals.
As for the matter that animals cannot interpret certain things… this is highly untrue. Animals can interpret and understand except in a different way than humans. For example, dolphins are said to be one of the smartest animals. There are a myriad of cases where dolphins have saved human lives. One specific case involved a surfer in Australia who while out in the ocean saw a shark coming right into his direction, he sat still unsure of what to do next, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a dolphin coming at a fast pace and strongly pushing the shark away from the surfer. Is the dolphin doing this by chance? No, the dolphin clearly realized what was happening and saved the surfer from the shark. There was also a case where a dolphin saved a pregnant woman. Simply because they don’t express themselves in a spoken language like humans does not mean they are below us and don’t understand anything. Just the same as humans cry or moan when they are in pain, animals do so as well, is this not a way of speaking out? Their lack of speaking words does not lessen their value. If you have a human being who was born very sick and cannot express himself/herself in a spoken manner does this make this person less than another human? Does this give another human the right to torture the person simply because the person cannot speak out for himself/herself?
Human beings need to be more conscious and aware of the world that exists and existed long before ours… this world made up of plant life, insects, and animals, which keep our world going. The earth is like a building consisting of many floors, say each floor is an organism, (human, insect, plant, or animal) if we destroy the other floors completely, our building will not be able to stand as it is.
Another cause is the environmental protection of biomes. Areas in which animals live should be more strictly protected. For instance, in Japan, there is an area, which is supposedly environmentally protected, but the government secretly kills 20,000 dolphins every year. This cannot keep happening every single year, people from other countries must stand strongly against it (if they also believe it to be wrong,) and more awareness of such animal slaughtering should be spread.
Some may say I’m biased to the topic of eating animals simply because I do not eat meat, but in my opinion in order to keep a better balance on animal farming cruelty people simply need to realize that they can choose to eat meat from a specific farm that does not treat animals in any cruel way. Perhaps those who eat meat with every meal can instead eat meat fewer times a week. Humans do not need meat to survive, we simply enjoy eating it, and having one less steak every week can truly make a difference. If we focused in producing a larger amount of food that does not come from animals, and educating other countries to do the same, there might be more food to go around and the paradigm many have that a meal is not a meal without meat can slowly begin to fade.
Animal rights is not an easy issue to fight. Education regarding it needs to improve, since many do not even know about it. Many groups that already exist that fight against animal cruelty are always asking others to help out simply by only donating money but no matter how much money they raise without having a large movement they will not be able to strongly fight against it. Instead of focusing on money, there needs to be more focus on what can be done in a local community level as well, and move on from there.
your perspectives are quite aligned with mine except it is not expressed with gramatical cohesiveness. Try to write your posting on a word document and revise it for gramatial errors before submitting.
The topic of animal rights always reminds me of the film/documentary Food Inc. The film maker Robert Kenner exposes the lies and truths about our food supply and about animal factories. It gives the viewer an insight of what exactly we eat and what we are wasting our money on. The chicken that we consume in various places might had been from a factory in which they treat them with hormones so they can become so large that they are not even able to function, living amongst bacteria/illness and in closed crowed tight spaces. This is what changed my perspective on animal rights; I consider that they are entitled to rights. In a perfect world it should be in our human nature to not treat these animals with such disrespect and mal treatment just for essentials. I do not agree that “Meat is good for our survival”, because we can survive without it, we should take in what Mother Nature has produced for us the veggies and the greens. By giving animal rights it improves our society as well; it can stop the disgusting animal factories and decrease obesity. We as a society can learn to eat organically; even if it sounds obscure it’s in our best interest. When I eat meat now, I do think about these issues. We have been brainwashed to need these meats for years that how can that chain be easily broken, it takes time. I however try to eat organic foods, kosher meats but I do reframe from meats as much as possible. I believe that in the future animals with get the rights they deserve because of the advancements of technology and societies obsession with viewing animals as just food can be erased.
Animals having rights is like giving dogs the right to vote. How would that even be possible? Now this does not mean we should miss treat animals in anyway; animal cruelty is wrong, but if you analyze it what will animals do with these right. Human beings are the most intelligent animals on this planet. That is because we have the ability to think more competent than other animals. Majority of other animals relay only on instinct. For example, when a hungry lion sees a zebra its only intentions are to get and eat the zebra it can’t be helped. How can you give rights to an animal that only relay on its instinct?
In addition, I agree with prof. Carl Cohen when he writes
"The holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves. In applying such rules, [they] ... must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked."
I oppose the decision to give animals rights because of the fact that they can’t perceive rules or rights that are made.
When eating meat I do feel a little guilty about how animals were executed and put into a dish but thats only if the conversation come up; other than that rarely think about. Everyone should feel a little something. But then again if humans were in the wild with other animal meat lovers do you think that they’d even think twice about eating us? -James Etienne
I personally am not for animal rights. However, I do believe they should be respected as fellow creatures of this earth. This land is as much their land as ours if not more. Just because we are unable to communicate in their language does not mean they don’t have thoughts or feelings. Have you ever yelled at your dog and seen him walk away with him tail between his legs shamefully? Or know he’s done something wrong and try to sneak away? They feel pain, happiness, anger, etc. just as we do. Can they perform the duties that human being can? No they don’t. They have what they were given and someway or another they still support this entire ecosystem.
The way animals are treated on factory farms is simply unacceptable. Even as someone who is a regular hunter and fisher, I still find the living conditions of these animals to be horrible. It is not just farm animals that are the issue. It also includes long lining, shark fining and whaling, just to name a few. This is occurring all over the world. Industries are depleting the populations when we need these animals to balance our ecosystems. - Daniel Eberhard
There seems to be a lack of an ability to see the how connected things are, and to look beyond human desires to note the cost of them. It is understandable that one would overlook the pain (or consciousness) animals possess. By doing this they no longer are in conflict with their eating habits. Personally, l stopped eating most types of meat some 8 years ago or so (I still eat fish or chicken about once a month). At first it was a dietary choice, and I could feel how much better I felt physically by avoiding beef and pork. Later on it became an ethical issue. After learning of the conditions that animals have to endure in order to end up as dinner it would surprise me if none were outraged. As animals ourselves there is a kinship with all living creatures. By needlessly harming another in our ecosystem called Earth, we harm ourselves. I do not believe meat eating is wrong, but there are much more humane ways to fill our bellies than over crowded feedlots where cows are forced into cannibalism. How we as humans treat other living things is a reflection of our nature, and we are better than some of the pains we cause. Lastly, just because a Being does not display emotion us we do, does not mean the being is without emotion.Gerald Learnard
Animals and humans are not so different, yet why must we govern creatures that share this planet with us? Who governs the most destructive animal on the planet? Animals deserve rights as much as anyone else. Rights that protect them from some of us. Experimentation on animals does give us breakthroughs in a majority of fields from medical to astronomical. Greed puts us in a situation that says we must govern what we do to animals because it has reach a point where it has gotten out of hand. One of the professors spoke about the "prerequisites for having rights" which I don't agree with due to the rebuttal mentioned by professor Cohen. Babies are not self-aware yet they have rights that are unknown to them because it's in the nature of animals to protect their offspring.
When I eat meat, I don't think about the issues mentioned by the abolitionists because meat is good for our survival. Meat provides essential amino acids that the body requires. It also provides iron, phosphorus, vitamin B12 and high quality proteins which a single vegetarian food is not able to provide. There are multiple foods that can replace things that meat provides but no single food that can provide to the body what meat can provide. As the main picture of the animal rights poster stated "Don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated."
I believe animals should have rights, despite the fact that some people believe that they don't have intellectual capabilities that we, humans, have. I will stick to my argument that animals are people too. We have feelings, as do animals. I'm sure that no one would like to be butchered to death to later be consumed. I also understand that some animals like chickens and cows are used for their meat and we consume them, but those people that torture animals as a "hobby" or a past-time, makes no absolute sense, especially if that animal is endangered. We are not trying to extinct any more animals.
