Animal Rights Essays (Examples)

Animals in captivity, for example, have often been genetically, behaviorally or anatomically manipulated in order to enhance acclimation to the new environment. Similarly, animals have been neutered, declawed or defanged to be more compatible with their human keepers. Those who are in support of captivity of animals need to revisit such earlier condoned behavior and ensure that animals receive necessary care, nutrition and exercise and live in proper caging areas. Further, depending on the specific animal, there may also be behavioral or psychological concerns in captivity. For instance, captive animals, particularly those that are not domesticated, may develop repetitive and what appears to be random motor behaviors called "stereotypical behaviors," due to their abnormal environment (Bostock 88). Those who maintain animals in captivity, especially zoos and similar institutions and research laboratories, need to attempt to prevent, decrease or eliminate such behavior by introducing novel stimuli, known as environmental enrichment.

Zoos…

Animal Rights and Experimentation

Animal rights are being constantly violated in this day and age. They are being subjected to endless experimentation in order to ensure a healthy life for humans. This is known as vivisection. The local industries use tests, which kill around 50% of the animals during the tests. It is sad to know that tests are still being conducted on animals in spite of having results. Experts have found out that animal testing is unnecessary.

According to PETA, the FDA is to blame for animal rights violation in the U.S. They have made animal testing mandatory for testing of all pharmaceutical drugs. There are no laws to prevent animal experimentation. There are a lot of loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act, as it does not protect the rights of mice, birds and rats. The research facilities have been given a carte blanche to carry out their merciless…

.. it's healthy, it's somebody's way of life, it's somebody's livelihood, it's somebody's business.(ibid)

This is a strongly worded statement and indictment of an uncaring humanity. However, bearing in mind the daily evidence of cruelty to animals one cannot but feel that there is an element of truth to this argument.

Commercial reasons for abuse

One of the central reasons or "justifications" for animal abuse and possibly why so many turn a blind eye to animal cruelty, is commerce and the profit motive.

The plain fact is that this country and other industrial countries are deeply dependent on animal exploitation to sustain their present economic structures. The plain fact is that we are more dependent on animal exploitation than were the states of the southern United States on human slavery. (Francione, G.)

Animals are essentially seen as property. While there are many laws designed to protect these animals these laws…

Two main aims of the zoos are highlighted by the author in the article. Firstly, zoos provide the environments that are suitable and represent some level of wilderness. Secondly, the zoos must provide entertainment to the visitors. But the zoos have been criticized by the author. One of the most important facts in these cases is the relationship between pornography and zoos as given by the authors. The way animals are represented in the zoos in the pictures has been very much compared with the sexual representation in pornography. From here, it can be realized that the animal representation is very offensive. Another important fact that has been highlighted by the author is that the zoos are failing to provide the correct education about the life of the animals. The main education that is now being provided by the zoos to the visitors is that the animals have been captivated…

Part III - Resolution. I argue that it is irrelevant whether animals have rights; even if not, we should conduct ourselves toward them as if they did. On this planet, the form of life most fit for survival in a Darwinian sense is Homo sapiens. We are more fit because we are better able than any other living thing to fully utilize our biologic advantages in tandem with the variables in our environment. But from the same Darwinian sense, we are not intrinsically better than other animals. What makes us better is our ability, too often unexercised, to behave in a way that is contrary to our animal nature. Physiologically, we are predators, but we can choose to be whatever we want - non-predators, for instance. If we are superior in any natural way, this is why.

Undoubtedly, while we may be the most fit, our status as the most…

Animal Rights

Introduction to the ESA

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law (1996) the Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligated the government to protect all animal and plant life threatened with extinction. Included in this category are endangered species, which is defined as any species "which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range." Also protected are threatened species, which are defined as any species "which is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range." The wide brush of this act is creating problems for those who are granting the rights to the animals. Unlike humans, who have been granted certain unalienable rights by their creator, (U.S. ill of Rights) animals receive the rights they enjoy from the highest species on the earth, man.

y treating the subject of animal rights as a holy grail, activist…

However, most animals who are eaten today are not killed in a humane way. The movie "Meet your Meat," narrated by lec Baldwin, describes the way in which animals are raised and butchered. They show cows still alive, strung up by their hind legs screaming as their throats were cut, or dunked in boiling water while still alive. In one clip, a half-slaughtered pig broke one of his own legs trying to get free, slipping and sliding on blood as he tried to escape the slaughter house. Chickens and pigs are kept in terrible conditions while alive. Chickens have their beaks cut off without anesthesia, and live in such little cages that they cannot turn around and usually go insane. Pigs have their ears, tails, and genitalia mutilated without pain medication, are kept in tiny unsanitary cages, and frequently freeze to the side of their trucks during transport. close study…

e. animal kingdom is well protected and respected. It the humans can expect their rights to be fulfilled and respected, it is their responsibility to ensure that they are equally proactive and vigilant in performing their obligations and responsibilities towards other terrestrials creatures. If the humans have the moral understanding and perspective, it encourages them to respond in more active manner for the development and the progress of the society in particular and the world at large, and when we frame the entire world and environment into the domain, the humans are responsible for reflecting their concern, care and responsibility towards the animal kingdom (Andrew, 2002).

