Ethical Issues on the Treatment of Animals Essay

The starting point of this essay is to establish and lay out an animal rights claim. The point here is not to solely list which specific rights animals have, as that goes beyond the scope of this essay, but to discuss why animals do in fact have a claim to rights, and what this means for humans. The need to understand the intrinsic, or inherent value of animals allows us to see the base from which their claim to rights is derived. Inherent value refers to the idea that animals are valuable in themselves, not in what they provide us. Tom Regan, an animal ethicist, sets out the moral grounding from which we can

For instance the household animals which we keep as pets have the right to live a happy fulfilled life, but the spider you washed down the stink or the slug you or a kid poured salt over did not because they are not a "higher" animal. Even though it might seem wrong or controversial for one to decide which are ‘higher’ animals, our society and government have decided this for us. For example household pets such as dogs and cats are hailed too much higher standards in the United States than Cows or Chickens. Which raises the question, is it ethically wrong for Animal rights activists to fight for the rights of some animals and not others?

Human morality and ethics aren’t always black and white, there is a grey area. And the crossing into this area is why certain animal rights activists raise questions. If we look into the Bible, it states “God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis I:28) This phrase states that human beings rule over the animals and God put these creatures on the

Michael Pollan’s, An Animal’s Place, analyzes the controversial topic of animal abuse while Pollan himself struggles to comprehend the relationship between humans and non-humans. Whether animals are used for food or clothing, Pollan’s impartial view of the moral ethics behind the treatment of animals acknowledges that we as readers are susceptible to influence and he encourages the questioning of our own beliefs. Rather than succumbing to Singer’s, All Animals are Equal demands of making it our “Moral obligation to cease supporting the practice” (pg.4), Pollan conveys the benefits as well as the concerns to the consummation of animals. From the personal connection Pollan establishes with his readers, his progressive beliefs

Virtue ethics is a normative theory whose foundations were laid by Aristotle. This theory approaches normative ethics in substantially different ways than consequentialist and deontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I will address it separately. This is the fundamental difference between acting ethically within utilitarianism, egoism, and Kantianism. And being ethical within virtue ethics. The other theories seek to define the ethics of actions while virtue ethics does not judge actions in any way. The other theories deal with how we should act, while virtue ethics determines how we should be.

The subject of morality and ethics is a topic that so many individuals have difficulty understanding: and practicing. Many factor come in to place when thinking of one’s knowledge to treat or behave in an ethical and moral way to consider the feeling of others. Thus, an individual’s culture, religion, and environment may hinder the general idea of morality. In the interview of Martin Luther King Jr: Speech Civil Disobedience and obeying Just vs Unjust laws; he discusses how some laws that have been created: do not make right just because there laws. Likewise, Michael Pollan: An Animal’s Place talks about animal cruelty, and how animals should been have the same rights as human beings. Additionally, new laws can be created to adjust to new ethical and moral laws; that would benefit the way of living for humans and animals.

Catholic views on animal abuse is varied greatly. The ‘traditional’ view is that humans are made in a different image than animals. It proclaims that humans have been given ‘dominion’ over nature, meaning humans can use animals in accordance to their own needs (gen 1:28). However, many Catholics disagree and believe that God gave human ‘stewardship’ over the animals, which means we are put on this Earth to look after and care for God’s creation (Luke 12:6). There are a number of Catholic authorities that discourage animal abuse;

Regan, Tom. "Animal Rights, Human Wrongs." Forming a Critical Perspective. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 336-40. Print.

