|
|
Chapter 2 Animal Rights History
Snappy Page Essence 'Animals are made for human use' is the traditional attitude of Western society. This view of human-animal relations has a long tradition extending from at least Old Testament times up to Darwin (1809 - 1882). Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) thought animals exist to provide humans with food and other provisions; Aquinas (1225 - 1274) claimed killing animals is acceptable and we can treat them in any way useful to us; and Descartes (1596 - 1650) asserted that animal are mindless robots that cannot suffer, the corollary being that we can do almost anything to them.People have argued about human-animal relations at least since Ancient Greece. Darwin significantly advanced the debate by showing that humans evolved from animals. Thus if humans have moral status then animals might have it too. People have always had to emphasise differences between man and beast to maintain and defend their belief in human superiority.
Are animals made solely for human use? History says yes. Modernity is not so sure.
Rationally inclined people assert that animals lack reason, intelligence, language and creativity. Spiritually inclined people believe animals are not made in the 'image of God' and, although some of them appreciate and admire animals as God's creatures, many of them are largely unresponsive to animal misfortune and distress. People generally protect some animals, but only if the animals belong to people as property.Darwin, however, significantly helped begin the demolition of human centredness by convincingly arguing that animals and humans evolved from the same ancestors (although he did not dare publish this overtly). Common evolutionary descent explains why humans share the same appearance as animals, especially with the apes. The notion of a common evolution of humans and primates shocked the Victorian public of Darwin's time but his evolutionary theory in outline is widely accepted today. Thus an ethical dilemma arose. Animals and humans are similar. Therefore if humans have moral status then animals should have moral status too. For most of the history of Western philosophy just about everyone passed off the moral status of animals as a trivial and insignificant question. However, since the 1970's an energetic debate has been waging about animal moral status, ignited by firebrand philosophers such as Peter Singer. The animal moral status debate is founded on basic, common moral principles: it is wrong to cause suffering and it is wrong to discriminate against others by giving greater importance to your own group. Apply these principles consistently, says Singer, and they lead to the logical conclusion that we should morally treat animals like humans, provided the animals have relevant similarities with humans. Some animal oriented philosophers say the only important morally relevant similarity of animals with humans is that both can feel pain and suffer, that they are sentient. With this in mind the celebrated English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) is often quoted:
"The day may come, when the rest of the animal creation may acquire the rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. ...the question is not, Can they reason? not, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"
So we must distinguish the relevant similarities of animals and humans (for instance sentiency) and not use inaccurate attributes to justify excluding animals from our moral consideration. Relevant similarities in moral terms boil down to basic requirements, such as the right to reproduce and pass on your genes, the right to liberty and the right not to be forced to suffer for the gain of others (as in experimentation and factory farming).J Bentham: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. 1789, Chapter xvii.However, many people today still cannot accept animals on the same moral level as humanity, even while acknowledging the contributions by Darwin. Nevertheless, thanks to Singer and some fellow philosophers, it is said that there is more controversy and discussion about animals in recent years than during the whole of past time. ›› To Entries & Home |