I'm not a vegetarian, I eat meat, but I am 100% for animal rights. Animals are not lesser than us, animals are not here for our comsumption, animals are nothing more than our allies on this planet. Thats why we have pets; dogs, cats, birds, reptiles. Personally, I have 3 dogs and two reptiles and they are part of my family. Farmers have cows, horses, and chickens as pets as well. Perhaps they are only raised for us to consume, but nonetheless, they were raised beside us.
We need to survive, just like animals do. Some animals are locked in cages for months with little food and water. Why? Because they're "animals"? No one would like to be locked inside a petite cage with barely the necessities one needs to survive. That is cruel and inhumane. If humans don't deserve it, then neither do animals. If someone can't properly take care of an animal or a pet, they why get one in the first place? They have feelings just like humans.
For example, I think that what Japan is doing to whales is inhumane. Not to mention, they are killing more whales than usual, and not giving them time to reproduce. So when will this end? When they are extinct? The world needs to be informed of what may happen of this continues. Animals are people too.
While I do not consider the life and death of every meal that is set in from of me, I do believe that the rights of the animal I am eating should be considered in the growth and processing. In the US chickens and cows are raised in a certain manner and fed a certain diet which, for the most part, typically includes some type of steroid to promote growth. This fact alone tells us that we treat animals as a product as opposed to a living thing. The idea that a cow can be a commodity is nothing new however, the manner in which we treat said commodity should be seriously reevaluated. We as humans are, in fact, animals our selves. My belief stands with Darwin. It is always survival of the fittest in nature and in life. We believe that because we can communicate and have opposable thumbs, we are worth more than the animals we consume. My truth lies in the fact that if you were facing a full grown boar in the wild and its only chance to survive would be to kill you, he would more than likely succeed. More accurately, the parallels between humans and animals are eerie. We treat animals as peons and as our belongings but, in the most realistic setting an animal would survive while the majority of us would struggle to exist. When a human mother exhibits super human strength to save their child, we compare it to the instincts of a mother bear. When our body chooses between fight and flight, we compare our flight to the speed and survival of a cheetah. So, let me begin by asking if we humans are stronger, better and more intelligent why do we compare ourselves to animals when we exhibit super human strengths and abilities? The rights of animals should be respected just as we expect others to respect human rights because we, as humans are just as animalistic as animals themselves.
Why do we, humans, have rights? Do we not feel, want to be happy and free? Do animals not feel? Animals, like humans, also feel pain although they may not be able to express it verbally. When a person accidentally steps on a dog or cat's tail, they cry out in pain. This is one of many signs that show that animals, like human beings, also feel pain. Why would anyone want to afflict pain upon another living creature with feelings? If it is not correct to do this to another person, why should it be allowed to a living, breathing creature with feelings? Many times, animals have been taught to help us. Dogs are trained to be a part of the police force and help solve cases, and so on. And that is the way that we repay these animals? By hurting them? We should coexist with the animals with some boundaries. Animals are living creatures who feel, just like people and therefore should have rights.
“History is written by the victors.” ~Winston Churchill
If animals were here before homo-sapiens, then why is it that we have created our own purposes for them that seem valid as if we were the ones who created them?
I am a meat eater, therefore my opinion isn’t biased. If one looks at this from a philosophical point of view, the issue isn’t that we are killing some of these innocent creatures or the fact that we’re using their fur or organs for many different purposes, but that we are treating these creatures as if they were put on this earth for our benefit and accepting it as if it is justified.
For centuries, we have been using animals as food sources, test dummies, and whatever else the mind of man can conceive to generate income. From the time we are able to comprehend we are taught to do onto others as we would like them to do onto us. Why doesn’t the golden rule apply to animals? Many say that it is because animals don’t have the intelligence to say “I like this” or “I don’t like that”, but where in the book of nature does it say that the only valid speech is the one of the homo-sapiens?
Put yourself in the position of an animal. What if your life had to because you were chosen to be the dinner of some baby cub somewhere in the world? We don’t think that way because it seems impossible. Just because we humans don’t understanddoesn’t mean that animals can’t be understood.
We have to start changing the way we think. I am not pro- animal rights, but I’m also not against it. We need to stop thinking that the universe revolves around us human beings. But then again, no one has proven us wrong. Jessica Jean-Baptiste
It is very problematic and polemic to talk about animal rights. We can imagine this whole debate as two teams pulling a rope. At one end of this rope are the people saying they (the animals) shouldn’t have rights since they aren’t moral agents and they don’t know the implications of their actions. According to this group, only humans behave as moral agents; that is why we deserve the rights we have. Another important argument is that animals serve a very valuable role in society and science. Because of them many scientific discoveries and new medical procedures were revealed such as xenotransplantation, drug testing, cosmetic testing, and many others. Things we enjoy every day and we don’t notice or appreciate enough. And of course: food. This group of people argues that animals are fundamental for humans; we need the nutrients in their meat to live a healthy life.
The second group of people at the other end of the rope are pro animal rights, and they confront the other group’s argument saying that the whole “moral agents” thing is just not well founded, since babies are humans too and they don’t know what’s right or wrong, meaning they are not moral agents either, however, they do deserve to have human rights because they are our offspring. Well, aren’t animals the offspring of another animal as well? The other argument they counteract is that we need animals to sustain ourselves but they aren’t, by no means, the only option we got. We’ve been enjoying the delights of animal meat to obtain the nutrients we need for survival for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other and better diets which supply the same nutrients.
I could say that I agree, up to a certain degree, to animals having rights. Not just because we are animals too but for the simple fact that they help us so much, very anonymously, to improve our lives. However, I don’t stress out every time I eat my chicken over the kind of life the creature had, I just eat it, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. The key resides in finding the balance between using their help and slaving them. Animals are here not to serve us, they are just here. We humans need to forget this egocentric behavior of ours and we need to learn how to use what this world offers without abusing it.
Do animal deserves rights? By rights, do animals deserve to not be treated cruelly? Yes. Do animals deserve to have a shelter and/or food everyday so they can survive? Yes. Do animal deserve not to be eaten or use in experiments? Yes, but is it essential for the growth of science and the need for many people throughout the world? Yes.
I don’t think that animals should be abused or left abandoned in the street, but, I do think there is a difference between these actions, because they expressed evilness and carelessness, and killing the animals and using them for food or clothing. The second group of actions is for a purpose, the need of many people. Whatever anybody likes it or not, many people need meat and/or are very attached to it. Meat has essential vitamins and minerals that vegetarians have to be careful to receive from other sources, and a lot of people grew up with meat being an important part of their meal. Also, a lot of people love fur and use it to wear off the cold. Although I do not like the way these animals are killed, it will still have the same outcome if we killed them gently or harshly. Animals play a huge role in research. Most, if not all, scientific research advancement uses animals to test them first. To not use animals mean that we need a replacement, and the best substitute for animals are humans, but doing this will cause more of an uproar.
So, animals do have rights but they do not have the same rights as humans. We need to accept the fact that humans and animals are different and have different roles on earth. We should treat animals with more respect because we need them more than we know, but saying that animals should not be use as a meal, clothing, or a guinea pig, and should be treated as a human being is just being ignorant.
