Comm Arts II: Writing about animal experiments in Chapter Two of Animal Liberation, Peter Singer writes that “Many experiments inflict severe pain without the remotest prospect of significant benefits for human beings or any other animals” (36). His opening example is a project in which military researchers exposed monkeys to lethal doses of radiation. Why do you think Singer chose to make this his first example of what he considers to be unethical animal experimentation?
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10 comments:
By the time Singer had got to the point that the experiments serve no benefit to the human kind, I had allready begun to think that Singer simply was just giving facts and would not give a rational explanation about why he was giving us these examples. So when he finally got to the point ther was a sense of relief.
Most of these experiments do not serve a perpose to furthering what we know about the human body. Simply inducing an electric shock to see how animals learn is not the same as inducing a shock to a human.First we have a higher intillect and would not put up with the senseless shockings, and second we are way bigger mammals than any rabbit or rat and would need more of a shock or neumonia in order to produce an effect. The experiments in this sense are nothing but cruel and, really, pointless.
^*Creationist*^ (AKA anonymous)
Singer made a great choice as to choose that specific story to open the next chapter. This really focused the reader’s attention and captured their interest right off the bat. This also opened up the discussion for the other unnatural testing that humans have been doing to animals throughout the years. Furthermore, this example was especially great for opening the chapter because it completely showed the fact that even though monkeys may be the closest looking animal to humans this experiment did not really do much for us because we already knew the effects that radiation had on people from the nuclear bomb we dropped on Hiroshima.
I think Singer chose to make the monkeys his first example of what he considers to be unethical animal experimentation is because it is a good example of humans barley benefiting from this experiment, and the experiment seemed extremely cruel. Because of the severity of this experiment, it catches the readers attention, and makes the person want to keep reading about the cruel experiments that humans preform on helpless animals.
I think Singer opened the chapter well by using the monkey experiment.This example shows that experiment wasn't really benifical to the human race because we did already know the effects of radiation to us.Therefore making it unethical.
the arguement that is made is sound however it is based on a principle of animals deserving equallity. now i am not argueing that animals deserve toture but isn't it human nature to self perserve. so in an unnatural method we are inacting our natural instincts of survivalism. this is my counter arguement nothing more than my oppinion so please i am not intending to offend.
sorry.
I believe Singer uses this example because it can inflict a strong feeling into someone. Throughout one's life, they are told, "we are derived from monkeys," people tend to then form somewhat of a relationship to these animals. A relative of the primate, a human will feel more in tune with the pain that a monkey is exposed to rather that the pain that a small rat goes through becuase it is difficult for a human to relate to a rat.
Singer made a good choice starting to talk about the experiment with the Chimpanzees. The reason why he did that might of been because out of all the animals monkeys,chimpanzees etc, are the most common to humans. Experiments made on chimpanzees have shown that they have 98 to 99 percent of their DNA similar to humans."The new analysis of the rhesus monkey genome, conducted by an international consortium of more than 170 scientists, also reveals that humans and the macaques share about 93 percent of their DNA. By comparison, humans and chimpanzees share about 98 to 99 percent of their DNA."(Charles Q. Choi on a report to live science) Maybe Singer was trying to get his point through by trying to tell us that experimenters harm primates knowing that they are just like humans except that they do not talk.
i feel singer chose to use that topic as an example because he wanted the point to be firm and clear on the unnecessary torture and cruelty to these animals that only served for the mental scientific purpose that military wanted to know what would happen to humans. There are a large number of private research companies that are funded and paid to do these experiments and they are all for their personal gain and knowledge not always in the best interest of the animals or mankind. The government is always running experiments to find weapons they can use on humans in war. Like AgenOrange and others they do not want to tell us about. some of these experiments are simply just to test ideas out that we definately cannot try on humans because they would probably kill the humans. people are easy to blow off an animals life as to a humans and then find a way to justify it all until groups like PETA call them on the treatment of the animals. What if we used humans like that and founda way to justify it. I dought the people would give in so easily. artisfun..
In the chapter pter singer refers to the fact that we do animal texting without any regards from the animal. IN reality when we do experiments on animals the question is do we really get benifits for it. I belive that we do but there should be another alternative of studieing things to help benifits us. Because i belive that animals should not be text subjects and that we have the technolgy now and then to prove science stuff so that should be enough.
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