In my humanities class, we are exploring the theme of animals, people, and power. As a result, there has been much discussion about animal rights and the way that we have historically understood animals. For example, Descartes, a French philosopher during the 1600s, held a then widespread belief that animals were purely mechanical beings. He performed operations on unanesthetized live animals to observe their inner anatomy and test their “rationality”. Descartes concluded that although animals could “sense”, they weren’t capable of higher, rational thinking that humans are capable of. For this reason, Cartesian thought justified cruel actions against animals because their reactions to pain were purely “mechanistic”. It wasn’t until the mid-1700s that early animal welfare laws were passed–these were very minimal protections. I was shocked at how far we’ve come from in terms of our philosophical understanding of animals and the laws we have regarding their ethical treatment.
I am not a vegetarian or vegan by any means although I have previously tried adhering to such a diet in high school but fell back into my usual diet. My reasons for this stemmed from my concerns for the environment, my health, and because I am a huge animal lover. Unfortunately, it was hard to break the habit of eating meat. Now, instead of being a strict vegetarian, I try to limit my consumption of meat products, especially after learning so much about the relationship between humans and animals in my humanities class this year. I hope to gradually move into a vegetarian diet in the future.
I have so much respect for people who are able to change their diets from omnivorous to purely vegetarian! It truly is a difficult task both mentally and physically. Although great strides have been made in terms of animal welfare since the 1600s, our society still tends to objectify animal lives which is why the meat industry still exists. After we have been conditioned all our lives to think about animals as disposable creatures, it is hard to fight that kind of mindset as an adult. And, as creatures of habit who have grown up eating a certain way, it certainly is difficult to make changes. In class, I have read several texts by modern-day philosophers who are proponents of animal rights and see animals as equals to humans, countering the age-old idea of “speciesism”, which is the assumption that human lives take precedence over that of animal lives. They make really great arguments and I highly recommend looking into Peter Singer’s theory on animal rights and utilitarianism. I had an eye-opening moment learning about the philosophy behind animal rights. This class asked me to reconsider my values. I realized that I too wanted to fight “speciesism” and I needed to reflect upon my actions to match those values instead of blindly doing what I usually do. I hope that you can reconsider how your actions align with your values too after reading this!
Your friend,
Vivian