Preview

Peter Singer Argument

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1055 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Peter Singer Argument
1. In this paper I will argue that Singer is wrong to claim that human suffering and animal suffering should be given equal consideration. He claims that human animals and non-human animals with vertebrae experience pain and suffering in the same way. (41)

2. In “Animal Liberation”, Peter Singer argues that human suffering and animal suffering should be given equal consideration. He believes that a lot of our modern practices are speciesist, and that they hold our best interest above all else. The only animals that we give equal consideration are humans. He questions our reasonings for giving equal consideration to all members to our species, because, some people are more superior than others, in terms of intelligence or physical strength. Humans value themselves over
…show more content…
He states that non-human animals are farmed for food, experimented on, and we as humans fail to acknowledge the suffering that these animals go through, because we are too caught up in our own ‘selfish’ behavior. Overall, his main point is that from a moral standpoint, humans should reconsider our modern practices, and give all sentient non-human animals equal consideration. He suggests that we all adopt vegetarian diets, and only conduct experiments on non-human animals when it would do less harm than good. (205)

3. My argument against Singer is that there is a difference between how humans and nonhuman animals suffer. I am in no way trying to devalue animal lives or say that it is just for us to be killing them in the mass amounts that we are. However, it is something that is difficult to compare. This is because humans have a deeper level of understanding and more of an ability to mentally suffer. The author of “The Uniqueness of Human Suffering” reminds us how suffering, like many other emotions, are hard to define since they are abstract and belong to a class of concepts. However, they explain scientifically how suffering happens in the human

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Yong Summary

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The event related to animal rights that motivate Ed Yong to write this article is the Great Ape Project. The Great Ape Project was established in 1993 and requests a basic set of moral and legal rights for great apes. The questions that were raised by Yong about this issue are why can’t all nonhuman animals that feel pain have rights. Another question Yong has is what would be the credible reason not to…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading “A Change of Heart about Animals”, Jeremy Rifkins argues that animals should be treated in a more humane way. I agree with Rifkins argument because I have seen animals get abuse and it should not be like that. People may say that they do not feel anything but THEY DO! It’s similar to when a humane it getting abused. Many researchers are finding that the animals are similar to us in many ways: they feel pain, suffer, and experience stress, affection, excitement, and even love. Rifkins give scientific evidence to support his argument from credible source and make his stronger.…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author tries to go against what the author of the book says. He doesn’t believe animals should have moral consideration. He talks about doing research in order to refute what the author had to say. He then asks himself if they do have moral consideration then why are we still eating them. He goes on and talks about the difference in pain between human and animal.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Peter Singer's Argument

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages

    You've looked at a few things that present Peter Singer's argument against the way we use animals for food and other products. Pretend that you're talking to a friend and they ask you why Singer thinks it's wrong to eat a cheeseburger. Explain his argument (or what you take to be the core of his argument).…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fred Singer Argument

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The vast amount of opposing views from qualified scientists on global warming can easily confuse any reader. The manipulation of data is a main culprit, which is largely to blame for the confusion. This tactic, carefully used by global warming skeptics, falsely makes information appear to prove that global warming does not exist. Fred Singer’s 10 year graph, which shows no rise in global temperatures is a perfect example. While the 10 years Singer has selected show no warming in temperature, when the graph is viewed in its entirety there is a substantial warming trend. This term is known as “going down the up escalator” (Upin) and is used as an attempt to prove global warming does not exist. This is very dangerous because while skeptic’s present…

    • 300 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peter Singer Is Wrong

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Got a minute? Good! Because that may be all it takes to log in to OXFAM.org and virtually save someone’s life. But hold on a second, what about your life? Your own interests? All of the other beneficial things you could do with that money? According to Peter Singer, you don’t really have any choice because you’re “morally obligated” to donate far more resources to famine relief and similar causes than what you currently think is enough, but without sacrificing anything of equivalent moral importance. In this paper I will analyze this argument and try to show that Singer’s conclusions are correct, yet they are not quite as correct as he believes they are. To do so, I will try to show that Singer is wrong to think that we have a “moral obligation”…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Steinbock Vs Singer

