Do Animals Have Rights...a Philosophical View - 4001 Words

Do Animals Have Rights? Should animals be harmed to benefit mankind? This pressing question has been around for at least the past two centuries. During the early nineteenth century, animal experiments emerged as an important method of science and, in fact, marked the birth of experimental physiology and neuroscience as we currently know it. There were, however, guidelines that existed even back then which restricted the conditions of experimentation. These early rules protected the animals, in the sense that all procedures performed were done so with as little pain as possible and solely to investigate new truths. Adopting the animals perspectives, they would probably not agree that these types of regulations were much†¦show more content†¦There are many viewpoints concerning this issue that need to be dealt with in order to fully grasp the mindset of those so deeply involved in the struggle to determine what, if any, rights that animals possess. Tom Regan, a professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University and one of the leading proponents of this theory, claims that animals have rights Ââ€" the right to be treated in a certain way. Regan claims that animals have preferences, goals, and most importantly, mental states that enter into the explanation of their behavior. In his words, animals are subjects of a life just like humans and each subject of life contains inherent value. What Regan means by this is that by performing experiments on animals, you are reducing them to mere tools and violating their basic rights. He justifies his theory by using an example containing the retarded and insane. He says that if these types of persons are allowed moral rights, despite their inability to think rationally, then all mammals should have moral rights. Also, he states that discriminating on the basis of species is really fundamentally just the same moral mistake as discrimination on the basis of race or sex. Discriminating on these terms is morally irrelevan t and fails to accord equal consideration, states Regan. Another theory that is against cruelty to animals in suchShow MoreRelated My Educational Philosophy Essay972 Words   |  4 Pages My Educational Philosophy Plato/Socrates and Rousseau have become major philosophical approaches. All these opinions are different compared to mine. Some are the same and some are different. I do agree with some of the philosophers’ points, but some I disagree with. My philosophical view relates to some of the philosophers views. First, Socrates (469-399 B.C.) view is on asking students repeatedly questions to make them rethink what they believe. 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