Animals are living beings just like humans. In fact, humans are animals too. So why do humans have rights and “animals” do not? This is a very difficult question to answer but I am going to prove that animals should have rights considering all of the contributions they have made to the world and humans so far. First of all, they are part of the world. They live in the same place that we do and they were here even before we did. We have similar goals with animals like looking for food, finding shelter and having a family even though we acquire them in a different way at the present. Also animals have been crucial in the evolution of the human since they have been useful for the ideas created by our thinking. Many of the innovations in technology and medicine have made us less dependent in animals. We do not need a horse to get to other places is a good example. Today when we find ourselves in a very advanced society we should not really interfere with their lives as much as we did before. Ignacio Acuna
Should animals have rights? When it comes to animals’ rights two things pop into my head, animal abuse and whether it is right to eat animals. We live in a society that is addicted to meat. Vegetarianism will not change the evils of the food industry. Meat unfortunately is here to stay. With that in mind we should acknowledge that the way the meat industry treats animals is horrendous. Animals are mistreated in factories for food, clothing and cosmetics or unnecessary animal testing. Lab rats being used for a new vaccine or things of this nature is are exceptions. Animals should be treated with respect and if eaten they should be raised and killed humanely. I have eaten meat all of my life. I never saw anything wrong with it because I was conditioned as a child that eating meat is necessary and normal. I never questioned these beliefs growing up. But the fact is that eating meat is not a necessity for a balanced diet or even survival. Some argue that you can even live a healthier life being a vegetarian. I still choose to eat meat because I love it but at the same time it almost feels immoral and hypocritical to know what you’re doing helps this industry that I truly believe is wrong. The fact is that in this day and age we have the technology to create synthetic food that can replace meat’s proteins and vitamins and reduce or eliminate slaughterhouses worldwide. Whether you think eating meat is moral or not you have to accept the fact that we do it too much. We are hurting the environment. We as Homo sapiens are part of a beautifully balanced circle of life. Earth, our home, holds many different species of plants and animals. We try to make ourselves believe that we are not animals because of our superior brains but in actuality we are only monkeys that reason. Are we the superior species on this earth? You can make an argument for that based on our accomplishments in different fields of science, medicine, travel, technology, arts, communications, etc. We have built great cities, created governments, and even traveled to space. But the fact is that we are only animals that depend on the ecosystem. We have a relationship with nature that should be respected above everything else. We depend on Mother Nature more than we think. The belief that we are superior to animals in my opinion is a result of human arrogance and ignorance towards the balance of nature. Hector Portocarrero
When I eat meat I don't think about how it became a meal. Do animals have rights I don't know? The sad truth is that in this world the strong eat the weak. Humans have superior skills to survive and render all sorts of creatures under their rule. Thus our use of animals as food is nothing but a continuation of the survival of the fittest. While the whole argument depends on animals being able to reason, the fact remains that humans are the only ones with the capacity to make moral choices thus we are the only ones capable of feeling guilt from our lack of morality towards animals. Just because animals don't reason it doesn't mean they are not alive and thus have no rights. Thinking that a "superior" species should rule the weaker ones is only detrimental for it justifies that humans could and should be used for food as well. shall a new "superior" species be found would you willingly agree to be eaten by them? The fact is the choice to wish for better treatment for animals is just that, a choice. There is no wrong answer. You can choose to be good to people (or animals) or not.
46 comments:
Manoucheca Prevert
PHI 2010
Class: M W F 10:25a.m. -12:40p.m.
When I eat meat, I do not think about animals’ rights. According to me, animals don’t have any rights. I think that animals don’t have any rights for two reasons, first animals are inferior to humans; secondly, humans need animals for survival. There are a lot of things that humans can do that animals can’t. For instance, humans can interpret things, they can judge, they can choose. Animals cannot do any of that. We will always be superior to animals. If we are superior to animals, why should they have the same rights with us? From my own perspective, after God, humans rule the earth, not animals so humans have the rights to do whatever they please with animals. As a matter of fact, I am very pleased with the discoveries that scientists have been able to do by using animals. Humans have rights, therefore humans can reason, animals cannot reason therefore animals shouldn’t have rights. Other reason animals should not have any rights it’s because we need animals for survival. I cannot imagine a world without meats. Meats provide us some essentials vitamins that are good for our well-being. Of course too much meat is not good for you but if you eat it in moderation, everything will be fine. Like other animals need to survive, we, humans, as animals, need to survive also. Whether for experiences or for foods animals have been and will always be useful to the human society.
Humans have rights, therefore humans can reason, animals cannot reason therefore animals shouldn’t have rights.
Manoucheca, for your information. Animals do reason. I guess vegetarians prove that animals are not necessary for survival either.
From deli cuts, to chicken, to steak, I eat it all. Do I think about the animal that was slaughtered and might have even suffered in the process, no. The reason I do not worry about these animals is mostly due to the fact they don't have much of a future beyond being a meal for me. I believe rights belong to any person or thing that has potential to become something. A cow or a pig doesn't have much of a future. The most it will do is take up space. On the contrary if any animal could make a difference, actually build something that we could not or serve a purpose towards the human race then I would be fighting for animal rights all day. The fact is that their purpose in life is just to exist, they do not serve any greater purpose, excluding the food chain.
With this said, I am not pro-animal cruelty or torture. I do acknowledge the fact they have feelings just like us and brains but until they evolve to the point where they can demand their rights, I do not believe they should be getting those rights.
The fact is that their purpose in life is just to exist, they do not serve any greater purpose, excluding the food chain.
Daniel: Surely it's easy for a human to declare what the purpose of animals are. The interesting thing is that they were here before us (not excluding that we're also animals).
I believe that all living things that exhibit the six symptoms of life - birth, growth, development, reproduction, dwindling and death - are alive. Life is the symptom that the soul, the living force, is present, in all these varieties of life. It is more accurate to say they ARE souls, living out their lifespan in the dress of whatever body they may inhabit this time around, whether it be plant, insect, bird, aquatic, beast or human form. Although I do eat meat not because I believe it is essential for survival; quite honestly I am illiterate to the question many people have been asking for years and that is: Is meat an essential part of our diet? I do know that I enjoy meat but I always wonder, when it sits on my plate the life that this piece of chicken, pig, cow had. I wonder if they locked up 30 chickens in a small cage, or if they fed the pork or cow only hormones deriving it of the food it needed to be healthy & happy. Although I eat meat, every time before I eat it, I close my eyes to let it know it was in my thoughts and I begin pray. I pray for the meat because I do not wish for God to believe for one second I am ungrateful and uncaring of this creature’s being, because animals are not inferior to humans, we are equal. Despite the argument that we are smarter and all of that scientific crap, let us not forget we were both created by God and to that I believe we should hold our most upmost respect.
To start off, to answer the first question of, do animal deserve right? Some of us would answer no and some would just beg to differ. My opinion is yes animals should have rights; I would have to be in Kant’s team with him feeling sympathy of the suffering of animals. I think that animals should have the right not to be mistreated and to be treated with some sort of respect just like any living thing. As far as the article stating that we may not know if an animal is in pain is just simply ridicules, because it becomes very clear when an animal like a dog for example hasn’t been feed or has been mistreated. We really don’t have to make the solution any difficult than the problem. It’s simple we just need to have some respect for other things other than ourselves. Not to say that we shouldn’t eat meat but we should not mistreat them just because some individuals may think their less than. Sometimes as human beans we consider ourselves superior than anything else, we make the rules, we run the show and we have the most knowledge so therefore we know what’s right and what we think is right for us may not be what really is right. However, we need to humble ourselves and become willing to see other perspectives. Like for instances the animal life of the Florida everglades, sometimes we just decide to make the lakes and ponds smaller or shorter to build houses and business buildings because its benefits us, everything to us is me me me. The whole world reveals around us and what we believe but what we believe is not necessarily true. We have to sit back and realize the consequences of our actions by just wanting to make our own rules and thinking that we know what’s right. So respecting animals and their habitats is something that we should try to improve in. To sum it up animals are important and should have some rights to protect them from being mistreated. Let’s humble ourselves and maybe just maybe we can gain some real true knowledge. Taneisha Rodriguez
The question is do animals deserve rights? In my opinion I would agree with Kant that animals are just like humans that they should have some right just like a human being. The reason is because we as human beings are animals ourselves in some type of way if you really think about it were just like a chimpanzee the way they function is just like a human being for example they use sign language, so why should animals be left out and not treated equal to humans if were the same in some way? I agree with the article that Tom Reagan talks about how even though humans have certain abilities and some of those abilities are possessed by some non-human animals he says that “such animals must have the same moral rights as humans” which I explained my reason above about humans are some like chimpanzee in a way. Honestly I believe when humans and animals are being compared in most situations animals are likely to be overlooked or discriminated by humans which is not right because at the end of the day humans are like some animals rather we dislike it or not.
