Quote:
Originally Posted by skibum801
@ SilverTrees, yes I am a scholar of philosophy.
Yes, I believe that anthropocentrism is interesting to study. Generally speaking, I think humans will by default think they are superior to other animals. I don't know, perhaps sometimes I thought that in the past, additionally, because some elementary school teacher told me humans were at the top of the food chain or something like that. All jokes aside, broadly speaking, anthropocentrism might deny in certain cases that other animals have feeling and suffering, which is a philosophy I definitely cannot get behind. Or, the less extreme (and more palatable) view is that other animals' suffering matters less than that of human beings. Once again, it's a philosophy I cannot really get behind. I think once you introduce animals as moral agents, they ought to be treated morally on the same level as humans. Also, from a purely psychological perspective, I think it's interesting to view biases in the human consciousness, like how humans potentially could believe that animals cannot feel pain, or that they have a different capacity for pain than humans do. |
Very interesting points!
think it's interesting to view biases in the human consciousness, like how humans potentially could believe that animals cannot feel pain, or that they have a different capacity for pain than humans do.
Yes, we could argue that pain is pain is pain. But I think we are wired to perceive an infant's pain very differently from that of a cat or dog....the infant's pain will appear more alarming or disturbing to most. Humans are also a very weak species, very underdeveloped and dependent after birth compared to many animals.
Then there's euthanasia. Most people I've met find the notion abhorrent even if the human has zero quality of life, terrible pain, and a terminal illness. But most people see nothing wrong with euthanizing a very ill dog or cat. I doubt that the pet's pain bothers them more than a human's pain....I think they perhaps perceive the pet's life as less valuable than that of the terminally ill human so there's no "sanctity of life" argument against euthanizing pets....including beloved pets.
Also...I am wondering if you have studied this....most humans don't even agree that all humans are of equal value (never mind other species). Putting aside ridiculous arguments based on racism or xenophobia etc, most people I know think that a person's value is based on their actions....therefore they do not agree that prisoners have human rights. I've met so many people who say that pedophiles and killers are no longer human and therefore undeserving of human rights. Almost as though they are a different and "lesser" species. Sometimes that thinking makes me very sad but another part of my brain wants to understand where it comes from.