The topic of this paper is the animal rights movement. This issue of animal rights appealed to many people, creating such a powerful movement that is still growing and fighting for the rights of animals today. These social movements have the power to spark huge changes within societies, legislation, and the lives of many living beings.
Rise of the Movement The fight for animal rights is one that has been going on for centuries. “The new emphasis upon animals ' feelings of sensation in the eighteenth century brought growing criticism of some forms of cruelty. Doubts about the ethics of castrating domestic animals were raised as early as 1714." (Guither, 1998, p.1) According to Guither (1998), London was the first to encourage the prevention …show more content…
These arguments include liberating the animal, analysis of animal rights, the least harm principle, and even a continued path of violence that could eventually be directed towards people. There are both moral and ethical reasoning as to why we should not harm animals and consider consuming a vegan diet. The concept of least harm studies how many animals would die if we adopted a vegan diet, and alternatives are all discussed. This concept states that “whenever we find ourselves in a situation where all the options at hand will produce some harm to those who are innocent, we must choose that option that will result in the least total sum of harm.” (Davis, n.d., p.388) Although a vegan diet does not go without harm to animals, it is the least harmful to them. It causes the “least harm ... to animals [through] the production of a plant-based diet, because then at least you wouldn’t be killing both the animals of the farm and those of the field, thus supporting the conclusion that humans are morally obligated to consume a vegan diet.” (Davis, n.d., p.388) A question we could ask ourselves is why would one want to create the least amount of harm to animals? Because they feel guilt? Because they know it is “bad”? Does society play a role in this? Perhaps this is why such a large number of animal rights movements have occurred over
Rise of the Movement The fight for animal rights is one that has been going on for centuries. “The new emphasis upon animals ' feelings of sensation in the eighteenth century brought growing criticism of some forms of cruelty. Doubts about the ethics of castrating domestic animals were raised as early as 1714." (Guither, 1998, p.1) According to Guither (1998), London was the first to encourage the prevention …show more content…
These arguments include liberating the animal, analysis of animal rights, the least harm principle, and even a continued path of violence that could eventually be directed towards people. There are both moral and ethical reasoning as to why we should not harm animals and consider consuming a vegan diet. The concept of least harm studies how many animals would die if we adopted a vegan diet, and alternatives are all discussed. This concept states that “whenever we find ourselves in a situation where all the options at hand will produce some harm to those who are innocent, we must choose that option that will result in the least total sum of harm.” (Davis, n.d., p.388) Although a vegan diet does not go without harm to animals, it is the least harmful to them. It causes the “least harm ... to animals [through] the production of a plant-based diet, because then at least you wouldn’t be killing both the animals of the farm and those of the field, thus supporting the conclusion that humans are morally obligated to consume a vegan diet.” (Davis, n.d., p.388) A question we could ask ourselves is why would one want to create the least amount of harm to animals? Because they feel guilt? Because they know it is “bad”? Does society play a role in this? Perhaps this is why such a large number of animal rights movements have occurred over