The development and industrial progress achieve by the human society has created enormous impact on the environment of the world, and every single element within this planet has been directly or indirectly affected by the ongoing progress of the world. If the technological development…

Based on these facts, the scientific community and animal welfare groups support animal experiments in medical research where it is found to be absolutely necessary.

To counter the main argument in favor of animal experiments, animal rights groups contend that all sentient creatures are capable of feeling pain and, therefore, conducting experiments on animals is the moral equivalent to using brain damaged humans or infants before the age of reasoning (Goodwin & Morrison, 2000). In addition, they argue that animal experiments can be misleading since the organs of animals react differently to that of humans. As proof, animal rights activists point to examples such as the failure to find anything similar to the cholera process in animals or the fact that all tests on animals failed completely in the case of the drug Thalidomide (Mather, 2003). To further strengthen the case against the use of animals in medical research, other…

These abilities are inclusive of memory emotion, belief, desire, intentional actions and an awareness of the future. With these things being understood this theory asserts that mammals not only have physical bodies that are alive but they also function as psychological beings whose existence can get better or worse. Proponents of this theory argue that other mammals have this capacity even though they cannot use human language to articulate this capacity.

The second stage of this theory asserts that subjects of a life are independent of one another. This argument is used to refute the idea that utilitarianism which asserts that living things are only vessels of morally significant value (Warren). As such damage done to one living thing may be permissible because it may provide some benefit to other living things. This is that argument used to justify using animals for medical research. However this is an idea that…

The Moral Equation:

Observations of animals, whether in the wild, in captivity, or in experimental cages reveal undeniable evidence that they perceive physical pain and discomfort as well as pain as acutely as we do (Tangley 2000). Anecdotal evidence of numerous well documented instances seems to suggest that many animals also experience emotions such as grief from of loss of companionship (Moussaieff-Masson 1995).

Not uncommonly, it is scientists and medical researchers themselves who first notice responses and behaviors in laboratory animals that, in the extreme, challenge their previous assumptions about what "rights" animals have not to be subjected unnecessarily, or for no worthwhile purpose, to excruciating pain (Winter 2002). It is possible, for example, to justify infecting animals with cancer for the purposes of learning how to treat human cancer while opposing recreational hunting, or other reasons for using animals. For example, in parts of China it is possible to…

Unfortunately, the costs of implementing the licensing and education program for pet ownership qualification would likely exceed any revenue generated by licensing fees or civil penalties for violations. Nevertheless, in principle, the idea is worth considering.

The two most important goals of any pet ownership licensing requirement would be (1) to ensure that new pet owners are aware of their pet's needs, and (2) enforcement of violations. In that regard, violators and those convicted of animal cruelty could be permanently prohibited from future pet ownership. Less serious violations could be addressed by temporary restrictions and requirement for animal sensitivity training as a necessary precondition to future pet ownership eligibility. This would make particular sense where neglect results from innocent ignorance rather than willful criminal or violent animal abuse.

One of the most difficult conceptual problems with addressing animal abuse through licensing requirements is illustrated by the fact that mere licensing…

Animal Rights and Ethics

Ingram (2001) in an article hosted by Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! (SAEN) organization reports accusations of animal rights abuses by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). There are three levels of animal use in research: experiments with minimal distress, experiments with the potential for distress but using pain relievers and experiments with the potential for distress without medication. Detailed regulations in the Animal Welfare Act state that there must be justification for moving to different levels of use and the USDA is accused by SAEN of ignoring these laws.

The underlying ethics behind the allegations against the USDA are that it is always unethical to allow animals to be in pain in scientific experiments. However, the law is not on the accusers' side, and therefore, they quibble that researchers unnecessarily and illegally move to levels of research in violation of the Animal Welfare Act.

For the…

Animal Rights and Moral Philosophy

Most philosophy is directed at and in reference to human behavior and human responsibility yet it is presumptuous to believe that Aristotle when building the basis for Natural Law Theory did not include within his biological ideal the actions of humans toward other living beings. Reaching final mature form is said to be the goal for beings when one applies the teleological theory of Natural Law Theory. Therefore if a human were to disrupt the maturation goal of another living being it would be against the tenets of Natural Law Theory: moral law is accessible to human reason; moral law is based on human nature; moral law is universally applicable.

Aristotle makes clear through his work that in order to find happiness we must function perfectly. "human good turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than…

Animal rights activist and Professor Tom Regan holds the position that it is justifiable to completely abolish the use of animals in science, agriculture, hunting and so on. He justifies this position on the theory of inherent value which he defines as the state in which every being is more than a mere receptable, and he concludes that all who have inherent value are to have it equally. Therefore, if a thing has inherent value it is wrong not to show respect for its value, i.e. To treat it as a mere resource for the use of others, as a means to an end. Because animals are included among things with inherent value Regan argues that to use them as a means to an end is morally wrong.

The argument against Regan's view is not that non-humans do not have rights. Non-humans, that is, animals have a right to humane…

The fur industry is well-known to house minks and other animals raised for their coats in cruel conditions and to kill them by such devices as anal electrical probes designed to kill without damaging fur (HSUS 2007).