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He dismisses the claim that the prospect of human wellbeing resulting from such experiments supercedes pain and suffering, which are inflicted to the animals. Instead he bluntly suggests that if we to consider ourselves more valuable only based on our intelligence, then those members of society, who by the virtue of their mental capacity stand on the lower scale of the intellegence abilities, would be less entitled to the fulfillment of their basic human rights. Singer points out that if our value was measured only in amount of our intelligence, then a person with lower IQ would have similar, or even lower, value with an animal, who hold some intellegence abilities. Therefore, he claims, it would be equally justifiable to use mentally challenged or animals in the research projects. Evidently, Singer dismisses the simple factual difference between the two examples. A random healthy adult person, an infant, who is orphan, or a mentally incapacitated, share the same certain privileges just by a sheer reason of belonging to the same group - human race, and are superior to a representative of a non-human animal world, no matter how intelligent in some sense it would…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2. What reasons does Peter Singer give for his view that ‘differences between humans and animals’ are irrelevant to considerations of the moral ‘equality for animals’?…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Singer states that “If we are not willing to inflict that degree of pain on a newborn baby, then it is morally wrong to inflict an equivalent degree of pain on a nonhuman animal”(Class notes, Module 07, Pg 7). Singer means that if we would not slap a baby why slap a animal and so on. So why do something to an animal if we would not do it to a human. Singer also makes another good point, “that we ought not to cause nonhuman animals to suffer if we would balk about causing humans that same degree of suffering if instituted, would force us to make radical changes changes in our diets, in our use of animals for experimentation and so forth”(Class notes, Module 07, Pg 7). Singer's point shows that if we did stop buying factory farmed food, Americans that do eat the food would have to make a completely different change in their appetite like going…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Peter Singer and his philosophy have received a range of praise and criticism for his progressive views. Some have called him the most dangerous man in the world, while others consider him a hero in the teachings of morality and ethics. His detractors make mention of his views on Animal Equality, blasting his comparisons of modern man’s treatment of animals to that of; slavery the Holocaust, human suffering and infanticide. Singer’s essay, All Animals Are Equal, poses the argument that all sentiment beings are entitled to the most basic of dignities and consideration, no different than those considerations reserved for humans. Singer draws no line of distinction between our species and other species who we, as humans…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    week 2 DQ 1&2

    • 663 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Singer argues that there is no moral justification for denying moral consideration to animals. Can you think of a reason why our moral consideration should include all humans regardless of their level of cognitive ability, yet denied to non-human animals simply because they have lower levels of cognitive abilities (though still higher in some cases than those of human infants and some mentally disabled humans)? What response might he have to your way of drawing the line between the types of beings that should get moral consideration and those that should not?…

    • 663 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    You would think that based on what I have heard from my peers that they are very uncomfortable with the Peter Singers ideas on donating all money beyond what they need to charity. Although they did think that it was a good idea, they didn’t necessarily believe that it was a moral decision. Of the arguments that I heard against Singer, and I did hear many, I don’t think that they are created equal. I’ll mention three in detail and some justifications that I heard that aren’t as relevant.…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Peter Singer Logic

    • 1339 Words
    • 5 Pages

    For example, someone with severe cognitive paralysis may be less rational or “able” than a normal-functioning dolphin. Thus, Singer points out that if we wish to establish equality based upon attributes, we have a hard time excluding many species of non-humans. As a corollary, the standard of equality by a typical set of characteristics must be set lower and lower to encompass all humans when we consider those with severe disabilities. In other words, writes Singer, “the philosopher comes up against the catch that any such set of characteristics which covers all humans will not be possessed only by humans.”…

    • 1339 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Singer argues that the basic principle of equality doesn’t mean that we have to treat all groups of beings the exact same way or afford them the same rights. He uses the example of women and men being treated equally but not giving men the right to have an abortion because they don’t need that right. He argues that we should give equal consideration to all beings and that equality shouldn’t depend on moral capacity, intelligence, or physical traits. These factual differences shouldn’t determine how someone is treated. He says that human’s should not discriminate against other humans with a lower degree of intelligence and therefore should not discriminate against nonhuman animals. Lastly, he argues that when deciding whether or not we…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In any debate, one should first know the facts and arguments from each side before making an educated judgement. In the Talking Point in this issue of EMBO reports, Bernard Rollin provides ethical arguments against animal experimentation (Rollin, 2007). Rather than simply demanding adequate regulations to ensure animals are well treated and do not suffer unnecessary and avoidable pain, Rollin questions the assumption that humans have an automatic right to make decisions for other animals. In his expansive and stimulating article, he concludes that there is no logical basis for the way in which we treat animals in research; in fact, we would not tolerate such treatment if the animals were Homo sapiens; therefore, we cannot tolerate such treatment for other sentient creatures that, like us, are able to experience and suffer pain.…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays