...Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare In the first half of the 20th century, standards for the care of livestock, lab animals, and pets began to improve. Animal ‘rights’ were the rights of animals to shelter, food, and water. There was a pronounced emphasis on improving the quality of life of the animals used by humans, but not on eliminating their use for humans altogether. However, for the last 50 years or so there has been a huge argument over the roles of animals in today’s society, specifically over how we use them for our benefit. There are major differences between the welfare and rights arguments. Animal welfare is fundamentally different from animal rights because it endorses the responsible use of animals in order to fulfill some human...
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...Animals used to simply exist to fulfil human needs and desires, we considered them as a resource for us to use and enjoy. The suffering of animals has now been brought to our attention with a dramatic increase in the concern for animals. Animal rights are also known as the welfare to animals. Our ever increasing scientific knowledge has allowed humans to identify the problems we were unaware of regarding the misuse of animals. Many religious believers have re-assessed this situation and the importance of human kindness in the world based on the idea that humans have been given responsibility from God to care for our world, environment and species. Christianity having 6 million actively practicing followers and therefore being the most popular religion in the word have a traditionally negative approach to the ‘miss-use’ of animals and suggest that animals only have an instrumental value. They think that animals have moral status and should be treated with respect however not as much as humans deserve. They push the idea that animals can feel pain the same as us and should be entitled to rights and equality. Many Christians believe that we are wrong to view animals as a resource to be killed for sport, experiments or fashion purposes. Peter Singer is a strong believer of animal rights ‘a member of one species has a clear prejudice against its members of the other species’ he says that this is just like racism – an attitude which is wrong and should not be supported. However many...
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...approximately 7.6 million animals that die each year due to abuse. These number have been going down each year due to the animal rights movement. People around the world should join the animal rights movement so animals can live a happy life like humans can. Most people do not see how much animals help us, like farming and food. People need to see how innocent animals are they only bad because they do what there owners do. Most animal that are abused are dogs and cats because they are the usual pets. There is a lot what animal rights is for. One thing it's for is to protect animals from abuse. You can help by reporting an animal abuser. You can protect most animals by just donating to the animal rights movement. You can save so many animals by reporting an abuse,...
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...Merissa Acuna Aretha Matt English 102 5 November 2014 Animals and the Exemption of Their Rights Almost every American grew up eating some kind of meat or wearing some type of fur, leather, or wool, we grow up going to zoos and circuses, and some people even have pets like birds and rabbits at home in cages. We unknowingly exploit animals in every way possible. The impact that our actions have on these animals is never taken into consideration. Due to animals serving us humans several different purposes, the animal is forgotten. The idea of whether animals should have rights is at a peak in controversy. Animal rights activist believe animals have legal and moral rights the same way humans do. On the other hand there are several corporations...
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...Peter Singer, in his essay “Equality for Animals” argues, “If animals count in their own right, our use of animals for food becomes questionable.” Barbara Kingsolver, in her essay “You Can’t Run away on Harvest Day”, defends against the argument about not eating meat because it’s harming a life. Indicating an estimate, “67 million birds die each year from pesticide exposure”, she points out: “To believe we can live without taking life is delusional.” Gary Steiner, in his essay “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable”, harshly states that it is not “purport to justify the killing and consumption of animals in the name of human welfare.” But really, what does it mean to eat ethically? What moral principles should guide our food choices and ways of eating?...
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...and iris). The subjects suffer from redness, bleeding, ulcers, and even blindness, and are likely killed upon completion of the experiment. The subjects were in fact rabbits in tests called “animal testing.” Animal testing has raised huge debates worldwide that has raised many questions. How important is animal testing for us humans? Are the results going to be the same? Most importantly, should we ban animal testing for the sake of the animals? Animal testing is a phrase that most people have heard but are perhaps still unsure of exactly what is involved. Whether it is called animal testing, animal experimentation or animal research, it refers to the experimentation carried out on animals. It is used to assess the safety and effectiveness of everything from medication to cosmetics, as well as understanding how the human body works. Animal testing, also known as animal research, plays a crucial role in scientists' understanding of diseases and in the development of effective medical treatments. Research animals provide scientists with complex living systems consisting of cells, tissues and organs. Animal models can interact and react to stimuli, giving researchers a picture of a compound moving through a living system and an idea of how those stimuli might react in a human being. Animals are biologically similar to...
