The Rights Of Animals Essay example - 1754 Words

lt;a href=quot;http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/quot;gt;Sam Vaknins Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Animal rights is a catchphrase akin to human rights. It involves, however, a few pitfalls. First, animals exist only as a concept. Otherwise, they are cuddly cats, curly dogs, cute monkeys. A rat and a puppy are both animals but our emotional reaction to them is so different that we cannot really lump them together. Moreover: what rights are we talking about? The right to life? The right to be free of pain? The right to food? Except the right to free speech – all the other rights could be relevant to animals. But when we say animals, what we really mean is non-human organism. This is such a wide†¦show more content†¦The Jewish Talmud says: â€Å"Do not do unto thy friend that which is hated by you†. An analysis of this sentence renders it less altruistic than it first sounds. The reader is encouraged to refrain from doing only things that he himself finds hateful (SS men, for instance, did not find killing Jews hateful). In this sense, it is morally relativistic. The individual is the source of moral authority and is allowed to spin his own moral system, independent of others. The emphasis is on action: not to DO. Refraining from doing, inaction, is not censored or advocated against. Finally, the sentence establishes an exclusive moral club (very similar to later day social contractarianism) of the reader and his friend(s). It is to his friends that the reader is encouraged not to do evil. He is exempt from applying the same standard, however lax, to others. Even a broader interpretation of the word â€Å"friend† would read: â€Å"someone like you† and will substantially exclude strangers. Empathy as a differentiating principle is wrong because it is structural: if X looks like me, resembles me, behaves like me – than he must be like me in other, more profound and deep set ways. But this is a faulty method used to prove identity. Any novice in mathematics knows that similarity is never identity. Structurally and behaviourally monkeys, dogs and dolphins are very much like us. It is a question of quantity, not quality, that is used to determine the answers to theShow MoreRelatedAnimal Rights : The Animal Bill Of Rights For Animals737 Words   |  3 PagesAnimals are found throughout lives of humans. As companions, entertainment, test subjects and food, animals serve vital roles throughout our lives.The Animal Bill of Rights, through the Animal Legal Defense Fund, attempts to defend the basic legal rights of all animals. However, to weigh the need for such an act, one must compare the suffering of animals to the benefits such suffering gives to humankind. Itâ€⠄¢s much more important to highlight the crucial medical advances that lab animals have providedRead MoreAnimal Rights And The Rights Of Animals1843 Words   |  8 Pagesthe rights of animals and if they think and feel like humans do. Many people see animals as mindless creatures or as food, while others think they have emotions and can feel pain. In other countries animal protection laws are in place that are strictly enforced and seem to work well with the system. In the United States however; some of the animal rights laws are considered to be useless and under-enforced (Animal Legal Historical Center). More people today are beginning to see that animals shouldRead MoreThe Rights Of Animal Rights Essay1613 Words   |  7 Pageshear tons of news and tragic stories of animal living in captivity, how they suffered to amuse human, how they live without care in unqualified conditions. Detroit Zoo mentioned in the article â€Å"Detroit Journal; Ripples of Controversy after a Chimp Drowns† was opposed by letting many chimps drown because of the moat they use for chimp exhibit. The other case is Lincoln Park Zoo which was drawing criticism from animal right activists by the dead of nine animals in the short time. Although zoo officialsRead MoreAnimal rights1084 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"Animals with rights must be treated as ends in themselves, they should not be treated by others as means to achieve their ends.† (Francione) An idea opposing to Immanuel Kant’s beliefs. Animals are apart of the moral community, their intrinsic worth justifies this, and causes for certain rights to be established to uphold their worth within the community. To not respect the welfare of nonhuman animals, and to provide special treatment for humans, goes against Peter Singer’s ideas for a harmoniousRead MoreAnimal Rights : Animal Cruelty Essay1520 Words   |  7 PagesAnimal Rights Animal rights, the rights believed to belong to animals to live free from use in medical research, hunting, and other services to humans. Animal Cruelty is the human infliction of suffering or harm upon any non-human animal, for purposes other than self-defense or survival.   Ã‚  Animal Cruelty exists and it should not. Animals feel pain and fear like we do, but they are helpless.They can’t tell us that it hurts, they can’t communicate their pain because we do not speak their languageRead MoreAnimal Rights: Animal Experimentation 837 Words   |  4 PagesAnimal experimentation is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Animal experimentation also known as animal testing had established way back into the second century A.D. A Roman physician, named Galen started to perform endless animal experiments. (Safer Medicines.) On the other hand, the first major animal experiments occurred in the nineteenth century. Luis Pasteur administered anthrax to sheep. Anthrax is a bacterial disease that affects the skin and lungs in sheep and cattle, so PasteurRead MoreArgumentary On Animals And Animal Rights1523 Words   |  7 Pagesclass was crazy! There was so much information regarding animal rights†¦ Sasha: I know. But I don’t know if any of that changed my views. I still think becoming a vegetarian is the way to go. Devon: You think? I still think that it is okay to eat meat. The animals just need to be raised in a humane manner. Sasha: Eh†¦I don’t know. Animals should just be left alone and be free to roam around in the wild. They should not be tortured like those animals that I saw while visiting that â€Å"kill floor†. Devon:Read MoreThe Ethics Of Animal And Animal Rights990 Words   |  4 PagesThe study of good and bad, right and wrong, moral principles or value held by a person or society, promoting human welfare, maximizing freedom minimizing pain and suffering is called ethics. The discipline that studies the moral relationship of human beings and also the value and moral status of the environment and its non-human contents is called environmental ethics. It considers the ethical relationship between the humans and the environment. Animal and animal rights are the highlighted topic inRead MoreHuman Rights : Animal Rights Essay1490 Words   |  6 Pages Animal Rights Name Institutional Affiliation â€Æ' Animal Rights Animal rights as well as animal welfare are different concepts that identify variant points in a continuum that extends from the exploitation of animals to the animal liberation. Animal rights can be perceived as the belief in the fact that humans have no right to take advantage of animals for their gains, in the farms, labs entertainment orRead MoreAnimal Rights And Human Rights923 Words   |  4 Pages Animal Rights â€Å"Nearly as many, 68 percent, were concerned or very concerned about the well-being of animals used in ‘sports’ or contests as well as animals in laboratories (67 percent) (Kretzer, 1).† Many people question whether an animal is capable of thought and emotions. Others feel as though animals are the equivalent of humans and should be treated as such. Since the 1800’s, animal rights has been a topic that has several different sides including two extremes. If animals can react to their