All Animals Are Equal By Peter Singer - 1915 Words

If a farmer breeds cows, treats them as well as possible, and then kills them as painlessly as possible at age three for food, utilitarians and sentientist Kantians alike would believe this is morally justifiable. Utilitarians believe that humans should do what maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain, so while the cows may have an immediate interest in avoiding suffering, they have lived a happy life and have no concept of death, so painlessly killing and eating them would not be morally wrong. Sentientist Kantians would also believe that there is nothing wrong with killing the cows for food because Kantians believe that, given that there was no cruelty involved with raising and killing the cows, the cows are merely a means to an end. In†¦show more content†¦However, if the animals were treated well and were killed painlessly, that would not be morally wrong because, in this case, eating meat is only wrong when the animals are not treated as well as they could be. Singer believes that every sentient being should receive equal consideration, but he is aware that humans and non-human animals do not deserve the same rights because different beings have different interests (Singer 149). An example Singer gives is that it would not be wrong to deny dogs the right to vote because dogs are incapable of understanding the significance of voting, so they cannot have the right to vote, but it would be wrong to deny a dog’s interest in not suffering since dogs have a strong interest in avoiding pain (Singer 149). The utilitarian position only objects to suffering, not to killing, so Singer argues that the moral permissiveness of killing the cows depends on whether or not the cows have an interest in continuing to exist in the future. Since cows are non-self-conscious and do not have an interest in continuing to exist into the future, painlessly killing them would not be morally wrong. In order for a being to have an interest in continuing to exist in the future, it must first be able to conceive of itself as existing into the future, which requires the being to be self-conscious, according to Michael Tooley in â€Å"Are Nonhuman Animals Persons?† (358). Non-self-conscious beings are not harmed by their deathsShow MoreRelatedAll Animals Are Equal By Peter Singer1487 Words   |  6 PagesIn Peter Singer’s piece â€Å"All Animals Are Equal†, he begins his argument by an in-depth consideration of notable rights movements, such as the Black Liberation and women’s right s movement, then segues into the justification for equal consideration of rights regarding animals, before finally exposing the immorality behind factory farming and animal cruelty. According to Singer, â€Å"the basic principle of equality†¦is equality of consideration; and equal consideration for different beings may lead to differentRead MoreThe Rhetorical Analysis Of Peter Singer, All Animals Are Equal977 Words   |  4 PagesSinger, All Animals are Equal In order to understand Peter Singers article All Animals Are Equal, one has to look at his viewpoint and perspective. Singer is a utilitarian, which is someone who believes that best outcome is something that causes that greatest amount of pleasure (or the least amount of pain) for the greatest number of people. However, in this definition the word people is used, as to mean only humans. This is the point that Singer is trying to argue. Who is to say that animalsRead MoreCompare Tom Regan, Carl Cohen and Peter Singer in Terms of Animal Rights813 Words   |  4 PagesSynthesis Tom Regan, Carl Cohen, Peter Singer Animal rights are one of the most controversial issues today. There has been endless debate about whether or not animals have rights. Philosophers attempt to come up with the moral conclusions by taking in account the many different standpoints and presenting their related arguments. In his essay â€Å"The case of animal rights†, Tom Regan, a professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University, defends his view that the center of our moral concernRead MoreThe Origin Of Speciesism By Peter Singer1025 Words   |  5 PagesThe Origin of Speciesism] Singer draws parallels between specicism and racism through comparing the grounds on which whose interests and suffering takes precedence. Singer believes that discarding the moral status of animal concerns in their exploitation as they are not of our species and therefore insignificant, mimics that of the prejudice of white slave owners against discarding the moral status of the interests and suffering of their African Slaves [Peter Singer Practical Ethics, 2nd edition]Read MoreEssay on ANIMAL RIGHTS790 Words   |  4 PagesAnimals have their own rights as do to humans and we should respect that and give them the same respect we give each other. Animals deserve to be given those same basic rights as humans. All humans are considered equal and ethical principles and legal statutes should protect the rights of animals to live according to their own nature and remain free from exploitation. This paper is going to argue that animals deserve to have the same rights as humans and therefore, we don’t have the right to killRead MoreEqually Consider This1419 Words   |  6 PagesIn Peter Singer’s All Animals are Equal, he presents an argument for equal consideration for members of nonhuman species, otherwise known as animals. In this paper, I will argue that Singer’s argument does not prove that animals are deserving of equal consideration because it contains a premise that is not obviously true. The premise I believe to be inadequately supported is the premise that there is no property that all human sentient creatures have that not all sentient creatures have that wouldRead MoreArgument Against Animal Experimentation : Peter Singer And Tom Regan1035 Words   |  5 PagesExperimentation on animals has been a controversial issue for hundreds of years and is still a major issue today. However, we have continued to experiment on animals to test the effects of products such as makeup. Both Peter Singer and Tom Regan would have strong opinions against this experimentation, but they would also have different ways of expressing their view on the topic. They have expressed that animals should be considered to a certain extent that humans and other animals should be treatedRead MoreThe Canadian Inuit And Animals For Supplies1038 Words   |  5 Pages For many of years animal activists have been trying to put a stop to all animal hunting, abuse, using animals for supplies. The problem with doing this is that it may effect a large amount of people who live off of these animals, in particularly the seal. The Canadian Inuit is a large group of people about 46,000 people as an estimation, that use seals as a multi source. The Canadian Inuit use the seal for a source of cash through fur sales, they used the seal for meat, and once used seal forRead MoreEthical Issue Of Animal Testing For Medical Research961 Words   |  4 Pageshe ethical issue of animal testing for medical testing is not new, for example the majority of the common vaccines were developed because medical research that utilized animal testing. Many philosophers have attempted to explain the rights of animals and some wrote on the lack of inherent rights. This issue is difficult because animals can’t speak for themselves but humans do have a place to play in th e fight for animal rights. I will apply the principle of utility along with the moral theories ofRead MoreEqual Rights for Animals in Peter Singer’s Article, All Animals are Equal652 Words   |  3 Pages In Peter Singer’s article, All Animals are Equal, Singer claims that animals deserve the same equal rights and respect that the human lives get. His strongest argument is defined by all animals, human or non-human shall be defined as equal. Singer makes some very strong arguments within his article, but I feel some of his statements are humanist. As an animal lover and mother to two pets, I disagree that not all animals or living things endure the same amount. However, I do agree that animals