...All Animals are Equal The argument I’ll be addressing today is to decide if “All Animals are Equal” by Pete Singer. Singer’s essay “All Animals are Equal,” develops an emotional debate for how we view or treat animals as humans (Singer, P. 1989). He also stirs up an argument regarding the equal treatment of animals and the equality with how we treat human beings as a whole. “Singer calls for the beginning of a “liberation movement” similar to those that were sprouting up during the period in which he wrote his essay and focused on such issues as gay, women’s and African-American rights.” There has been a lot of media coverage of an American dentist whole killed a lion in another country, while ignoring some senseless killings in our own country. Has the time come for us as human beings, beginning to respect the rights of animal’s verses our own kind? Will we continue to enjoy that nice steak dinner, hamburger, or thanksgiving turkey? Is it fair to say the sport we call hunting, is inhumane as abortion, the death penalty, or sending our defenders of this country to war for some people? Could his message be subliminal in this essay by referring those animal to human beings that endured struggle? Are we born into this world to be vegetarians due to our teeth structure and development of our body composition? We very well be but that decision should be left to the individual to decide. Pete’s utilitarian direction, due to the theory of an animal that suffers, should be...
Words: 1250 - Pages: 5
...Singer’s main focus on “All Animals are Equal” is mainly their suffering and how they should have some sort of rights. Us humans eat these animals with no thoughts of the pain that they go through or even if they have pain. The same way we don't kill each other by their intelligence or understand when someone is in pain, we shouldn’t have animals suffering. He says most people are speciesism, which only thinks about themselves and not the cause of how animals can have moral rights. He compares racism, speciesism, and sexism to all be the same, meaning that they all have equality no matter what they believe in, so why can’t nonhumans have equality like humans do. In the chapter, All Animals are Equal what he is trying to say or show others is...
Words: 829 - Pages: 4
...of the word equal changes that all animals were truly equal in the beginning to meaning the total opposite of that towards the end of the book. The meaning of the word “equal” changes throughout the book. The first example is illustrated at the beginning when they first kick Jones out of the farm, and they make seven commandments one of them being “all animals are equal.” In this instance, the word “equal” represented true equality among the animals; no animal was above the others. However, as the story progresses, we begin to see changes in the meaning of the word equal. First, the pigs are the ones who take the decisions and who lead the animals in the farm. At this point we begin to identify the pigs as the ruling class and as the elites. In fact, the animals who were disobedient suffered the consequences....
Words: 337 - Pages: 2
...between causing harm to a human being and an animal. In order to prevent the human from being wounded, you would have to cause a greater amount of pain in the animal. Most likely, you would choose to spare the human, thus injuring the animal. According to Peter Singer in his article “All Animals are Equal”, the welfare of animals must be considered equally with that of humans in part because of their ability to feel pain and joy as humans do (1972). His approach is utilitarian, as it judges actions based on the amount of suffering or joy brought about by an action. Therefore, in the aforementioned situation, one following Singer’s approach would choose to allow the human to be harmed because the total amount of suffering caused...
Words: 785 - Pages: 4
...can also be executed by taking away choice and uniqueness, which will eventually cripple the society. In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, the “government”, which consisted of pigs, is dishonest, which leads the utopian society into a disastrous unequal dystopia. In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the people are not unique and have no choice but to do as the government says, and because of this, the government has all of the power. Anthem and Animal Farm are the most similar in the aspects of...
