What do we own the animals and how and why do we owe it to them?
According to Kant we do not owe animals anything as he puts it "Animals... are there
merely as a means to an end. That end is man."(emp130) I think the way he sees it is
that animals do not have the capacity to understand, to make reason. When a dog is
taught something like not to urinate in the house, they understand that doing this will get
them in trouble, but do they really don't understand why doing this is wrong. This relates
to his statement that "Mere animals, who lack reason, are not responsible for their
actions"(emp138). To him animals are here for our ends, to owe them nothing.
According to Peter Singer we owe animals the same respect as humans. He believes that
there are always differences between species to include men and women.
Human cheek cells
Papio anubis (olive or anubis baboon)
Human cheek cellsWe are all
different, men do not worry about the right to have an abortion. So animals even though
they are different still deserve the same respect, just in a different view. There is also
the issue of suffering of animals. Some think that making animals suffer to provide our
satisfaction is not morally correct. Using an animal for expieriments is wrong. We would
not expieriment on humans so why should we on animals.
Peter Singer uses the analogy of how we uprise in liberation to change
the way we see and treat other human beings, then goes on to compare
"The Rights of Animals" to women's rights. He asks why animals should
not have the same rights as women, as well as every human being. Why was
the women's right movement accepted, but the animal rights not. The
opposition might reply that nonhumans do not have...