HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS 1 How
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS How We View Pets and Other Animals Chris Uhlemeyer PHI208: Ethics and Moral Reasoning Elliott Crozat 22 March 2015
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HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
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We look at our pets with love and affection while other animals aren't always treated the same. The fact of the matter is that many of us see our pets as best friends, or even a member of the family. I personally see that with my dog, Abby. She is a member of the family and the family will ensure that is safe and medically taken care of, no matter what the bills cost. Not everyone feels that strongly about their pets, though. In fact some households have pets and then animals that serve a sole purpose such as to provide food or to make work on a farm easier. Do they look at the pets differently from the worker animals? Should they? A working farm has the typical animals, cows, pigs, chickens, horses, etc. They each serve a specific purpose or multiple purposes depending. Typically the farmer doesn’t look onto these animals with any particular favor. The animal is there to work and it if it can ‘t serve its purpose, it may even be put down to make room for an animal who can earn its keep. On the other hand, that same farmer may have a dog that he loves very much and would never dream of replacing it. Why is there affection for the dog but the cow he couldn’t care less about? The cow is there to be milked and graze. The cow doesn’t’ show much emotion, it just stands there all day while the dog is rambunctious, has what seems like a personality, it shows affection, its excited when the farmer comes home. The dog knows when its in trouble and can sense when something is wrong. Is this why he cares more about the dog than the other animals? He can relate to the dog, talk to it and it will understand him to a certain point. The pigs just wallow in dirt and when they are eventually big enough, slaughtered for their meat. The chickens lay the eggs, and the rooster is the clichéd alarm clock.
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Should the worker animals have the same “rights” as the farmer’s domesticated dog? Should we treat them as we treat ourselves? In the article “All animals are equal” Singer, P. (1989), Singer says that the rights of animals has been used to parody the case for women’s rights when in centuries past, the idea of women having rights was considered ridiculous. He goes on to say that we people have a “mental switch” when we are considering animals. I agree with this in that we really do think of other species differently. Maybe it is wrong to think that one being has more importance than another. It seems that we just automatically, or maybe even instinctively think this way, without thinking about it at all. In the textbook Mosser, K (2013). Understanding Philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education chapter 6 discusses animal rights as well. It touched on the subject of dogfights and how Americans react negatively to such a sport but then in other countries acts such as dogfights and bullfights are regularly enjoyed. When we hear about a dogfight we think about our own dog or dogs in general and feel badly because many of us have a pre disposition to feel for dogs. Of course dogs aren’t the only animals to receive our love. Cats, hamsters, really anything can be a pet. Exotic animals can be found in many households and these animals are adored just the same. Now a snake doesn’t have the personality traits of a dog or cat but they are special to their owners in their own way. If a friend were to come over though who has a phobia of snakes they may look onto it with disdain, its not the friend’s pet and it never would be. Whether an animal is a beloved pet or an ant crawling across the concrete, they all serve some sort of purpose. Some of us love all animals and some of us don’t want to have
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
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anything to do with them. The point is that our pets are our pets, and the others while still significant, they don’t always make the cut into the family photo.
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS References Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Singer, P. (1989). All animals are equal. In T. Regan & P. Singer (Eds.), Animal rights and human obligations (pp. 148-162). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/singer.pdf
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HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
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We look at our pets with love and affection while other animals aren't always treated the same. The fact of the matter is that many of us see our pets as best friends, or even a member of the family. I personally see that with my dog, Abby. She is a member of the family and the family will ensure that is safe and medically taken care of, no matter what the bills cost. Not everyone feels that strongly about their pets, though. In fact some households have pets and then animals that serve a sole purpose such as to provide food or to make work on a farm easier. Do they look at the pets differently from the worker animals? Should they? A working farm has the typical animals, cows, pigs, chickens, horses, etc. They each serve a specific purpose or multiple purposes depending. Typically the farmer doesn’t look onto these animals with any particular favor. The animal is there to work and it if it can ‘t serve its purpose, it may even be put down to make room for an animal who can earn its keep. On the other hand, that same farmer may have a dog that he loves very much and would never dream of replacing it. Why is there affection for the dog but the cow he couldn’t care less about? The cow is there to be milked and graze. The cow doesn’t’ show much emotion, it just stands there all day while the dog is rambunctious, has what seems like a personality, it shows affection, its excited when the farmer comes home. The dog knows when its in trouble and can sense when something is wrong. Is this why he cares more about the dog than the other animals? He can relate to the dog, talk to it and it will understand him to a certain point. The pigs just wallow in dirt and when they are eventually big enough, slaughtered for their meat. The chickens lay the eggs, and the rooster is the clichéd alarm clock.
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
3
Should the worker animals have the same “rights” as the farmer’s domesticated dog? Should we treat them as we treat ourselves? In the article “All animals are equal” Singer, P. (1989), Singer says that the rights of animals has been used to parody the case for women’s rights when in centuries past, the idea of women having rights was considered ridiculous. He goes on to say that we people have a “mental switch” when we are considering animals. I agree with this in that we really do think of other species differently. Maybe it is wrong to think that one being has more importance than another. It seems that we just automatically, or maybe even instinctively think this way, without thinking about it at all. In the textbook Mosser, K (2013). Understanding Philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education chapter 6 discusses animal rights as well. It touched on the subject of dogfights and how Americans react negatively to such a sport but then in other countries acts such as dogfights and bullfights are regularly enjoyed. When we hear about a dogfight we think about our own dog or dogs in general and feel badly because many of us have a pre disposition to feel for dogs. Of course dogs aren’t the only animals to receive our love. Cats, hamsters, really anything can be a pet. Exotic animals can be found in many households and these animals are adored just the same. Now a snake doesn’t have the personality traits of a dog or cat but they are special to their owners in their own way. If a friend were to come over though who has a phobia of snakes they may look onto it with disdain, its not the friend’s pet and it never would be. Whether an animal is a beloved pet or an ant crawling across the concrete, they all serve some sort of purpose. Some of us love all animals and some of us don’t want to have
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
4
anything to do with them. The point is that our pets are our pets, and the others while still significant, they don’t always make the cut into the family photo.
HOW WE VIEW PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS References Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Singer, P. (1989). All animals are equal. In T. Regan & P. Singer (Eds.), Animal rights and human obligations (pp. 148-162). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/singer.pdf
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