Words: 803 - Pages: 4
...Nowadays, animals are in danger of dying out, at least one million animal species have already disappeared since 1980. Worse still, as the using of hunting, laboratories, and commercial getting common, the number of animal species decreases faster and faster, and this phenomenon will continue if no one come out and speak up for the animals. Today, animal right is a highly contentious issue. Do animals have rights? Philosophers have different standpoints. In “The Case for Animals Rights” which is written by Tom Regan, Regan states that animals should have fundamental rights as humans, and also be protected from the unnecessary harm. In addition, in Peter Singer’s article “All Animals Are Equal”, he has the same standpoint as Regan that animals should have the same principles that human received. In contrast, in the article “The Case of the Use of Animals in Biomedical Research” by Carl Cohen, he supports Regan in his moral theory, however, he argues that animals should not have rights, and he also points out that the using of animals in medical research is important. “The Case for Animal Rights”, “All Animals are Equal” and “The Case of the use of Animals in Biomedical Research” let us know that although hurting animals is not unlawful, it’s morally wrong; for the purpose of protecting animals, people must change their beliefs. In Regan’s article, he supports that animals are equal to humans, and should have the same rights as humans. Although animals and us born in different...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4
...Animal Rights Priscilla Peterman University of Phoenix Com/156 Instructor James Christianson This research paper is going to discuss a major concern with the issue of animal rights and how people view this critical issue. Animals deserve rights, and these rights should annihilate the many problems with animal abuse, abandonment, and animal experimentation. Animals deserve the same rights as humans. Animals, subsequently dating back to the days of Ancient Greece, have always held a place in the hearts of humans. And for so long as this animal human relation existed, so did the realism of taking care of the animals, whether it be in the form of love, care and equal rights. The idea that we are all born with essential rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is important to our society, mainly to the ideas stated in the United States Constitution. Though, humanities inconsiderately demean this principle by denying that animals share these rights. Animals are just as titled to the rights of living, avoiding pain, and pursuing happiness as humans are. Yet still we exploit and abuse them cruelly, most often without a second thought. The use of animals in biomedical research, segmentation, testing and education, deprives animals of their natural rights and is a great injustice. We must believe that this is completely intolerable, and we should find more humane as well as...
Words: 2013 - Pages: 9
...Graded Assignment Unit Test, Part 2: Animal Farm Answer each question, using complete sentences. (10 points) Score 1. In Chapter 1, Old Major says, “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.” Is that true? What does the novel reveal about “real enemies”? Answer: No, man is not the only enemy. In this novel pigs were also the enemy. Once man was chased out, the pigs took over and became exactly like the man. Removing man from the scene did not abolish overwork and hunger forever. In fact, animals questioned whether or not they worked more and ate less than before the man were removed. This is due to the fact that when the pigs took over they were as bad if...
Words: 1164 - Pages: 5
... Question Type: | # Of Questions: | # Correct: | Multiple Choice | 20 | 17 | | | Grade Details - All Questions | Question 1. | Question : | What is Peter Singer’s point about performing vivisection on mentally disabled human infants? | | | Student Answer: | x | That if we say that it would be wrong to perform experiments on such humans but not on non-humans then we are showing bias based upon species alone | | | | That a good speciesist would not perform experiments on any being | | | | That we should test upon mentally disabled human infants because the results would be more reliable than tests on animals | | | | That anyone who would consider testing on a human infant is a monster | | Instructor Explanation: | The answer can be found on p. 6 of Peter Singer’s “All Animals are Equal.” | | | | Points Received: | 1 of 1 | | Comments: | | | | Question 2. | Question : | Peter Singer’s “basic principles of equality” applied to animals means: | | | Student Answer: | | Animals should be given all the same rights as human beings. | | | x | Animals are not entitled to not all the same rights but to an equal consideration of interests. | | | | Animals should not be given the same moral consideration because they are do not have the same power to reason as humans. | | | | Animals do not have rights unless they can demonstrate the same abilities as humans. | | Instructor Explanation:...
Words: 1923 - Pages: 8
...Women, Animals, Nature Third Writing Assignment Are animals equal to humans? Humans are the most successful evolutionary animals known to ever exist to this day. There are endless accomplishments of man; from learning to start a fire to survive the cold, to the ability to hunt game for food, to the discovery of the vaccine, to the invention of incredibly fast transportation, to the fabrication of Wi-Fi, to the ability to connect to others around the world with a simple device called the iPhone. Without doubt, no other species has come to rival our intelligence and ability to progress and adapt to new environments. The value of a human life is so extraordinary because of the potential of the human intellect. Furthermore, it is because our extensive spectrum of emotions including the ability to empathize for others. This is the ultimate evidence of the greatness of man. Yet the question remains: is it wrong to choose a baby’s life over the life of an animal? Undeniably, animals are not equal to humans however, this doesn’t justify the horrors of animal cruelty that go on in today’s world. In evolutionary terms, we are biologically programmed to choose human life over a life of another species. If we didn’t follow this instinct we never would have been able to evolve. None of the above accomplishments would ever have happened. Likewise, animals that are intelligent don’t consider themselves equal to humans. They also don’t consider their own species above humans. All species...