Latifha Williams
I follow the belief that all living organisms such as in the plant world, animal world, human world, mineral world, and all those other that we can classify, are nothing more than types of evolving groups in the grand scale of life. What I mean by this is that the existence of animals and other living entities (including us humans) will embark on an infinite rise through life that will enhance our existence to steps unthinkable to the current man. In other words, as "god-like". This puts me in favor of animal rights and against their cruel treatment.
I admit my hypocrisy since I do eat meat and therefore contribute to this problem, but there has to be a change. From personal experience I know that their is such things as an addiction to eating meat. I've notice this a while back since I have tried to change my diet to an all living and raw foods consumption. This diet consist of foods that are grown strictly from the grown, that are natural and are given through nature. I have to say that the weeks that I was successful in doing this were life changing. I felt energetic, my thinking process was very clear, I felt very awake, and experienced countless epiphanies. My dreams were very vivid and I my body felt very clean. It seemed as if before all the dead meat in my body did not let it resonate to its complete vibration and therefore my self was unbalanced.
Also, the thought of staying away from meat gave me a sense of clean morality towards animals. Believe it or not, every cow and every pig has their own differences physically and psychologically. Just like humans, the differences in their behavior can come from interaction with others in their life. A good example is to know that a baby calf is friendly once it is treated nicely, as opposed to one that has been treated brutally can be fearful and grow up to being violent. To me the only reason why humans are the alfa race in this world is because we have evolved into intellectual beings. That does not mean that we should ignore the importance of the existence of other beasts in the world. We are not the only ones that can reason and feel, therefore we should respect ourselves and "all others" around us.
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Carlos Andrade
Do Animals Have Rights?
Analyzing whether non-human animals have rights, there is one clear truth: our society is hypocritical when it comes to these rights. A majority of people believe animals have rights. However, most subscribe to the belief that the more delicious an animal, the less rights it has. In most cultures if an animal is one that is eaten as food, their rights diminish to minimal rights.
Similarly, if an animal is used for sport, our protection of that species seems limited to prevention of abuse. For example, dogs that are used for sport are leashed. They are disciplined, and lead a life of servitude. Yet most people do not condone dogs being taught to fight each other. One may argue that the leash, discipline and servitude are abuse, but they are accepted. Maybe what is acceptable seems to depend on the level of abuse. Nevertheless, animals used for sport appear to have fewer rights than those living in the wild.
Animals in the wild are afforded more rights and protection the closer they are to extinction. Buffalo were once hunted to near extinction. When their numbers diminished, their rights and protection increased. Slowly their numbers began to grow and are now facing a diminution of their rights and protection.
Of course, the belief in animal rights depends on the culture. Our society embraces a belief in animal rights. However, other cultures do not follow this belief. Cock-fighting and whaling are examples of animal abuse we find deplorable; yet, this behavior is accepted in other cultures.
What appears clear is that humans believe animals’ rights are not bestowed by their creator. We do not hold animals as equals. This is an idea likely born out of our own belief of supremacy. If animals have rights, those rights are only those we have given them.
-Yennis Leyva
I would like to begin by saying that honestly, I do not think of animals' rights when I am about to eat. It doesn't really cross my mind in any given moment, but now putting this situation into perspective makes think about it more. I saw a video once in high school about how animals are treated and abused for their coats and other aspects. I have to say it was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. These poor animals are put into boiling waters while they are alive. Why does it have to be this way? I mean if they are going to be killed, can't it be done in a different manner? A way that won't make them suffer. As much as I do love eating it, thinking of how they are treated makes me sick. I feel that part of me seeks this idea because I was brought up this way. I know that I can make that decision to go vegetarian, but it seems a little difficult. While I do believe that animals should have rights, it is also hard to make any specific judgement.
Yanelis Ventura
MWF
I believe that animals do not have rights although I also believe that animals should also not be mistreated. I believe that animals do not have rights simply because they cannot reason. There is a difference between reasoning and instincts or conditioning. Any animal can be taught to do a specific action, if conditioned properly. Instincts are “an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli.” But to reason is to be able to think, to understand, and to be able to form judgments by a process of logic. Animals do not come to logical conclusions as do human beings. One may be able to teach an animal that two plus two is four but they do not understand or have the logic to understand what that means or how to get there.
But simply because I don’t believe that they don’t reason doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that they can’t feel. They, as human beings, also have a nervous system. They feel physical pain and they feel physical pleasure. I wouldn’t torture an animal because as humans we understand that it’s not right to hurt people because it causes pain. Simply because animals don’t have rights doesn’t mean that they should be abused.
Although animals don’t get human rights like we do, but it is immoral to mistreat them. It’s not immoral to eat them, but we have to be human about it. They have a right to live. When we think about the basic value of equality, we can say that animals deserve rights as much as people do because they can’t speak for themselves. However, sometimes I feel like against some animal rights because it is impossible for everything to be equal. For example, if someone says that they value every life then what about the plants and the bugs. Don’t they deserve rights, too? All animals have laws to protect them from human cruelty and torture, but I don’t think that they can have rights because with rights, they will need to have responsibilities which they have none. Just think about the way they treat each other. For example, does a mouse have the same rights from a human as a cat? Hell no, so there can be no rights bestowed. Many people like them, and treat them like their child which is good. They are living creatures with emotions. They feel pain when they are injured, hunger when not fed, emotions when lonely, happy or angered. So, with all that I think that they just need to have the basic package which is not torture and abuse them. I like eating meet, don’t you? Mhhh…… that’s yummy.
In my opinion animal rights is nonsexist when compared to human rights. We are the Supreme Being and animals serve their purpose in providing us with necessities and desires. Animals will not hesitate to prey on humans and we as humans must not hesitate to use animals to provide us with shelter, food, pleasures, and advancing technology / products. The reason why animal rights are an issue is because we (humans) have consciences and we analyze what we deem to be right and wrong. Our thought process and our way communicating are more developed so this is why the argument is on the table.
That being said, after watching “Food Inc” some months ago, I can honestly say I do not agree with the way companies house and farm animals with such cruelty when they are our main source of food. Even though animals serve a purpose for us we do not have to abuse them in that manner. Animals were created to be in the wild and manufactures and farmers should create an environment that equates their natural environment. I would love to see the government set laws that would cease such practice, but it will never happen. As a little girl my family had a farm and I saw how animal farming is supposed to be. We should respect the laws of nature while remembering that we are on top of the food chain. Again I must be honest even after watching Food Inc, still I do not hesitate to eat the foods I have bought and I will not be one to start petitions / movements to force the government hands to start laws against animal cruelty.
I must add that I grew up watching my dad bred roosters and go fight them. It is a sport that most island men enjoy and I see nothing wrong with the sport. However, all actions have consequences and one should be prepared to face them.
I'm with Singer, animal's can feel pain and show about the same reactions as humans do. Weather crying, screaming etc. I understand that the meat that I eat comes from an animal for example I love ribs and know it comes from a pig but I'm okay with that. I just don't appreciate the many things that they do to the animals before death. There chickens that get so big that they end up not being able to hold there own weight and therefore when "Use the bathroom" there literally seating down in there own fecal matter. Animals deserve rights just like everyone else. If it wasn't for animal testing we wouldn't have all the different types of medications we have today. Yet at the same time the labs where the experiments are held in have to monitory, meaning they must have there cleaning and ethics on point. There are many diseases that can be created and if not taken care of someone can get hurt and by that I also mean the animals themselves.