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...Extended Project by January 2014 How: A 5,000 word essay Tasks Date Choose my question/title (can be changed later) | | Watch: * Maximum tolerated dose – animal testing * Animal rights – mad world * Monkey’s rats and Me – BBC | | Look into the history of animal testing: * http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/resources/animal-testing-essay-writing-resources/resources-for-student-essays-history-of-animal-research/ * http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/background-history-animal-testing.html * http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/animal-testing | | Articles to read:•‘No target’ in UK animal tests plan – BBC•Sharp rise of 8% in UK animal experiments | | Information about animal testing: * http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/using/experiments_1.shtml * http://www.peta.org/ * http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/using-animals-testing-pros-versus-cons.html * http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/animal-testing | | Information for animal testing: * http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/about-us/the-science-action-network/forty-reasons-why-we-need-animals-in-research/ * http://www.animalresearch.info/en/designing-research/why-animals-are-used/ * http://www.pro-test.org.uk/ * http://www.aboutanimaltesting.co.uk/organisations-that-support-regulate-animal-testing.html | | Information against animal testing: * http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/experiments/ALL/...
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...Credibility and Validity of Sources: We learned that it is important to evaluate the credibility of the source and make a judgement on its relevance to our topic/argument. Credibility can be validated based off on the background of the author, impartiality, style and tone of article and currency. For instance for an argument on animal rights as described in…, the argument can be presented in different ways depending on the specialization of the author. A phychologist, philosopher or economist might present the argument in different style. Also, the author’s personal interest to the subject might affect the an author’s opinion or treatment to the subject. For instance, an author who is vegetarian is likely to argue against using animals for food and may present argument in a way that’s less than impartial. The publication Alongwith the author’s background, it is also important to validate the author’s personal interest associated to the subject ; We also learned that a special interest or preference might affect an author’s opinion or treatment to subject. In the simplest terms, a declared vegetarian is likely to argue against using animals for food and may present those arguments in a way that’s less than impartial. The writing style and tone is another way to form credibility and validity of sources of information. You should determine whether the tone is professional or not. If it is indeed professional and the tone is for the targeted audience then more than...
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...I will argue that the rights of humans supersede the rights of animals for the benefit of man and animals themselves. It is my belief that by granting animals to many rights we would not only be putting human lives in jeopardy but we would also be doing harm to the animals themselves. The way by which we can help animals in the most humane way is to have obligations towards them which is not the same as granting them rights. In this essay I will present the arguments of writers, thinkers and philosophers to give the reader background and knowledge on many of the topics and ideas I will be speaking about. In addition I will provide real life examples of why granting animals too many rights is harmful to both animals and humans. To do this I will first go over and analyze the arguments laid out by Carl Cohen who is opposed to animal rights. I will then discuss the arguments presented by Tom Regan. After this I will present my own opinion based on their arguments and the writings of others. Animal rights is the idea that some or all nonhuman animals are entitled to the possession of their own lives, and that their most basic interests – such as an interest in not suffering – should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings. Advocatess, such as Peter Singer oppose the assignment of moral value and fundamental protections on the basis of species membership alone – an idea known as speciesism. Peter singer argues that speciesism is a prejudice similar...
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...argument that animals should be given equal consideration to humans, however not everyone agreed to the same extent. One of the views expressed was that while humans care for other animals, for humans as a society to advance, they must exploit other species along the lines of “hunt or be hunted” and “survival of the fittest.” In this way we are speciests. Other group members agreed more strongly with Singer, saying that growing up in a time where animal rights activists began their movement, it isn’t unusual for to believe that animals deserve better rights. If you agree with me, under Kolberg’s stages of moral development, many of us developed this in the first conventional level. Society was changing and becoming more conscious about animals rights and I followed thinking it was the right thing to do because so many people were involved saying it was the right thing to do. Singer verifies this thinking through his many examples like questioning what’s the difference between a mentally disabled person and a dog are concrete supportive arguments to the moral thinking that I have. In Singer’s essay, he uses the word sentience as reasoning to why animals are entitled to equal rights. By using sentience he is referring to all those who may feel suffering and enjoyment. Singer says that being able to experience pain and suffering means that one has an interest that must be taken into consideration for fairness in moral rights. He uses a...
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...Animal Equality: Effects of Giving Animals Rights PHI 103 Informal Logic June 2, 2014 Argument When it comes to animal equality it can be hard to imagine a dog, cat, or even a hamster of having equivalence. When I think of animals, I picture our pets, wild animals, and even those in which are consumed. The question of what is and what is not ethically appropriate in the treatment of animals has is debatable. Peter Singer’s provides a utilitarian arguments for why animals with a certain level of perceptive justify equal moral attention with humans. Introduction Singer calls for the establishment of a “liberation movement” comparable to those that remained emerging up throughout the dated in which he wrote his essay and attentive on such problems as gay, women’s and African-American rights. Noting how previously “legitimate” forms of judgment and prejudice, over time, correctly came to be observed as unfairly and immorally damaging towards definite classes of people, Singer argues that the time has come for a similar pledge to the rights of species that walk on four legs instead of two. The animal liberation movement, which was essentially begun by Singer’s book, Slate.com (2001) argues “It is ethically wrong to use animals in such a way that we cause them suffering, either by deprivation of essential components of a happy existence, or by causing them pain.” (Slate.com, 2001) The animal liberationists would like to disallow most medical experimentation using animal...
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...Animal Rights: Abuse and Neglect Essay Animal rights are considerably lower than human rights, which makes sense due humans academic knowledge, religious and spiritual knowledge and communication. What does not make sense is the cruelty that is subjected onto the animal by these “higher beings”. If humans are so much higher on the totem pole, then why are they the one’s acting as the true beast? They beat, exploit, and even kill animals for their own gain; the animals’ have no real rights in the United States and they cannot stand up for themselves. Many people and bystanders watch as animals are abused and neglected, and never stand up for the innocent animal. Due to this oversight of animal rights many animals are neglected and abused every...
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...The traditional view of Contractarianism is that it leaves no room for the interpretation of animal rights or a moral duty towards animals. Rowlands seeks to contest this and argues that the Kantian development of contractarianism in the work of Rawls allows for a moral duty towards animals. This essay seeks to investigate the question of whether Rawlsian contracualism is a satisfactory approach to our moral duty towards animals? Encompassed within this will also be an inquiry into whether any other moral theories studied provide a better examination of this issue. Traditional Contractarianism has generally been discredited to having any moral claim towards animals. Hobbesian Contractarianism is based on the presumption that the state of nature is “solitary, poor, nasty, short, and brutish.” It can be seen as a “war of all against all.” This therefore entails that one will seek peace from this sate of nature through a desire to escape death and war through the antidote: peace. Rationality therefore will show us that in order to live in...
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...Medical Testing on Animals is Immoral For my persuasive essay I have chosen to argue why it is immoral to do medical testing on animals. History of testing on animal goes back to the Greeks in the 3rd and 4th centuries, with Aristotle and Erasistreatus being among the first to perform experiments on living animals. I feels it’s immoral to animals because over 100 million animals are dying just to find cures for diseases (Hajar). However, the consequences of medical testing on animals is that most of the animals are not covered by the Animal Welfare Act. The Animal Welfare Act is the only Federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research and exhibition. Another consequence would be that most animal testing can mislead researchers with non -potential cures and treatments. The Food and Drug organization reports that just 92 out of each 100 medications that breeze through on creature tests come up short in people. This statement means most of the drugs tested on animal don’t even work on humans half the time. Next, "In the name of science", animal experiments globally are around 100 million experiments each year. Cats, dogs, rabbits, mice and other animals, no different to those we have as pets, are used in experiments. Animals are force-fed harmful substances, infected with lethal viruses, subjected to brain damage, heart attacks, stokes, cancers and ultimately killed. Several cosmetic tests commonly perform med on mice, rats, rabbits, and...
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...“Consider the Lobster” Summary 08/26/2013 David Foster Wallace’s essay “Consider the Lobster” examines the pain that Lobsters feel when they are being boiled alive to be consumed by Humans. He uses the lobster as an example to expand his examination, bringing out the relationship between humans and the animals that we consume. Wallace starts of his essay by mentioning the Maine Lobster Festival and its huge crowd of over 80,000 people that consume over 25,000 pounds of lobster during the 5 days that the festival lasts. He starts off the essay with admiration in his tone as he describes the Maine Lobster Festival to his readers. After he’s done praising the festival, Wallace reveals that his main intention of writing the essay was to question if killing animals is morally acceptable. He explains that Lobsters have nociceptors, invertebrate versions of the prostaglandins and major neurotransmitters that enable human beings to record pain. Lobsters, however, do not appear to be able to absorb natural opioids like endorphins and enkephalins which are what advanced nervous systems use to deal with pain. Wallace examines this information about lobsters and recognizes that lobster either suffer more than a human would because they can’t control pain as well as humans can or they simply can’t comprehend the idea of pain. Wallace sympathizes that if lobsters can’t control their pain, then humans are unnecessarily boiling and eating them, as a result, putting them through immense...
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