Moral Treatment of Animals and Humans: A Discussion of the Focus of Morality. Name Class Date Moral Treatment of Animals and Humans: A Discussion of the Focus of Morality. The treatment of creatures that are not human is the subject of an article by Bonnie Steinbock where she focuses her ideas on the idea of the link between treatment of a being and their equality to the human race. In focusing her argument on equality, she attempts to show that creatures are not human and there for do not have the right to the same kind of humane treatment that humans are given. Her focus on the argument and the counterarguments are on the recipient of treatment rather than the morality of the giver of treatment.
Running head : LEARNED HELPLESSNESS Learned Helplessness Name :Course :Instructor :University :Date Abstract Learned helplessness is a psychological phenomenon that was discovered by Seligman and others during their experiments with animals . They observed that it is possible for both animals as well as humans to develop helplessness if subjected to seemingly inescapable and negative circumstances . This helplessness would persist even when the circumstances change and the animal or human were able to liberate themselves . This theory has found wide application in psychology . This paper delves into the theory and examines its origin , and its applications .Introduction :Learned helplessness is a psychological , behavioral and cognitive deficit theory that seeks to explain a condition in which humans or animals have preconditioned their minds to believe that they are helpless in specific instances and situations .
The author also talks about the protesters and the problems they have given to the companies that have any relation with animal testing. The authors clearly support the testing done to the animals. Alex Epstein and Yaron Brook constantly use ethos, and logos to support their argument of animal rights groups acting like “terrorists”(Epstein & Brook 604) and their support of animal testing. Yaron Brook is the president and executive director of Ayn Rand institute. Brook is a philosopher who works for Ayn Rand Institute which is an organization that advertises Ayn Rand's philosophy and novels of objectivism.
Food Inc. Animals are living beings and should be treated with decency in our society. I think that people often see animals as inferior creatures because they are not like us. However they are living creatures that depend on the same sources and basic needs to survive on this planet. For this reason alone, I believe that humans should treat animals with more decency.
We will not make them suffer long painful deaths. Ethical treatment of animals can be solved using the deontology theory. “Deontology focuses on what we are obligated to do as rational moral agents. It is particularly important to see that the deontologist does not say that actions do not have consequences; rather, the deontologist insists that actions should not be evaluated on the basis of the action's consequences (Mossler, 2010).“ One example of the deontology theory in action is your livestock is being attacked by a wild animal. In efforts to protect your livestock you shoot and kill the wild animal.
A further strength of measuring observable behaviours is that data is easier to quantify and collect making carrying out statistical tests easier. A weakness of behaviourism is that many of behaviourist theories have come from being tested on animals; for example skinners experiments on operant conditioning using pigeons. This makes the results less valid because humans are so much more complex than animals; animals only rely on basic natural instincts: food, reproduction, survival. So the research may not actually be applicable to humans. However, carrying out research on animals means that important theories can be tested that would otherwise be too wrong to test on humans.
It leads to some more serious questions indicated in his next paragraph: do we have the right to exploit animals? where should we draw the line? After expressing all his personal experience, Suzuki advances his argument. After Suzuki’s description of his personal anecdotes, he incorporates some other examples and quotations to help solidify his thesis. At first, he talks about how different it is to observe the whales rove in the wild comparing to those he had seen in the Vancouver Public Aquarium.
Although those who seek to end animal research – either because they choose to reject its well established usefulness or because they believe the life of a rat is equal in importance to that of a child – persist in their efforts to sabotage medical research with break-ins, thefts, arsons, harassment and intimidation of researchers, there can be no question that there is a great need for animals in medical research to prevent deadly diseases, to ensure the safety of the general public of unstable cosmetics and household products that are used every
Our environment shapes how our genes affect us though. Genes work in mysterious ways and we may not enjoy what the give to us. Good or bad, genes are what turn on nurture so our environment can shape who we are, how we behave, and possibly who we love. Ridley certainly backs his theories with much evidence and this book strongly displays his opinion of how nature brings about nurture. From the text, I gathered that Ridley wrote The Agile Gene from a biological perspective of psychology.
The fact of the matter is that the animal products we buy are the source of considerable pain and cruelty. Yet, animal-based products are ubiquitous. People have no other choice but to submit to the societal norm that places humans above animals. The inherent value of life therefore has its double standards. For instance, pro-life proponents emphasize the importance of life as an intrinsic value derived from their religious principles.