When it comes to animals, many people debate over whether they should have rights based on things such as their ability to reason and understand. Some people believe that animals have feelings while others don’t. I personally think that animals have feelings based on the way they act. For instance, I’ve seen someone grab a dog abruptly by their skin and as a result, they’ll end up making this high-pitched squeaky noise, and I assume it’s because it hurts them.
In 1910, there was an experiment performed by Wolfgang Köhler, a German psychologist, with chimpanzees, that shows to us that animals solved problems by understanding, just like humans, which are capable of insight learning. Köhler also discovered with von Restoff the isolation effect in memory, contributed to the theory of memory and recall, and developed a “non-associationist theory” of the nature of associations, showing another point of similarity as humans.
Other than that, there have been people that have said that animals don’t have a “language”, therefore, making them less human-like. For all we know animals could have a form of communication and we just haven’t gotten to that discovery yet. Dogs bark, cats meow, cows moo, and chickens cluck. I mean, I’m Cuban-American and I don’t understand Japanese, but that doesn’t mean that Japanese isn’t a “language.” Maybe all that barking and clucking is their diverse form of communicating to each other.
Animals have rights and we should respect them, just like we are given a set of rights to respect. We’ve advanced so much in technology that we should be able to not have to rely on animal testing to see if products work or not. There should be other reliable resources that don’t involve humans or animals that we could test on.
I don’t agree with people that have animals held in captivity for our own entertainment such as in the zoo or circus. I also don’t believe in killing and skinning animals just for fashion. That’s cruel and selfish. Animals should be out in the wild where they belong. They have lives they attend to just like we do, and eventually will die just as us humans, and we shouldn’t go around messing with their habitat just for “entertainment” and “fashion.” Why tamper with something that should be left alone?
Honestly, I’m not a vegetarian and I like eating steak and cheeseburgers and all those things. I don’t agree with the torture they put these animals through, and normally I don’t even think about it when I’m eating meat, but animals shouldn’t be put to die and go through all the suffering that these companies make them go through. They treat these animals like cheap products, giving them low quality food, and taking them into very little consideration just to save money. If they’re going to kill an animal so that we can eat it, might as well not put them through all that suffering. Peter Singer has a point when it comes to animal rights and their ability to feel pain. Although animals cant scream like we do or clutch a part of they body, they still squeal and make noises. For all we know, that could be their form of showing pain from all their suffering. I’m pretty sure that if we were to be put in tiny cages and eat cheap food that has plastic pieces, drugs, and other health hazardous chemicals in them we wouldn’t like it very much, so I believe that animals deserve their own rights, just as we do.
Today, many people see animals as nothing more than a childhood pet, as not having source of education, as a useless annoyance. People have only observed the beauty of animals at the zoo, just to make money, which maybe leads to a lack of concern that they feel toward animal rights. It is happening all over the world. Unfortunately, many people have believed that animals were put on earth for human use only. Just as to other people, they see animals as beautiful and exquisite creatures that should be protected and cherished. Philosophers have proffered many criteria as sufficient which includes sentence, a sense of justice, the possession of language or morality, and having a rational plan for one's life. If they use animals for testing or experimentations for human purposes, so why not give them their proper place or right as human do. Animal experimentation has become one of today's largest controversies that many animals rights activitists should turn their focus to. I consider the fight against animal experimentation as a simple subject of moral duty, of ethics, or even of religious obligation. Human life is not that superior by virtue of being human. Still, there is law in some countries, but most of them just ignore those law which increases animal cruelty. If humans are capable of suffering, and that to inflict such pain is unethical, also there should be sympathy for animals as to limit practices which cause severe suffering.
STEEVEN DIVERS
Nerline Theodorice
Do animals deserve rights?
In my opinion, I can say “yes” to that question because all animals supposed to have the right liked human being. As a human being we justify our domination and abuse of animals because we are capable of doing so. Even though animals are not able to talk or react, but they have feeling as human also. We supposed to treat them with respect and love them like we did it for ourselves. As myself I don’t like animals, but that doesn’t mean I will do something bad to them. To be honest I hate when people are abused them because I don’t take advantage of this at all. For example, when someone abuses an animal It likes the same way someone abuses an animal is the same way that person can abuse a kid too; therefore, there is no way I will accept someone to abuse an animal. Being animals don’t mean people should abuse them, they should protect animals in all circumstance. Love and protect them that exactly how we should treat them, we need them like they need us.
Nerline Theodorice
“Ask the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are like us.’ Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to experiment on animals, and the answer is: ‘Because the animals are not like us.’ Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction,” was said by Charles R. Magel, a professor of philosophy. This quote brings up the heated debate on whether animals deserve rights. Well, who is to say that animals should get tortured and slaughtered before they die? Who is to say humans should feel they are superior to other animals just because they cannot communicate and express themselves the way we do? Us apparently. Many times humans have made the mistake of treating others who appear different than us horribly. Humans need to realize that just because they feel animals are inferior does not meant that they should treat them with such bizarre cruelty.
In this sense, it is imperative that animals should be treated how humans would want to be treated- good. However, there comes the issue on how useful they are to humans such as for food, clothing, research for advancement, and amusement. In many meat production factories, animals are slaughtered as if they are unable to feel pain. This conduct is outright absurd and there should be an end to it. It is felt that animals do not feel pain and cannot reason, therefore it is considered okay to treat them horribly. In my opinion, animals should be treated with respect. It is felt that we should not have to depend on them for food, clothing, research, or entertainment. If we do, then the process of killing them for food and such should be in a morally better way. The killing should be fast so the animal does not have to suffer. There is no point to having an animal suffer; this is just demented. Equality and the idea of all parts making up a whole should be taken more into consideration by humans who take part in this behavior. I have seen the movie “Food, Inc.” and the horrible conditions of how farm animals live in before they die is portrayed throughout the movie.
Singer’s outlook on this subject leans toward the protectionist side of the animals’ rights movement. I agree with his views in the sense that animals should not have to suffer. However, I feel that it is not entirely wrong to use animals as resources. I feel that they just help us for whatever we want. It can be looked as a necessary evil somewhat. Subsequently, before an animal dies for humans, that animal should not have to suffer. This fits under the concept of animal welfare, which means nothing is wrong in using animals as resources, just making sure that it is performed without the suffering.
Imagine yourself to be a cow or a goat, how would you like human being to treat you? It is true that some philosophers say, you have to experience something to know about it. However, does necessarily to be a woman to understand a woman? This is the same principle that applies to animals.
Animals have been on the planet earth before us. They are in a way our food but we must respect them. They play an important role in our ecosystem. They keep the nature in balance. Animals are a great help to the technology. They contribute to the development of drugs and medicine. And furthermore, they help us to understand our own genetic system.
Besides that, do we choose to be a human? I don’t think so. The same thing applies to animals. We have to accept them for who they are; we need to care for them, and at last, we have to understand that animals and human are complementary to one another which means we depend to each other.
Fedeline Harden
I don’t agree with people that have animals held in captivity for our own entertainment such as in the zoo or circus. I also don’t believe in killing and skinning animals just for fashion.
That's an interesting point, Victoria.
Do animals deserve rights?
What is the difference between animals and humans being? We are not so different from them. They can feel pain, sadness, hungry, and sickness, so can we. Why can we treat them with respect? Animals are not humans, but they are not objects either. They do have rights and they deserve them. Image that one you wake up and are not a human being anymore, you have been changed to a dog, you would you think that would be fair to you for a person to kick you. I do not think that anyone would like such thing to happen to them because they know how some people are abusing pets. I am a pets lover specially dogs. I do not like when people are abused them. Animals are like babies they need love and affections. Even though they can’t talk, they can understand things in their way. If a pet or an animal has been abused by his or her owner, you will be able to see that. This animal is going to be afraid of his or her owner, like a child who has been abused by his parents or someone else. Animals are like us they need to be treated just like us. We do not have the right to abuse them. They are humans in their way.
