Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Human/Non-Human Animals
According to the readings in the Animal Ethics Reader, there are many distinctions between human and non-human animals. In my opinion, what distinguishes human animals from non-human animals is our ability to speak and communicate with other humans. The fact that non-human animals lack language suggests that they are inferior to human animals and do not really deserve rights. Not only do non-human animals lack language but they also lack the ability to plan and set goals for the future which is just one of the many characteristics humans have that non-human animals do not. Like Aristotle, I believe that non-human animals exist for the good of man.
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According to Peter Singer on page 36 of the Animal Ethics Reader, African Americans were once not considered to be human and were treated terribly because of their difference in skin color, just like animals are being treated terribly today because they are different from humans. Just because they cannot read or right does not make animals of different species inferior to humans. At one point most slaves could not read or write and people outside of their culture could not understand their language. When you listen to someone talking in a language that you do not understand today, you cannot say that they are not human based on this observation. This is because animals do have a language, even if it is much different than that of humans and as a result we cant understand it. For example, bees have certain dances that they perform to relay to the rest of the colony where they found honey.
I disagree with this post because I believe that animals do have a form of language and communication. In a combination of what Josephine Donovan wrote on page 50 and Peter Singer wrote on page 42 of their essays, animals do indeed communicate. Whether that communication is through actions or some sort of vocal noise, it is there. If an animal is hurt or in pain its behavior will show how it is feeling either by vocalizing through yelps or whines or tending to the cause of the pain physically. A dog might show its owner that he is hungry or needs to be let outside by barking or nudging its owner with its paw, but it effectively shows the owner that the dog needs something. This shows that animals do communicate. Humans may not understand their “language” but there is communication that goes on. I also disagree with the statement about animals existing for the good of man. I believe that animals exist because, without them, the world would not be able to be the wonderful habitat that humans, animals, and plants share.
I disagree with this post because of Josephine Donovan's care theory, in which we are supposed to listen to animals and care about what they are telling us. As Donovan said, " I will argue, a matter of caring for animals as mothers (human and nonhuman) care for their infants as it is one of listening to animals, paying emotional attention, taking seriously - caring about- what they are telling us." This shows that animals have there own type of language that we can easily read. Just because they don't use the English language doesn't mean we can't understand animals feelings. Their movements and expressions can show emotions that they are having.
I disagree that non-human animals lack language. Non-human animals can communicate with each other. They may not speak the English language, but they have their own individual form of language in which they communicate with their own species. They also have goals for the future and do things that will benefit their own well-being. As Peter Singer said, "The fact that beings are not members of our species does not entitle us to exploit them"(Singer, 36).
I disagree with this post because I believe that animals have their own languages. Scientific research has shown that animals, such as dolphins and whales communicate through sound while traveling in packs. Likewise, have you ever noticed that when one dog in the neighborhood barks, then every other dog begins to bark? Who are we to say that they are not actually speaking to each other? I can't understand someone speaking French, but I know that they are communicating with me. It is true that it might simply be tones and sound inflections, but their are aboriginal tribes that speak simply in clicks. I think that language is not the ultimate barrier. Donovan says that we need to, "learn to read the language of the natural world (50)," which is a very true statement.
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