The problem is that the underlying rationale for criminalizing animal cruelty is that animals (even those defined as "pests") feel physical pain the same as animals protected as "pets" in our culture. Unfortunately, the fact that killing an animal by drowning is legal does nothing to diminish its suffering.

In that respect, it is curious that so many people seem to believe that animals raised for slaughter deserve no protection from cruelty. Even many of those who support animal cruelty laws completely understand that animals raised for the slaughter house (or for harvesting their fur) can be housed humanely and in compassionate circumstances and in horribly cruel torturous conditions. Just last week, hidden…

life on earth depended upon a fragile balance of well being in the lives of all living things. As humanity became more civilized, technology and research have provided people with the means to artificially enhance their own chances of survival. The problem with this is that it destroyed the natural balance of life on earth. Not being as susceptible as before to illness and early death, humanity soon became so numerous that the needs of people were superimposed upon the needs of everything else. This fundamental disrespect for all non-human life is the reason for the ecological crisis we are facing today. Using animals in laboratory experiments in order to enhance the quality of human life is another manifestation of the disrespect mentioned above. I therefore believe that human beings should re-establish their connection with the natural, and that they should cultivate respect for all life in this ways. This…

Meat in our culture is an indulgence, an unhealthy food product, extremely cruel to animals, and produced by a system which inevitably teaches apathy and sadism to our children. Therefore it is not a part of the proper relationship between humans and animals for people to eat meat in America.

Animals have long been used for experimentation of medical procedures, and there is a general opinion among the public that this is a necessity in order to save human life. However, when defining the relationship between humans and animals in this aspect of society, it is necessary to remember that not long ago it was considered acceptable to experiment on the mentally ill housed in asylums in order to save the lives of "complete" humans. Does this seem like an appropriate relationship between special needs people and the rest of society? Most people feel that the answer is a resounding…

Animal Rights

There is much controversy with regard to animal rights and to the degree to which society should address this issue. On the one hand there are people who believe that using animals for scientific purposes is perfectly reasonable on account of the benefits that this brings to people. On the other hand, there are individuals who believe that performing tests on animals is particularly wrong and that people should be more concerned with the well-being of animals. hile it is obviously wrong to harm other beings, it is difficult and almost impossible to ignore the scientific benefits that animal testing has generated.

The very idea of animal rights suggests that animals are entitled to a series of freedoms. ith animals being abused on a daily basis throughout the world, the majority of people likely consider this idea to be much too perfectionistic, especially considering the world of medicine…

Is Such Testing Ethical?
Nowadays, animal testing is used in various fields such as the manufacturing of cosmetic products. Rabbits are commonly used in such tests. Sadly, the rabbits undergo torture and their survival it always at stake. I believe that such testing should end because it is unethical to treat animals are research objects or experimentation tools (Bilchitz, 2010). From this perspective, animals must be given equal rights to human beings to live a full life, free of suffering and pain. However, opponents of this point of view contend that though it is unethical to abuse these rabbits unnecessarily for the production of cosmetics, the testing must continue due to the enormous scientific resource that the rabbits offer. The advocates of this theory further assert that some advancement in the laboratories should strive to improve the rabbits’ living conditions.
Arguments Why Animal Testing is Ethical or Unethical
The center…

We are all Completely Beside Ourselves
“We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” is Karen Joy Fowler’s sixth novel. It covers various sophisticated moral and ethical issues, in a young woman’s funny, witty and wry voice. Rosemary, the narrator, works hard to keep certain aspects of her young life a secret from other people. However, she also worked hard to conceal the secret from herself. Her sister and brother went missing, her father retreats into research and data while her mother became a shell. She tossed a glass full of milk on the floor and got arrested. But, something else ‘beside themselves’ is going on. It is a secret (Fowler, 2014).
The book analyzes an ostensibly experiment of nature vs. nature. If Fern was raised as human, what would she be capable of, especially in language literacy. According to Rosemary, a psychologist’s daughter, whatever is being studied is not what is…

Society at large does not and would not permit risking harm to humans in order to avoid using animals for research (Animals pp).

The pharmaceutical industry uses animals only when research cannot be accomplished in other ways, and always with care (Animals pp). If society wants to relieve conditions such as epilepsy, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and heart disease, then animals will continue to be need for research (Animals pp).