Sophia Augustin
Jor-El Vasco
PHI 2010
Prof. Alfredo Triff
July 3rd 2011
Do Animals Deserve Rights?
I must start by saying that I’ve been ignorant to the economic, social, and physical, consequences of eating meat. I have never put into consideration any of these factors while eating my food. I have only thought to myself that I’m hungry therefore I will eat. By spending money on meat foods and fast food chains I am simply contributing to the issue of animal cruelty, poor economic spending, and an annual national health cost of approximately 147 billion dollars for obese Patient’s alone.
Yes! I absolutely opine that animals should posses certain rights to life. Who am I, just because I am hungry, to kill another living creature? I have never stopped to think if it is even healthy for me to eat meat. Sure, I cut out the parts of my steak that has the fat, but is the meat still damaging my heart or arteries. Heart disease runs through my family as much as the trend to eat meat such as cattle and pork.
To those who say that meat is necessary for humans to survive, I argue that Even though Bonobo Chimpanzees, who are 94- 99% human DNA compatible are classified as omnivorous as well as humans, yet, the prefer to eat fruits and veggies primarily over meats. Survive you say? Chimpanzees have been alive for millions of years more that the human race, while we have only been here for 50,000 years.
I say that animals should be left alone in their natural habitats undisturbed by human intervention. Also, that humans have no inherent right to keep animals as domesticated pets, furthermore to mistreat and encage them is morally, emotionally and physically disturbing and upsetting.
Honor Animal Rights. Eat fruits and vegetables! Write your senator and ask to stop funding us meat farms.
Andrea V. Lopez
Class of PHI2010
So the question is: Should animals have equal rights? Yes or no?
In order for me to answer this question, I must break down my arguments into segments.
1. First there is the notion of animals serving their purpose by feeding us. I am not a vegetarian and have no shame in indulging myself with the variety of meat that I can get my hands on. However, even if it does “taste good”, the question of whether if it’s “healthy” is something that should be taken into consideration. In my senior year in high school, I viewed a presentation done by a man (who was a Vegan) who explained the nasty, and vulgar “surprises” that were inside a cow’s milk, a chickens egg, and a Thanksgiving Turkeys bottom. I suppose when one really considers, the food that Vegetarians and Vegans eat is perhaps the healthier way to feast, since they keep themselves away from food that this most likely questionable. Furthermore, Vegetarians/Vegans have proven to be very hale and hearty people. They have also proven to live happily in a society that depends greatly on meat. So if a Vegetarian/ Vegan can live without the necessities of meat, cheese, milk, and eggs, couldn’t all other human beings live without them? Of course we can. It is all a matter of choice. One may choice to eat, or not to eat meat. So to say that animal’s serve their purpose by feeding us is somewhat incorrect, since humans can live without meat, eggs, milk, and cheese, and still live pleasingly.
2. So what is an animal’s main purpose if it is not to feed us? Let us first consider that animals were here before humans came to be. Biblically speaking (I’m a Christian), when God created the world, He created the animals first before He created humans. God also told the animals to “be fruitful and multiply” and then afterwards created man. In reading that, it makes one wonder if that was their real purpose: being fruitful and multiply. Even in theory of evolution, the animals are still here first, and spend many years living and multiplying amongst themselves. So perhaps the real question is this: Is the purpose of animals meant to benefit us? I think most humans like to believe they do, since many humans consider animals as mindless creature with no feelings. This leads me to my next point.
3. I own a Labrador retriever and he hates taking baths. I try to call him in the bathroom, but he refuses to leave the kitchen. I grab a piece of bread and try to trick him into jumping into the bathtub. He however, lies down on is belly and does not move. He knows very well what I’m trying to do. My dog is not mindless but smart. All animals are smart and all feel and express many emotions. Even humans can’t ignore the capacity that animals have in being able to express feelings and have a sense of personality. However, an animal does not reason the way a human does. While we know the difference between wrong and right, good or bad, an animal’s mind is based upon its instinct. A Lion kills and hunts to survive. A honeybee collects pollen for their colony. Their nature and lifestyle does not call on them to reason why they do what they do.
So after covering all these points, I would have to say that I am against animal rights. I believe that animal's ways of reasoning has not grown enough for them to comprehend and choose their own rights/freedom. Yet, I do believe animals are beautiful. This is true and good. They’re purpose in life is much more than what we humans assume to believe. They are intelligent and full of emotion. The issue of them and their purpose/rights will always be a conflict in the mind of us humans. We choose to see them in our own way, whether it may be beast or not. But for those who see them as beast, I would ask them this last question: Who is a greater beast? Them or us?
Despite the argument that we are smarter and all of that scientific crap, let us not forget we were both created by God and to that I believe we should hold our most upmost respect.
Alina: As humans, being created by the same god as animals, should respect not mean that we leave them to live rather than kill them in their prime age and simply say grace to show that were appreciative?
If I kill a fellow Human Being can I be free of criminal prosecution if I say grace before I eat him or even say I had to do it for survival?
Humans do need animals for survival, but this does not necessarily mean that we need to eat them to survive. Human survival depends on animals because of our ecosystem. Without them there is no us, and at the rate human consumption of animals is going the only animals left soon will be chemically enhanced cloned animals.
As for the matter that animals cannot interpret certain things… this is highly untrue. Animals can interpret and understand except in a different way than humans. For example, dolphins are said to be one of the smartest animals. There are a myriad of cases where dolphins have saved human lives. One specific case involved a surfer in Australia who while out in the ocean saw a shark coming right into his direction, he sat still unsure of what to do next, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a dolphin coming at a fast pace and strongly pushing the shark away from the surfer. Is the dolphin doing this by chance? No, the dolphin clearly realized what was happening and saved the surfer from the shark. There was also a case where a dolphin saved a pregnant woman.
Simply because they don’t express themselves in a spoken language like humans does not mean they are below us and don’t understand anything.
Just the same as humans cry or moan when they are in pain, animals do so as well, is this not a way of speaking out? Their lack of speaking words does not lessen their value. If you have a human being who was born very sick and cannot express himself/herself in a spoken manner does this make this person less than another human? Does this give another human the right to torture the person simply because the person cannot speak out for himself/herself?
Human beings need to be more conscious and aware of the world that exists and existed long before ours… this world made up of plant life, insects, and animals, which keep our world going. The earth is like a building consisting of many floors, say each floor is an organism, (human, insect, plant, or animal) if we destroy the other floors completely, our building will not be able to stand as it is.
Another cause is the environmental protection of biomes. Areas in which animals live should be more strictly protected. For instance, in Japan, there is an area, which is supposedly environmentally protected, but the government secretly kills 20,000 dolphins every year. This cannot keep happening every single year, people from other countries must stand strongly against it (if they also believe it to be wrong,) and more awareness of such animal slaughtering should be spread.
Some may say I’m biased to the topic of eating animals simply because I do not eat meat, but in my opinion in order to keep a better balance on animal farming cruelty people simply need to realize that they can choose to eat meat from a specific farm that does not treat animals in any cruel way. Perhaps those who eat meat with every meal can instead eat meat fewer times a week. Humans do not need meat to survive, we simply enjoy eating it, and having one less steak every week can truly make a difference. If we focused in producing a larger amount of food that does not come from animals, and educating other countries to do the same, there might be more food to go around and the paradigm many have that a meal is not a meal without meat can slowly begin to fade.
Animal rights is not an easy issue to fight. Education regarding it needs to improve, since many do not even know about it. Many groups that already exist that fight against animal cruelty are always asking others to help out simply by only donating money but no matter how much money they raise without having a large movement they will not be able to strongly fight against it. Instead of focusing on money, there needs to be more focus on what can be done in a local community level as well, and move on from there.
Taneisha,
your perspectives are quite aligned with mine except it is not expressed with gramatical cohesiveness. Try to write your posting on a word document and revise it for gramatial errors before submitting.