Inconsistencies in attitudes and behaviors towards animals largely accounts for why animals are a social issue. In the Article Having Our Dogs and Eating Them Too: Why Animals Are a Social Issue by James A. Serpell various excerpts are presented in order to represent topics such as the reasons behind animal beliefs and their uses, aspects of the “benefits” animals present, and views of the putative relationship between animal abuse and interpersonal violence. Both Internal and external factors affecting how people use animals and their beliefs regarding human-animal relationships are presented in the article. Internal factors include things such as human superiority and the mental capacity of animals. External factors include group membership

Both in and out of philosophical circle, animals have traditionally been seen as significantly different from, and inferior to, humans because they lacked a certain intangible quality – reason, moral agency, or consciousness – that made them moral agents. Recently however, society has patently begun to move beyond this strong anthropocentric notion and has begun to reach for a more adequate set of moral categories for guiding, assessing and constraining our treatment of other animals. As a growing proportion of the populations in western countries adopts the general position of animal liberation, more and more philosophers are beginning to agree that sentient creatures are of a direct moral concern to humans, though the degree of this

Author Gary Steiner is a philosophy professor at Bucknell University. Also, a devout vegan, he has focused much of his recent works on the notion of animal rights. In his essay “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable,” he confronts the cruel and immoral abuses animals face from their human counterparts. He does so in a profound manner, reaching through the pages of his essay to really get those wheels turning in his reader 's minds. His primary goal in writing this essay is to get people to focus on the important issue—to re-evaluate years and years of socialized thinking that humans are superior to animals. He even addresses one of the common excuses humans use to justify killing animals, “animals are meant for human consumption.” How do we know this? Because our culture and the bible tell us it is OK. But is that simply enough? Steiner insists that it’s improper to raise animals in a life of confinement and fattening only to face the butcher 's knife in the end. Not to mention that many of the basic products consumers purchase at their local stores contain animal elements of some sort. Many of whom are completely unaware and wouldn’t think twice about them containing any sort of animal byproduct. But after reading this essay, one might want to consider thinking again.

Throughout history morality has been a topic of intense debate. Innumerable thinkers have devoted immense amounts of time and energy to the formulation of various ethical theories intended to assist humans in their daily lives. These theories set out guidelines which help to determine the rightness or wrongness of any given action and can therefore illuminate which choice would be morally beneficial. And while many of these theories differ substantially, most have at least one common underlying principle, namely that humans deserve to be treated with a certain level of respect. This idea comes from the belief that all humans have interests which are significant enough to be considered, hence no one should impede another

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with non-human animals. This relationship has always benefitted the needs of humans, with little consideration for animals’ needs. Some animals are tortured for entertainment, some are butchered for food and others are taken from their habitat and family, and forced to be pets for humans. These are all examples of the ways humans have exploited animals for their own satisfaction. Hal Herzog’s essay “Animals Like Us” describes the complicated relationship that humans and animals have, and how difficult it is to determine what is ethical when dealing with animals. Jonathan Safran Foer makes a similar observation in his essay “The Fruits of Family Trees” of the ethical issues in the

third world. Singer feels that since the people of the third world are so far

Since adopting my dog I agonized over whether or not to spay her. After six years the decision was taken out of my hands when she nearly died. When I adopted my dog from a local shelter, the staff there assured me she was fixed. Two months later small drops of blood appeared everywhere in my house and I realized my dog was intact --- and in heat. I was faced with deciding whether or not to put her through major surgery. Although every dog care book I 'd read urged pet owners to fix their animals, I couldn 't imagine putting mine through such an ordeal. Especially since she seemed to have a sensitive temperament. She 'd already been through the pain of abandonment and, based on some fearful behaviors, possible mistreatment. Making the decision to remove all her healthy reproductive organs and cause her even temporary pain seemed barbaric. How could I do such a thing to a healthy animal? I also was concerned about consequences the operation could have on her health and her obedient, loving behavior. As the years passed I decided much of what I read about the importance of spaying dogs was just hype, directed at irresponsible dog owners. I 'd always read that male dogs from every corner of town would find their way onto my doorstep when my dog went into heat. No male dogs ever showed up on my property. I 'd also read that dogs in heat make a terrible mess. My dog was pretty thorough about constantly licking herself clean. True, while she was in heat there were tiny droplets