More than 150 billion animals are slaughtered each year. Compare that to the 13,000 people that were murdered just last year. Now obviously it is not feasible to take those two statistics into consideration when talking about the feelings of animals. But philosopher Peter Singer is right to claim that human suffering and animal suffering should be given equal consideration. Australian philosopher, Peter Singer, starts off his argument by comparing the ethics behind women’s rights to that of animal rights. His retribution is that if the argument for equality was sound when applied to women, why should it not be applied to animals also? Now you might be wondering how this is a valid argument. But keep in mind that before 1920 women were not
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In other words, utilitarianism deals with sentientism, being able to perceive or feel things. Bentham goes on to defend the rights of animals by stating that the interests of every being affected by any action are to be taken into account and given the same weight as the like interests of any other being. For example, Bentham uses the analogy of an inanimate object, such as kicking a stone. A young child kicks a stone. Does that stone feel pain? Of course not. A stone does not have interests because it does not suffer. Humans, as well as nonhuman animals, do feel pain; therefore they do suffer. How do we know that animals feel pain? Obviously they cannot verbally express their pain in the way that humans do. But countless number of studies have been tested on nonhuman animal brain functions while going through strenuous tests. After extensive studies, it has been proven that nonhuman animals share many characteristics of the brain when inflicted with pain. Initial rise of blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration, and increased pulse rate are just some of these characteristics. French philosopher, René Descartes developed the term “unconscious automata”, which is the idea …show more content…
English writer, Lord Chesterfield, strongly believed in this. His argumentation was that he appealed nature, rather than God. Of course, during his time, the late 15th, early 16th century, dietary planning was not of the most important essence. Animals were eaten and not given a real care for. Lord Chesterfield is what Singer would call a “speciesist”. Speciesism is defined as “prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially : discrimination against animals” (Merriam-Webster). Hunters and farmers would be the best example of a speciesist. An argument that a speciesist makes is that while most politically correct may not want to go out and hunt for their own food, they are saving money. Like stated before, most of the world eats meat and it would be nearly impossible to make the entire globe change their dietary habits. So even if you are not physically harming the animal, you are just as guilty as the one that is. So instead of pointing fingers and making accusations against the corporate factory farmers. Forget about food, even the clothes and accessories we buy and wear aren’t all made out of vegetarian organic materials. The leather shoes we buy, the wool sweater we wear, all come from an animal. Now whether or not we are physically there shaving the sheep for it’s wool, but we might as will be holding the razor when we throw
In other words, utilitarianism deals with sentientism, being able to perceive or feel things. Bentham goes on to defend the rights of animals by stating that the interests of every being affected by any action are to be taken into account and given the same weight as the like interests of any other being. For example, Bentham uses the analogy of an inanimate object, such as kicking a stone. A young child kicks a stone. Does that stone feel pain? Of course not. A stone does not have interests because it does not suffer. Humans, as well as nonhuman animals, do feel pain; therefore they do suffer. How do we know that animals feel pain? Obviously they cannot verbally express their pain in the way that humans do. But countless number of studies have been tested on nonhuman animal brain functions while going through strenuous tests. After extensive studies, it has been proven that nonhuman animals share many characteristics of the brain when inflicted with pain. Initial rise of blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration, and increased pulse rate are just some of these characteristics. French philosopher, René Descartes developed the term “unconscious automata”, which is the idea …show more content…
English writer, Lord Chesterfield, strongly believed in this. His argumentation was that he appealed nature, rather than God. Of course, during his time, the late 15th, early 16th century, dietary planning was not of the most important essence. Animals were eaten and not given a real care for. Lord Chesterfield is what Singer would call a “speciesist”. Speciesism is defined as “prejudice or discrimination based on species; especially : discrimination against animals” (Merriam-Webster). Hunters and farmers would be the best example of a speciesist. An argument that a speciesist makes is that while most politically correct may not want to go out and hunt for their own food, they are saving money. Like stated before, most of the world eats meat and it would be nearly impossible to make the entire globe change their dietary habits. So even if you are not physically harming the animal, you are just as guilty as the one that is. So instead of pointing fingers and making accusations against the corporate factory farmers. Forget about food, even the clothes and accessories we buy and wear aren’t all made out of vegetarian organic materials. The leather shoes we buy, the wool sweater we wear, all come from an animal. Now whether or not we are physically there shaving the sheep for it’s wool, but we might as will be holding the razor when we throw