Words: 709 - Pages: 3
...great organism composed of all kinds of members, a net containing bad and good” Robert Hugh Benson, A City Set on a HIll. In George Orwells, The Animal Farm, the farm is the organism, composed of members who hold within the both good and evil, exactly like ours - just a little harrier. The Animal Farm overall is one complete representation of the inner workings of the communism within the Soviet Union, however within the novel there are many smaller symbols which relate to human society as a whole, one being the farm itself. George Orwell uses the farm as a symbol to show how a society functions in relation to the human race, and the classification system humanity created for itself....
Words: 600 - Pages: 3
...ANIMAL FARM George Orwell Important Quotations Explained 1. “Four legs good, two legs bad.” This phrase, which occurs in Chapter III, constitutes Snowball’s condensation of the Seven Commandments of Animalism, which themselves serve as abridgments (abbreviations) of Old Major’s stirring speech on the need for animal unity in the face of human oppression. The phrase instances one of the novel’s many moments of propagandizing, which Orwell portrays as one example of how the elite class abuses language to control the lower classes. Although the slogan seems to help the animals achieve their goal at first, enabling them to clarify in their minds the principles that they support, it soon becomes a meaningless sound bleated by the sheep (“two legs baa-d”), serving no purpose other than to drown out dissenting opinion. By the end of the novel, as the propaganda needs of the leadership change, the pigs alter the chant to the similar-sounding but completely antithetical “Four legs good, two legs better.” 2. Beasts of England, beasts of Ireland, Beasts of every land and clime, Hearken to my joyful tiding Of the golden future time. These lines from Chapter I constitute the first verse of the song that Old Major hears in his dream and which he teaches to the rest of the animals during the fateful meeting in the barn. Like the communist anthem “Internationale,” on which it is based, “Beasts of England” stirs the emotions of the animals and fires their revolutionary idealism. As...
Words: 2398 - Pages: 10
...In his essay “All Animals are Equal,” Peter Singer argues that there is no moral justification behind our refusal to extend some form of equality to animals. He states that because attitudes such as racism and sexism are fundamentally wrong, so too is the premise that one species is more deserving of ethical treatment based solely on the idea that one is more capable of thought or suffering than the other. The idea of treating animals as our equals is one that has been mocked in the past, but only because many have taken that idea to mean that animals are equal to humans in the most literal sense possible. As far as we can tell, most animals do not invent, think deeply, or create culture, and therefore are not equal solely in terms of rational behaviors. However, this is not the kind of equality Singer advocates for in his essay. First, he argues, we should not be equating moral equality with that particular kind of factual equality. If we were to base moral equality on factual equality, then we would be justified in discriminating against fellow humans based on ideas of inequality in regards to sex, race, or intelligence. The only way to fight this type of discrimination would be to prove that the feature or capacity we have chosen as a marker for factual equality is arbitrary, and can provide qualifiers from some other feature or capacity instead. The African-American and women’s liberation movements took this approach. They argued that skin color and sex were only arbitrary...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...explored in Animal farm and film Antz To a large extent absolute power… corrupts absolutely. Total control perverts governments unequivocally, as the consequences of power versus powerlessness are explored. Composers have used varied literary and film techniques to highlight totalitarianism, the abuse of power and propaganda. Animal Farm and Antz firmly demonstrate this. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In Animal Farm satire is used to demonstrate the impacts of totalitarianism. The faults of the government system dictating Manor Farm are exposed as being a totalitarian dictatorship; echoing the effects of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Napoleon as well as Snowball compose “The Seven Commandments” for all animals to follow. However power gets to Napoleon and he chases away Snowball to have complete control. His psyche becomes corrupted with the leadership and simultaneously all the pigs, go against “The Seven Commandments”. Biblical allusions of the Commandments are used to emphasise the pig’s outrageous behavior where satire is used to reflect how they obtain absolute power and in becoming corrupted. This pretty much echoes the human condition! Moreover, total control perverts governments unequivocally. This is illustrated via the use of allegory portraying the abuse of power. Animal Farm is an allegory depicting the Russian Revolution in a more childish yet ominous manner. Power was abused during the Russian Revolution by Stalin. He initially espoused of an “equal” society...
Words: 730 - Pages: 3
...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...
Words: 1424 - Pages: 6