Although it is important and morally right to minimize the use of animals for research, it would be morally wrong to place the concern for animals above the concerns and needs of people who are dying from and/or living with incurable and untreatable conditions that could benefit from such research (Animals pp).

orks Cited

Animals in Medicines Research Information Centre - AMRIC. http://www.abpi.org.uk/amric/introduction.asp

To be an “experiencing subject of a life” means to be something that is here, now, alive, in this world, being part of the grand mystery that is life. So basically anything that exists has life—from people to birds to trees to grass to even water and rocks. There is a grace and power and beauty and soul that is woven through all of it. To disregard something as not worth our concern or as something that can be annihilated or abused is to be disconnected from this grand harmony.
However, I do not think that being the subject of a life means that one has equal inherent value. As a human being, I feel that we can derive a sense of our value from religious teachings—particularly the traditional Christian teachings that hold that we are created in the image and likeness of God. This teaching points to a special…

Animal Experience - Abstract

Though Rise of the Planet of the Apes (yatt, 2011) is classified in the Sci-Fi genre, this film portrays the reasonably foreseeable possibility of intelligent apes successfully revolting against humankind. The main character, Caesar, is a chimpanzee injected with an experimental Alzheimer's-treatment drug that surprisingly develops Caesar's humanlike intelligence and emotions. Though initially well-treated by the drug's inventor and a primatologist, Caesar is eventually relegated to an ape sanctuary, where he grows to resent the cruel conditions to which apes are subjected. As a result, a defiant Caesar administers the same experimental drug to other apes, creating an ape army that escapes from the sanctuary, wages war on Homo sapiens and eventually crosses the Golden Gate Bridge as humans are decimated by a deadly virus.

In its depiction of the intelligent apes' interactions with humans, the film explores at least three scientifically supported human/animal experiences. First,…

Animal ights & Testing

The author of this report has been asked to contrast, compare and analyze three articles that all relate to basically the same thing, that being the status and rights of animals. As part of the analysis, there will be an agreement on the points with which the author of this report agrees, a critical thinking of how the authors attempt to refute each other, the key elements of those refutations, the significant connections that exist between the three texts, what those connections mean to the author of this report in terms of framing the author of this report's views and a gist of the synthesis conducted will bring up the proverbial rear of the analysis. This report will conclude with a setting up, but not a full execution, of the author's own potential argument that might or might not happen on future reports. While animals are…

Animal Advocacy Organizations

There are many local, national, and international organizations that advocate for the rights and welfare of animals, domestic and wild. Two of those organisations are PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). In this paper, the two will be compared and contrasted.

PETA & ASPCA

The ASPCA was the very first humane society to exist in North America, according to their website. Henry Bergh founded the ASPCA in 1866, who believed that animals have the right to be respected by humans, and to be treated kindly, and to be protected under the law. In fact the ASPCA was the first humane organization that has been granted "legal authority to investigate and make arrests for crimes against animals… [although the ASPCA] fulfills its mission through nonviolent approaches" (ASPCA).

PETA was founded in 1980, and their…

Right to Carry Handguns for Self-Protection:

The right to carry handguns for law abiding citizens has been a continual social and political debate about the restriction or availability of firearms within the country. Actually, the right to carry handguns has developed to become one of the major controversial and intractable issues within the social and political environments in the nation. The main reason attributed to the development of this controversial issue is the constitutional provision regarding firearms and the government's responsibility to prevent criminal activities, maintaining order, and safeguarding citizens' well-being. The debate has been characterized by different reasons that have been raised by intellectuals, social activists, and advocates in support and opposition of the controversial issue.

Historical Overview:

The debate regarding the right to carry and keep firearms can be traced to the inception of the gun culture, which explained the affections of American's citizens in adopting and celebrating…

The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company ith the Lion illustrates the absolute power of the feudal lord (the lion) over the peasantry (the goat and sheep). This fable may be referring to the division of taxes and possessions, or it may be a direct reference to the hunting rights of feudal lords. The feudal lord (lion) declares that a stag killed by the goat is his, by the right of the strong.

Again, as the bravest, the third must be mine.

To touch but the fourth whoso makes a sign,

I'll choke him to death

In the space of a breath!" (Shapiro, p. 9).

This attitude represents the attitudes of the wealthy towards the peasantry. They would rather see them dead than share even a small portion of their wealth with them. This fable is where the phrase "a lions' share" originates (Shapiro, p. 9). A similar…

Indictment of the Moral Offense of Animal Cruelty

Animals think. Animals feel emotion. Animals experience pain. Yet there are members of our human society that find these facts irrelevant. In fact there are many people that have no problem disregarding these facts entirely as long as they are able to reap some type of personal reward or benefit from an animal. hether that benefit is in the form of food, clothing, or testing the latest new lipstick, it is always at the expense of the animal's well-being. In this paper I argue that the abuse of animals is morally wrong and therefore animals ought to be afforded rights which place the same consideration on their sentience as is placed on human beings.

Sentience is a term used to describe the fact that animals feel pain and emotions in much the same fashion as human beings. It is also used as…

Furthermore, animals are given much more respect within entertainment than otherwise. Animals are viewed with both awe and joy by those who are watching them. They raise the level of awareness we feel for animals and make the audience care more. They would receive no better treatment were they "in the wild" or domesticated. Having animals in entertainment can be equivalent to having a pet at home, both of which is not demeaning as a rule.

Using Animals within entertainment does not hurt animals, on the contrary it helps improve their overall image within audiences, and at the same time they receive special and respectful treatment from their caretakers. It is a win-win situation for both sides.

Anderson, Kay. 1998. Animals, Science and Spectacle in the City, in Jennifer Wolch and Jody Emel (eds) Animal Geographies: Place, Politics, and Identity in the Nature-Culture orderlands. 27-50. New York: Verso.

eardsworth, Alan…

Should Animals Be Used in Scientific Testing for Medical Research or Commercial Products?
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. – Genesis 9:2 (c. 1450 BCE)
Studies published in prestigious medical journals have shown time and again that animal experimentation wastes lives—both animal and human—and precious resources by trying to infect animals with diseases that they would never normally contract. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (2019)
As the epigraphs above clearly show that humankind’s views about using animals for their own purposes have changed significantly over the past several millennia, but despite increasing condemnation by animal rights advocates, animal testing for medical research or commercial products continues around the…

The main concern in virtue ethics becomes about a person's moral character. When people choose to develop their moral character, better virtues will be created, and thus there will be more people acting in virtuous ways in all aspects of their lives -- and this includes how they treat all animals.

One example to be considered when thinking about how a person with a strong sense of virtue might behave is to counter it with how a person with a strong sense of duty might behave. From a duty sense, if one were a livestock farmer, he or she might believe that his or her duty lies in what is best for the people because, after all, the job is about raising livestock for slaughter, which will then become food for people. Therefore, the first duty would be to humans and the second duty to animals (Panaman 20008) (which may…

Welfae in Captive Wild Animals

The Holy Bible gets the elationship between humankind and wild animals out of the way ealy on in Genesis 1:26 when God said, "Let us make mankind in ou image, in ou likeness, so that they may ule ove the fish in the sea and the bids in the sky, ove the livestock and all the wild animals, and ove all the ceatues that move along the gound." Humanity clealy took this divine gift seiously, and the elationship between humankind and wild animals has been lagely one-sided since people climbed to the top of the food chain. Since the second half of the 20th centuy, though, thee have been gowing calls fo impoving the manne in which humans teat animals in geneal and wild animals maintained in captivity in paticula. The ecent closue of Ringling and Banum and Bailey's "Geatest Show on Eath" due to…

In the 19th century, the idea and definition of rights was extended by calls for social and economic rights that came on the tail of rapid industrialization. This new era of rights was based upon the utilitarian idea of obtaining the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This included a discussion of property ownership, both private and common, and the ideas of public of rights and private responsibility (Nuncio).

By the 21st-century, the idea of rights has been transformed into a global political order based on constitutionalism and positive legalism. In a climate that supported the international will to maintain peace, the world's nations largely adopted a single agreement to ensure such rights. This agreement, the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted in December of 1948 (Nuncio). This Declaration included provisions for both rights of nations, and the rights of individuals (Human Rights eb; a…

PEER RESPONSES 4Peer ResponsesPeer Reply 1 - David VelazquezAccording to Regan (1985), to be an experiencing subject of life simply means that someone has lived and experienced life. To further explain, it means that the subject has lived through emotions, suffered physically or mentally, felt pain, been happy and sad, and essentially everything that comes along with those things. He argues though that animals also have the same experiences, they just arent able to express them through a type of human form of communication that we would understand (Regan, 1985). In other words, the animals cant tell the story like we can. I do agree that by simply living you have the inherent right to live. I think where the waters get muddy is when you have someone for instance, that is maybe considered brain dead because of an illness or injury. In those cases, they are arguably not living…

Killing Animals for Food Is Not Necessarily Wrong

Over time, vegetarians have presented a wide range of reasons as to why eating meat and/or any other product derived from animals is wrong. In seeking to support their position, most vegetarians cite the need to uphold animal rights. In the recent past, the number of people turning to vegetarian diet has been increasing steadily. However, regardless of this, it is important to note that a careful review of literature clearly demonstrates that the consumption of meat and/or other products derived from animals is not necessarily a bad thing.

In Zacharia's (2012) opinion, "the market for vegan food is booming." This effectively means that the number of those joining the vegetarian bandwagon is steadily increasing. However, a vast majority of the population still believes that there is nothing wrong with eating meat or any animal produce. It could be right.

To begin…

Functional motivation suggests that psychological factors, such as a need to feel useful, a need for a sense of purpose, motivate volunteerism (Widjaja, 2010). Therefore, volunteerism can be framed within the tenets of basic behaviorism and cognitive-behavioral principles. If volunteering feels good, then a person will be increasingly motivated to volunteer. Volunteering is not always selfless and altruistic; it can be ego-driven. In some situations, the motivation to volunteer comes from concrete extrinsic variables such as receiving credit in school or one's place of employment (Widjaja, 2010). Social motives for volunteering include social pressure or even shaming (Widjaja, 2010). Individuals can be pushed into volunteering from a sense of obligation or guilt, or pulled into it based on factors like boredom, curiosity, or an altruistic desire to promote the well being of others.
Self-determination theory takes individual differences into account, and differentiates between autonomous motivation and controlled motivation (Oostlander, Guntert,…

Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair

In his essay "Animal Liberation: A Triangular Affair," J. Baird Callicott discusses the animal liberation movement in relation to Aldo Leopold's "land ethic" as a means of demonstrating that although the two strains of thought appear at first glance to share more than a passing similarity, when considered more closely, the theoretical and practical underpinnings of animal liberation and environmental ethics are so fundamentally different that the two may ultimately be considered contradictory. These contradictions result in the "triangular affair" the title refers to, because Callicott determines that the animal liberation movement is not only locked in a conflict with conservative philosophizers maintaining a fundamental break between humans and animals, but also with environmental ethicists who propose a much broader scope for the application of ethics to realms beyond human interaction. Hopefully by examining Callicott's essay in greater detail, the validity of his argument concerning…

There have been several arguments with reference to the social impact of the Intellectual Property, and it has been observed that the Intellectual property law has been responsible for the promotion of the competitive forces in such a manner that 'antitrust law does not address, and may do so based on evidence that would be insufficient in an antitrust context' (Brinson, 1994). It is indeed a difficult practice related to the 'forced sharing to attain optimal competition' (Brinson, 1994), and it appear to be unwarranted 'in most antitrust contexts, and it is clear indication of the absent clear proof of market harm' (Thomas, 2006), although it is expected to 'constitute improved and comprehensive Intellectual Property policy, even in the presence of ambiguous evidence' (Brinson, 1994). The anti-trust law and the intellectual property law is expected to minimize the cost of three different things, which include, false positives, as per which…

Animal Rights

Slaughter of the Innocent

This is a paper on the article 'Slaughter of the Innocent'. There are two references used for this paper.

Ethical and animal rights issues raised by experimentation are important to many people today. It is interesting to look at the article 'Slaughter of the Innocent' and compare it with the principles of Buddhism.

Vivisection

Vivisection is the "term now used to apply to all types of experiments on living animals, whether or not cutting is done. Broadly, it is any form of animal experimentation, especially if considered to cause distress to the subject. The term also applies to experiments done with the administration of noxious substances, burns, electric or traumatic shocks, drawn-out deprivations of food and drink, and psychological tortures leading to mental imbalance (Ruesch)."

Many scientists torture thousands of animals every day under the pretense of medical research. They assert that through this…

Warm-blooded vs. Cold-looded Animals

Most animals can be classified as either warm-blooded or cold-blooded. For example, all mammals and birds are warm-blooded, while all reptiles, amphibians, insects and fish are cold-blooded. As the owner of a leopard gecko, which is cold blooded, and a dog, which is warm-blooded, I chose this topic for my essay because I wanted to understand exactly what it means to be warm-blooded or cold-blooded, and how these creatures differ.

asically, the temperature of an animal's blood is directly related to its body temperature. Warm-blooded creatures keep the inside of their bodies at a consistent temperature by generating their own body heat when they are in a cold environment, and cooling their body heat down when they are in a hot place. In order to create heat, warm-blooded animals transform all consumed food into energy. In comparison to cold-blooded animals, warm-blooded animals must eat a lot…

Q1. List ten real-world common property resources with which you are familiar. Describe an example of one of these common property resources that is not (tragically) overexploited (use the term “institution/s” in your discussion).

The so-called tragedy of the commons is defined as the fact that people tend to exploit common resources to the maximum degree possible for their own benefit, thus indirectly harming other or future people who could benefit from the resource (“Tragedy of the Commons,” 2018). Examples of common property include public parks, fish in the ocean, public monuments, highways, clean water, clean air, public bathrooms, trees, schools, and public playing fields. Although some of these resources are, indeed, exploited, this is not the case with all of them.

For example, public monuments are usually relatively respected by individuals (although there is a risk of them being defaced). But one of the reasons for this may be…

Declaration of the Rights of Man, written by Lafayette during the reign of Louis XVI, is quite different to that of the Declaration of the Rights of oman created by De Gourges during the rule of the revolutionary French government.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man consists of 17 short and succinct points. As we see it has been approved by the National Assembly of France on August 26, 1789. Its passage seems to have been smooth. That of the Rights of oman, however, was formed and accepted by oen group -- a partisan group of women -- and even they did not reflect the general population of females who, as de Gourges remarks, are against the status quo being changed and would need males to campaign for any effective social change in their condition to be accomplished. De Gourges was correct. The first pamphlet, the Declaration of Man,…

Inalienable ights

Although America's founding documents declared unequivocally "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable ights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," the signing of the Declaration of Independence did nothing more to end the debate over rights, power, and liberty than did the discourses of Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke. The notion of inalienable rights is rooted in Hobbesian theory, after Hobbes wrote in his Leviathan that "to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own Nature; that is to say, of his own Life; and consequently, of doing anything, which in his own judgment, and eason, he shall conceive to be the (most) apt means thereunto," thus offering philosophy's most basic elucidation of the concept of inalienable rights. Western philosophy has always focused the attention of…

Animals Rights Rhetorical Analysis

Philip ollen's "Animals Should Be Off the Menu" is a 10 minute speech that champions animal rights. During the course of this speech ollen sparsely utilizes statistics, stories, and a number of references to the impact of disparate industries if meat was eliminated as a form of human food. He also advocates ending the process of humans killing and grinding up animals to serve as the food for livestock, and notices that at both ends of this practice, animals are actually suffering (since the livestock will eventually get slaughtered to provide a steak for someone).