The topic of animal rights always reminds me of the film/documentary Food Inc. The film maker Robert Kenner exposes the lies and truths about our food supply and about animal factories. It gives the viewer an insight of what exactly we eat and what we are wasting our money on. The chicken that we consume in various places might had been from a factory in which they treat them with hormones so they can become so large that they are not even able to function, living amongst bacteria/illness and in closed crowed tight spaces. This is what changed my perspective on animal rights; I consider that they are entitled to rights. In a perfect world it should be in our human nature to not treat these animals with such disrespect and mal treatment just for essentials. I do not agree that “Meat is good for our survival”, because we can survive without it, we should take in what Mother Nature has produced for us the veggies and the greens. By giving animal rights it improves our society as well; it can stop the disgusting animal factories and decrease obesity. We as a society can learn to eat organically; even if it sounds obscure it’s in our best interest. When I eat meat now, I do think about these issues. We have been brainwashed to need these meats for years that how can that chain be easily broken, it takes time. I however try to eat organic foods, kosher meats but I do reframe from meats as much as possible. I believe that in the future animals with get the rights they deserve because of the advancements of technology and societies obsession with viewing animals as just food can be erased.
Animals having rights is like giving dogs the right to vote. How would that even be possible? Now this does not mean we should miss treat animals in anyway; animal cruelty is wrong, but if you analyze it what will animals do with these right. Human beings are the most intelligent animals on this planet. That is because we have the ability to think more competent than other animals. Majority of other animals relay only on instinct. For example, when a hungry lion sees a zebra its only intentions are to get and eat the zebra it can’t be helped. How can you give rights to an animal that only relay on its instinct?
In addition, I agree with prof. Carl Cohen when he writes
"The holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves. In applying such rules, [they] ... must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked."
I oppose the decision to give animals rights because of the fact that they can’t perceive rules or rights that are made.
When eating meat I do feel a little guilty about how animals were executed and put into a dish but thats only if the conversation come up; other than that rarely think about. Everyone should feel a little something. But then again if humans were in the wild with other animal meat lovers do you think that they’d even think twice about eating us?
-James Etienne
I personally am not for animal rights. However, I do believe they should be respected as fellow creatures of this earth. This land is as much their land as ours if not more. Just because we are unable to communicate in their language does not mean they don’t have thoughts or feelings. Have you ever yelled at your dog and seen him walk away with him tail between his legs shamefully? Or know he’s done something wrong and try to sneak away? They feel pain, happiness, anger, etc. just as we do. Can they perform the duties that human being can? No they don’t. They have what they were given and someway or another they still support this entire ecosystem.
The way animals are treated on factory farms is simply unacceptable. Even as someone who is a regular hunter and fisher, I still find the living conditions of these animals to be horrible. It is not just farm animals that are the issue. It also includes long lining, shark fining and whaling, just to name a few. This is occurring all over the world. Industries are depleting the populations when we need these animals to balance our ecosystems.
- Daniel Eberhard
There seems to be a lack of an ability to see the how connected things are, and to look beyond human desires to note the cost of them. It is understandable that one would overlook the pain (or consciousness) animals possess. By doing this they no longer are in conflict with their eating habits. Personally, l stopped eating most types of meat some 8 years ago or so (I still eat fish or chicken about once a month). At first it was a dietary choice, and I could feel how much better I felt physically by avoiding beef and pork. Later on it became an ethical issue. After learning of the conditions that animals have to endure in order to end up as dinner it would surprise me if none were outraged. As animals ourselves there is a kinship with all living creatures. By needlessly harming another in our ecosystem called Earth, we harm ourselves. I do not believe meat eating is wrong, but there are much more humane ways to fill our bellies than over crowded feedlots where cows are forced into cannibalism. How we as humans treat other living things is a reflection of our nature, and we are better than some of the pains we cause. Lastly, just because a Being does not display emotion us we do, does not mean the being is without emotion.Gerald Learnard
Animals and humans are not so different, yet why must we govern creatures that share this planet with us? Who governs the most destructive animal on the planet? Animals deserve rights as much as anyone else. Rights that protect them from some of us. Experimentation on animals does give us breakthroughs in a majority of fields from medical to astronomical. Greed puts us in a situation that says we must govern what we do to animals because it has reach a point where it has gotten out of hand. One of the professors spoke about the "prerequisites for having rights" which I don't agree with due to the rebuttal mentioned by professor Cohen. Babies are not self-aware yet they have rights that are unknown to them because it's in the nature of animals to protect their offspring.
When I eat meat, I don't think about the issues mentioned by the abolitionists because meat is good for our survival. Meat provides essential amino acids that the body requires. It also provides iron, phosphorus, vitamin B12 and high quality proteins which a single vegetarian food is not able to provide. There are multiple foods that can replace things that meat provides but no single food that can provide to the body what meat can provide. As the main picture of the animal rights poster stated "Don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated."
I believe animals should have rights, despite the fact that some people believe that they don't have intellectual capabilities that we, humans, have. I will stick to my argument that animals are people too. We have feelings, as do animals. I'm sure that no one would like to be butchered to death to later be consumed. I also understand that some animals like chickens and cows are used for their meat and we consume them, but those people that torture animals as a "hobby" or a past-time, makes no absolute sense, especially if that animal is endangered. We are not trying to extinct any more animals.
I'm not a vegetarian, I eat meat, but I am 100% for animal rights. Animals are not lesser than us, animals are not here for our comsumption, animals are nothing more than our allies on this planet. Thats why we have pets; dogs, cats, birds, reptiles. Personally, I have 3 dogs and two reptiles and they are part of my family. Farmers have cows, horses, and chickens as pets as well. Perhaps they are only raised for us to consume, but nonetheless, they were raised beside us.
We need to survive, just like animals do. Some animals are locked in cages for months with little food and water. Why? Because they're "animals"? No one would like to be locked inside a petite cage with barely the necessities one needs to survive. That is cruel and inhumane. If humans don't deserve it, then neither do animals. If someone can't properly take care of an animal or a pet, they why get one in the first place? They have feelings just like humans.
For example, I think that what Japan is doing to whales is inhumane. Not to mention, they are killing more whales than usual, and not giving them time to reproduce. So when will this end? When they are extinct? The world needs to be informed of what may happen of this continues. Animals are people too.
While I do not consider the life and death of every meal that is set in from of me, I do believe that the rights of the animal I am eating should be considered in the growth and processing. In the US chickens and cows are raised in a certain manner and fed a certain diet which, for the most part, typically includes some type of steroid to promote growth. This fact alone tells us that we treat animals as a product as opposed to a living thing. The idea that a cow can be a commodity is nothing new however, the manner in which we treat said commodity should be seriously reevaluated. We as humans are, in fact, animals our selves. My belief stands with Darwin. It is always survival of the fittest in nature and in life. We believe that because we can communicate and have opposable thumbs, we are worth more than the animals we consume. My truth lies in the fact that if you were facing a full grown boar in the wild and its only chance to survive would be to kill you, he would more than likely succeed. More accurately, the parallels between humans and animals are eerie. We treat animals as peons and as our belongings but, in the most realistic setting an animal would survive while the majority of us would struggle to exist. When a human mother exhibits super human strength to save their child, we compare it to the instincts of a mother bear. When our body chooses between fight and flight, we compare our flight to the speed and survival of a cheetah. So, let me begin by asking if we humans are stronger, better and more intelligent why do we compare ourselves to animals when we exhibit super human strengths and abilities? The rights of animals should be respected just as we expect others to respect human rights because we, as humans are just as animalistic as animals themselves.
