Writing 3

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Writing 3

Introduction

Human being is the most perfect creation ever created. They have been blessed with the various bounties including wisdom, ability to think, ability to analyze and the power to make decisions according to their own will. Human beings have certain basic rights that they require in order to make the most out of their lives and live a happy and healthy life. These rights include the right to breathe, the right to survive, right to eat, and also right to eat good and healthy food, right to safety and protection. All these rights make sure that a person is leading a happy, healthy and safe life.

Just like the rights of humans are important and are protected people, the rights of animals are also protected by some parties. After all, animals are the species that live with us and share the same planet, with us humans. The debate for animal rights is not new; in fact, it has been going on since ages (Vaughn). Experts, philosophers, scientists, sociologists and even psychologists have extensively taken part in this debate and presented their arguments. One side of the debate argues the animals have been created for the facilitation of human beings, hence there should be no issue in eating them as a meal or testing products on them. On the other hand, the other side of the debate argues that it is completely immoral and unethical to kill animals for the purposes of food or testing.

A number of experts, philosophers and scholars have presented their views in the form of publications at different fronts. One of the most prominent names among them is Peter Singer. Peter Singer is a famous philosopher from Australia who is a supporter of animal rights as well as utilitarians. The well-known philosopher specialized in applied ethics and views various issues form a utilitarianist lens. Regarding his views about animal rights, he presented his views in one of his most popular works of publications “Animal Liberation”. The book was published in 1975 and greatly disseminated messgaes of ethics, morality and philosophy. Singer also wrote an article about animal rights in 2008, by the name “All Animals Are Equal”.

Discussion

Peter Singer

The famous article “All Animals are Equal”, by well-known philosopher Peter Singer, throws light on the equality of rights of the animals. Singer is of the view that animals should be given equal rights, just like human beings, on the grounds that they are also living beings. Singer holds the views that animals should be granted the same rights just like all humans, who are also considered living beings (Singer). The philosopher holds the view that the decision of not extending the rights on an equal level, is inconsistent. Singer was also of the opinion that the rights of animals should be respected in the same manner just like the rights of humans are respects and protected.

Carl Cohen

Carl Cohen is one of the other philosophers, who has received great acclaim in the area of philosophy due to his great contributions in the area. He is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cohen is also a great supporter of animal rights. However, he views the case of animal rights from a different aspect. Cohen has focused his work on the testing and experimentation on animals. He argues that testing of cosmetics and various chemicals on the animals is completely immoral and unethical. Cohen was extremely against the testing of various medicines, drugs and makeup products on the animals and raised his voice over multiple platforms against this. He also received great criticism over this that he seems to care more about animals and less about humans or human rights. Still, the philosopher never stopped and held his opinion high. The logic that he presented was that animals also feel pain just like human beings, as they are also living things.

Personal Opinions

Personally, I am also a great supporter of animal rights myself. I agree with the argument present by both Peter Singer and Carl Cohen. I believe that animals are not food items or prototypes for tests. They should not be killed for eating purposes and the testing of chemicals, various make-up products and medicines should be immediately banned all over the world. In fact, any sich person or company who indulges in such a heinous act should be blacklisted and fined as well.

Conclusion

In short, the main argument present by Peter Singer in his article “All the Animals are Equal” is the equality of rights for the animals. The philosopher wants to make a point that animals should be treated just like human beings; breathing and alive, they should be considered living beings and should have equal rights, just like a normal human being. The basis of this argument was not an equal comparison but the equal feelings and emotions that a living thing feels. Singer was joined by one of his fellows in the same research area, philosophy. His name is Carl Cohen and he is also a big supporter of human rights. Cohen focused his work mostly on animal testing and experimentation on animals. He strongly objected against experiments on animals and demanded that it should be banned on an immediate basis. Despite receiving great criticism, both the philosophers stayed firm on their point and got the material published at various platforms.

Works Cited:

Singer, Peter. "All animals are equal." Animal Rights. Routledge, 2017. 3-16.

Vaughn, Lewis. Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton & Company, 2015.