In helping to prove his point, ollen approaches this topic from a number of different angles. The one that he utilizes first (and which perhaps might be the most convincing) is the health ramifications regarding the human consumption of animals. The author alludes to the fact that consuming meat and a…

against experimentation on animals, and some are more compelling than others. Some people suggest that the practice is immoral because choosing to experiment upon animals is directly analogous to racial or sexual discrimination; or more closely related to discrimination on the basis of mental capacity. Others contend that it is wrong because, by their estimations, no clear advances in medical research have been made through animal experimentation, and alternative modes of research are emerging. Doubtlessly, animal experimentation is a delicate moral issue, but asserting that animals should enjoy the same rights as humans within a society is a weak claim. Arguments have been formed differentiating animals from humans depending upon both their moral status and biological status. Yet, the most obvious line of reasoning is associated with the fact that granting animals the same rights as humans within society leads to many logical contradictions.

One question that needs to be…

CAFO's

The Impact of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. hile in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized…

Ross (1988) notes the development of Romanticism in the late eighteenth century and indicates that it was essentially a masculine phenomenon:

Romantic poetizing is not just what women cannot do because they are not expected to; it is also what some men do in order to reconfirm their capacity to influence the world in ways socio-historically determined as masculine. The categories of gender, both in their lives and in their work, help the Romantics establish rites of passage toward poetic identity and toward masculine empowerment. Even when the women themselves are writers, they become anchors for the male poets' own pursuit for masculine self-possession. (Ross, 1988, 29)

Mary ollstonecraft was as famous as a writer in her day as her daughter. Both mother and daughter were important proponents of the rights of women both in their writings and in the way they lived and served as role models for other…

Also, the different moral patterns of between the genders, as analyzed by Gillian, remains controversial, as the inherently 'separate' moral system of men and women (to say nothing of psychologist's ability to define what constitutes adult morality at all) is part of the raging debate on how to create truly fair, gender-neutral tests and classroom environments. In terms of usefulness on a personal level, the different ways of dealing with life traumas, like near death experiences, moral dilemmas, and grief are the most salient parts of the chapter, and provide real, concrete advice for the reader.

Assignment 4: Erikson's Stages of Development.

According to Erik Erikson, every child passes through eight stages of 'man' or development. Erikson attempted to introduce a theory of development that incorporated other human needs and elements of culture into a human being's socialization process, unlike Freud who focused only on the family romance, of family…

passing of the civil rights protection of homosexuals. This paper presents the views and reasons of the people who oppose the passing of this act. This paper then demonstrates the importance of the passing of this act and how it would benefit the society at large. The paper also highlights certain quotes to support its claim.

Civil Rights Protection of Homosexuals Human beings claim to represent a society that is not only civilized but also just in its ways. hen we as humans can fight for animal's rights, than we can certainly work for the civil rights protection of the homosexuals, who still belong to the category of human beings. Discrimination on the basis of race, class and sexual orientation must be eliminated as much as possible. Man, a creature of God has not been given the liberty to judge between right and wrong. As the bible has said, "There…

Popular Film Cultures Have Propelled Civil and Social Rights

Culture is referred as shared interaction, patterns, cognitive constructs, behaviors as well as effective understanding learned through socialization and transferred from one generation to the other. In the United States and outside the United States, films have become a powerful tool to transmit cultures. In 2009, there were more than 6.8 billion films released compared to the world population that was roughly the same number. Moreover, films have produced revenue of more than $30 billion annually, and its impact on films on people's behaviors is staggering. For example, many people across the world are imitating American culture by watching their movies. Moreover, films have become a powerful tool for propelling civil and social rights.[footnoteRef:1] The social civil rights are the class of rights and freedoms people demand from the government, private individuals or social organizations. Civil rights movements protect people from…

Man's Ability To Treat Humans Like Animals

It is a vivid fact that the feelings of cruelty, discrimination and racial distribution are embedded well in to human nature since its very inception. This world depicts several cases where humans treat other humans like animals and ignore their right of living peacefully and according to their own will. This article highlights the work of several writers who have depicted the different ways in which humans have been treated brutally by other humans. Majority of the cases deal with racial discrimination and poverty-based cruelty issues encountered by humans. The article presents an in depth analysis of the works of seven different writers and how their works represent the ill treatment encountered by the human race.

Charles Chestnutt's "Po Sandy" and its Linkage to Human Cruelty

"Po' Sandy" written by Charles Chestnutt is basically the story of Sandy, who is made the slave…

After all, it remains within the female's best interest to mate with a newly dominant male, even if he has killer her infant. Ultimately, this is because the female, having lost her offspring, needs to remain reproductively competitive and to mate with a male. Additionally, if she mates with a non-dominant male, who has not killed her offspring, she runs the risk of the dominant male repeating his actions. Accordingly, she is obligated to mate with the dominant male in order to decrease the risk that her infant will be killed again. It may also be the case that the mothers who are victims of infanticide are physically incapable of preventing the guilty males from mating with them because of the differences in size between the sexes.

In human societies, however, we see less infanticide perpetrated by males relative to our population. There are many reasons for this: there are…

lan Gewirth and Human Rights

The philosophical concepts of human rights are many and varied. Yet, one of the theories that stands out the most in both approach and application is that of lan Gewirth.