Why do we, humans, have rights? Do we not feel, want to be happy and free? Do animals not feel? Animals, like humans, also feel pain although they may not be able to express it verbally. When a person accidentally steps on a dog or cat's tail, they cry out in pain. This is one of many signs that show that animals, like human beings, also feel pain. Why would anyone want to afflict pain upon another living creature with feelings? If it is not correct to do this to another person, why should it be allowed to a living, breathing creature with feelings? Many times, animals have been taught to help us. Dogs are trained to be a part of the police force and help solve cases, and so on. And that is the way that we repay these animals? By hurting them? We should coexist with the animals with some boundaries. Animals are living creatures who feel, just like people and therefore should have rights.
“History is written by the victors.”
~Winston Churchill
If animals were here before homo-sapiens, then why is it that we have created our own purposes for them that seem valid as if we were the ones who created them?
I am a meat eater, therefore my opinion isn’t biased. If one looks at this from a philosophical point of view, the issue isn’t that we are killing some of these innocent creatures or the fact that we’re using their fur or organs for many different purposes, but that we are treating these creatures as if they were put on this earth for our benefit and accepting it as if it is justified.
For centuries, we have been using animals as food sources, test dummies, and whatever else the mind of man can conceive to generate income. From the time we are able to comprehend we are taught to do onto others as we would like them to do onto us. Why doesn’t the golden rule apply to animals? Many say that it is because animals don’t have the intelligence to say “I like this” or “I don’t like that”, but where in the book of nature does it say that the only valid speech is the one of the homo-sapiens?
Put yourself in the position of an animal. What if your life had to because you were chosen to be the dinner of some baby cub somewhere in the world? We don’t think that way because it seems impossible. Just because we humans don’t understanddoesn’t mean that animals can’t be understood.
We have to start changing the way we think. I am not pro- animal rights, but I’m also not against it. We need to stop thinking that the universe revolves around us human beings. But then again, no one has proven us wrong.
Jessica Jean-Baptiste
It is very problematic and polemic to talk about animal rights. We can imagine this whole debate as two teams pulling a rope. At one end of this rope are the people saying they (the animals) shouldn’t have rights since they aren’t moral agents and they don’t know the implications of their actions. According to this group, only humans behave as moral agents; that is why we deserve the rights we have. Another important argument is that animals serve a very valuable role in society and science. Because of them many scientific discoveries and new medical procedures were revealed such as xenotransplantation, drug testing, cosmetic testing, and many others. Things we enjoy every day and we don’t notice or appreciate enough. And of course: food. This group of people argues that animals are fundamental for humans; we need the nutrients in their meat to live a healthy life.
The second group of people at the other end of the rope are pro animal rights, and they confront the other group’s argument saying that the whole “moral agents” thing is just not well founded, since babies are humans too and they don’t know what’s right or wrong, meaning they are not moral agents either, however, they do deserve to have human rights because they are our offspring. Well, aren’t animals the offspring of another animal as well? The other argument they counteract is that we need animals to sustain ourselves but they aren’t, by no means, the only option we got. We’ve been enjoying the delights of animal meat to obtain the nutrients we need for survival for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other and better diets which supply the same nutrients.
I could say that I agree, up to a certain degree, to animals having rights. Not just because we are animals too but for the simple fact that they help us so much, very anonymously, to improve our lives. However, I don’t stress out every time I eat my chicken over the kind of life the creature had, I just eat it, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. The key resides in finding the balance between using their help and slaving them. Animals are here not to serve us, they are just here. We humans need to forget this egocentric behavior of ours and we need to learn how to use what this world offers without abusing it.
Do animal deserves rights? By rights, do animals deserve to not be treated cruelly? Yes. Do animals deserve to have a shelter and/or food everyday so they can survive? Yes. Do animal deserve not to be eaten or use in experiments? Yes, but is it essential for the growth of science and the need for many people throughout the world? Yes.
I don’t think that animals should be abused or left abandoned in the street, but, I do think there is a difference between these actions, because they expressed evilness and carelessness, and killing the animals and using them for food or clothing. The second group of actions is for a purpose, the need of many people. Whatever anybody likes it or not, many people need meat and/or are very attached to it. Meat has essential vitamins and minerals that vegetarians have to be careful to receive from other sources, and a lot of people grew up with meat being an important part of their meal. Also, a lot of people love fur and use it to wear off the cold. Although I do not like the way these animals are killed, it will still have the same outcome if we killed them gently or harshly. Animals play a huge role in research. Most, if not all, scientific research advancement uses animals to test them first. To not use animals mean that we need a replacement, and the best substitute for animals are humans, but doing this will cause more of an uproar.
So, animals do have rights but they do not have the same rights as humans. We need to accept the fact that humans and animals are different and have different roles on earth. We should treat animals with more respect because we need them more than we know, but saying that animals should not be use as a meal, clothing, or a guinea pig, and should be treated as a human being is just being ignorant.
Animals are living beings just like humans. In fact, humans are animals too. So why do humans have rights and “animals” do not? This is a very difficult question to answer but I am going to prove that animals should have rights considering all of the contributions they have made to the world and humans so far. First of all, they are part of the world. They live in the same place that we do and they were here even before we did. We have similar goals with animals like looking for food, finding shelter and having a family even though we acquire them in a different way at the present. Also animals have been crucial in the evolution of the human since they have been useful for the ideas created by our thinking. Many of the innovations in technology and medicine have made us less dependent in animals. We do not need a horse to get to other places is a good example. Today when we find ourselves in a very advanced society we should not really interfere with their lives as much as we did before.
Ignacio Acuna
Should animals have rights?
When it comes to animals’ rights two things pop into my head, animal abuse and whether it is right to eat animals. We live in a society that is addicted to meat. Vegetarianism will not change the evils of the food industry. Meat unfortunately is here to stay. With that in mind we should acknowledge that the way the meat industry treats animals is horrendous. Animals are mistreated in factories for food, clothing and cosmetics or unnecessary animal testing. Lab rats being used for a new vaccine or things of this nature is are exceptions. Animals should be treated with respect and if eaten they should be raised and killed humanely.
I have eaten meat all of my life. I never saw anything wrong with it because I was conditioned as a child that eating meat is necessary and normal. I never questioned these beliefs growing up. But the fact is that eating meat is not a necessity for a balanced diet or even survival. Some argue that you can even live a healthier life being a vegetarian. I still choose to eat meat because I love it but at the same time it almost feels immoral and hypocritical to know what you’re doing helps this industry that I truly believe is wrong. The fact is that in this day and age we have the technology to create synthetic food that can replace meat’s proteins and vitamins and reduce or eliminate slaughterhouses worldwide.
Whether you think eating meat is moral or not you have to accept the fact that we do it too much. We are hurting the environment. We as Homo sapiens are part of a beautifully balanced circle of life. Earth, our home, holds many different species of plants and animals. We try to make ourselves believe that we are not animals because of our superior brains but in actuality we are only monkeys that reason.
Are we the superior species on this earth? You can make an argument for that based on our accomplishments in different fields of science, medicine, travel, technology, arts, communications, etc. We have built great cities, created governments, and even traveled to space. But the fact is that we are only animals that depend on the ecosystem.
We have a relationship with nature that should be respected above everything else. We depend on Mother Nature more than we think.
The belief that we are superior to animals in my opinion is a result of human arrogance and ignorance towards the balance of nature.
Hector Portocarrero
When I eat meat I don't think about how it became a meal. Do animals have rights I don't know? The sad truth is that in this world the strong eat the weak. Humans have superior skills to survive and render all sorts of creatures under their rule. Thus our use of animals as food is nothing but a continuation of the survival of the fittest. While the whole argument depends on animals being able to reason, the fact remains that humans are the only ones with the capacity to make moral choices thus we are the only ones capable of feeling guilt from our lack of morality towards animals. Just because animals don't reason it doesn't mean they are not alive and thus have no rights. Thinking that a "superior" species should rule the weaker ones is only detrimental for it justifies that humans could and should be used for food as well. shall a new "superior" species be found would you willingly agree to be eaten by them? The fact is the choice to wish for better treatment for animals is just that, a choice. There is no wrong answer. You can choose to be good to people (or animals) or not.
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