His work demonstrates and ideal that has often been set as a stage for the application of many public issues, from law to psychology. Within the body of his works Gewirth argues that, "...human rights are best defended as necessary prerequisites for individual human beings' exercise of free and rational will." Giving license to the concepts of the right of all humans to act on their own behalf to meet their own needs of happiness through their own free will.

Hence, the value or requiredness of autonomy is not disproved by pointing to conditions whose efficacy stems from a violation of autonomy. The solution to this problem is to maintain or restore autonomy, not acquiesce…

Pinochet's Case is Not Yet Satisfying to Chilean and Human Rights Activists

Although hampered by internal constraints and challenges, the nation of Chile stands poised to enter the 21st century as a major player in the world's international community. On the one hand, the sound economic policies that were first implemented by the Pinochet dictatorship resulted in unprecedented growth in 1991- 1997; these policies have also helped secure the country's commitment to democratic and representative government. On the other hand, General Augusto Pinochet has been found guilty of the torture, disappearance, and murder of thousands of Chileans, including international citizens, but he has not yet been brought to justice. After Patricio Aylwin inaugurated a democratic presidency in 1990, he continues to bring excuses for Pinochet's actions or exercises control to avoid facing justice. Pinochet declared himself as Commander of Chief of the Army and afterwards, Senator for life in Chile.…

Human Rights: King Leopold's Ghost

King Leopold's Ghost: Human Rights

Conflicting arguments have been put forth in response to the question of whether or not colonialism is justified. Proponents of colonialism argue that it helps to bring civilization, progress and growth in the colonizer's religion. However, evidence shows that colonialism only benefits the colonialist nation at the expense of the colonized population. This text demonstrates why this is so using the book 'King Leopold's Ghost' by Adam Hochschild.

Those that plundered the Congo and other parts of Africa did so in the name of progress, civilization, and Christianity? Was this hypocritical? How? What justifications for colonial imperialism have been put forward over the past five centuries?

Simply stated, colonial imperialism is the establishment and maintenance of a nation's ruler over an alien nation that is subordinate, yet separate from the ruling power. Imperial powers from ancient to modern periods have…

Coming of Age in Mississippi" by Anne Moody

In her article "Coming of Age in Mississippi," dating from 1968, Anne Moody tells the story of her participation in a blood shed sit-in demonstration at Woolworth's lunch counter. She was a student at Toogalo College in Jackson Mississippi, member of the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). The Association, under the leadership of John Salter, Moody's social science professor, undertook a boycott in public stores as one of the numerous forms of manifestation within the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. The story begins with three young African-American students were peacefully asking for the right to be served at the same lunch counter where the whites were sitting.

With a lack of sentimentality and with deliberate detachment, Moody succeeds to present a realistic picture of the heaviest segregated place on earth in the sixties, Jackson, Mississippi. Moody, along…

Led Right

Virtually anyone who reads Shakespeare's tragedy Othello readily notices that despite his noble nature and good intentions, the title character of this work, Othello, is plagued by numerous faults which eventually lead to not only his own downfall, but also to that of his wife. Shakespeare portrays Othello as a good hearted man who is prone to fits of both anger and illness. However, his primary fault is his overall credulousness which, when combined with his previously mentioned faults, leaves him highly susceptible to the machinations of Iago -- one whose evil intentions a more discerning leader would have detected. It is due to Iago's intricate planning that Othello eventually believes that Desdemona is unfaithful to him, and kills her for that perceived transgression. However, all of Iago's cunningness would have gone for naught had Othello endeavored to be less gullible and trusting. Ultimately, it was this credulousness…

estern world thinks of Muslim women, it is often in terms of Muslim women as an oppressed stereotypes. This includes images of women in hijabs, Turkish women in chadors and women who must be veiled in public at all times. Distorted beliefs about Islamic beliefs regarding polygamy and the subservient role of women further contribute to the stereotype that Muslim women are more oppressed than their Christian counterparts.

However, while strict laws do present limits to the public lives of many Arab and Muslim women, these stereotypes do not present a complete picture of their lives. As ethnographer Susan Schafer Davis observed, Muslim women have and continue to exert considerable influence in the private sphere of family and women's associations. This gave them much more autonomy and power than Christian women of the same era.

This paper examines the scope of a Muslim woman's authority and power within the private…

Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Fitness and Wellness

Fat is back. The American public is no longer fat-phobic. Fat is essential for the body to function in a healthy manner. The low-fat craze is dead and fortunately the supermarket shelves are no longer lined with cookies and crackers proudly proclaiming themselves to be healthy because they are low in fat. But it is critical that people get the right kind of fats, in the right balance. And that is where omega-3 fatty acids come into play.

Omega-3 fatty acids are called essential fatty acids. This means that your body cannot make them and you have to either get them through food or supplements (Ehrlich 2011). The best and most easily-absorbed omega-3s are found in fish. Salmon, tuna, and sardines are some of the most popular sources of omega-3s. All of these can be easily purchased at your local supermarket in canned…