During my junior year as an undergraduate, I took Animal Behavior with Dr. Paul Verrell. He structured his class to teach not only the methods and progress of research in animal behavior, but also how to structure experiments and approach scientific problems in a researchable way. While this class focused mostly on the mating rituals in salamanders, I applied this learning technique to other aspects of my studies and to my work as a manager. During office hours with Dr. Verrell, we discussed the implications of certain types of experiments and I found myself more interested in the ethical limitations and the legal labyrinth researchers navigate through in order to contribute to the academic community. This played a definitive role in identifying …show more content…
The biggest advantage of a small firm is the team experience. There are attorneys and legal assistants, but everyone steps in where needed and assists on any case in any way. I can’t imagine a better environment to grow and develop skills right out of college. Additionally, the experience and preparation for law school and practicing law is invaluable. When I started this position, saying I dived into the deep-end is an understatement. The key to success in the legal field is to know the procedures, and at the beginning, I had no idea which way was up. Over time, the words and their meanings started to stick and I started catching on. During this past year, I have learned more than I could possibly have imagined. Civil litigation excites me. Successful attorneys are well-prepared and quick on their feet. They are headstrong and hold their ground because confidence must be the foundation of a case. While my job includes a lot of smaller tasks, such as drafting deposition notices, written discovery requests and scheduling meetings, I enjoy the support role I also play in drafting, editing and reviewing trial and mediation briefs, motions and reports to clients as well as combing through medical records and summarizing depositions. And while I know a minute amount of all cases end up in a courtroom for trial, assisting the trial attorneys in our firm’s recent trial was instrumental in solidifying my decision to pursue law
Loeb, Jerod M. “Human vs. Animal Rights: In Defense of Animal Research.” Taking Sides: Science, Technology, and Society. Gilford: Dushkin Publishing Group, 2011
The information that animals have provided scientists over the past decades has changed society, and is still changing society for the better. Millions of lives have been saved with the use of animal testing and many more will be saved with continued research. However, there are many who dismiss this monumental achievement completely and oppose the use of animals in laboratory research. Though many find this practice to be
Both in and out of philosophical circle, animals have traditionally been seen as significantly different from, and inferior to, humans because they lacked a certain intangible quality – reason, moral agency, or consciousness – that made them moral agents. Recently however, society has patently begun to move beyond this strong anthropocentric notion and has begun to reach for a more adequate set of moral categories for guiding, assessing and constraining our treatment of other animals. As a growing proportion of the populations in western countries adopts the general position of animal liberation, more and more philosophers are beginning to agree that sentient creatures are of a direct moral concern to humans, though the degree of this concern is still subject to much disagreement. The political, cultural and philosophical animal liberation movement demands for a fundamental transformation of humans’ present relations to all sentient animals. They reject the idea that animals are merely human resources, and instead claim that they have value and worth in themselves. Animals are used, among other things, in basic biomedical research whose purpose is to increase knowledge about the basic processes of human anatomy. The fundamental wrong with this type of research is that it allows humans to see animals as here for them, to be surgically manipulated and exploited for money. The use of animals as subjects in biomedical research brings forth two main underlying ethical issues: firstly, the imposition of avoidable suffering on creatures capable of both sensation and consciousness, and secondly the uncertainty pertaining to the notion of animal rights.
This is important because understanding the way in which this happens, attitudes towards animal testing, are formed and how they spread will likely have an impact on public policy on animal welfare and animal rights activism. The information presented and the results will justify my view on animal testing and why it should be banned from scientific reasonings. (75 words)
An article written by an animal researcher and psychology professor discusses the lack of ethical treatment towards primates in research labs. The author of Second Thoughts of an Animal Researcher, John P. Gluck, justified the unethical treatment of primates by believing that scientific advancements are superior to the harm the primates experienced. One day a student of his presented a dissertation about a female rhesus monkey who unexpectedly passed away. The dissertation caused Gluck to feel that the animals he caused much harm to were more than objects used to create data. Although he tried to continually justify his actions, he eventually felt guilty and decided that the primates deserve to be handled ethically. Throughout the article,
As I have progressed through this class, my already strong interest in animal ethics has grown substantially. The animal narratives that we have read for this course and their discussion have prompted me to think more deeply about mankind’s treatment of our fellow animals, including how my actions impact Earth’s countless other creatures. It is all too easy to separate one’s ethical perspective and personal philosophy from one’s actions, and so after coming to the conclusion that meat was not something that was worth killing for to me, I became a vegetarian. The trigger for this change (one that I had attempted before, I might add) was in the many stories of animal narratives and their inseparable discussion of the morality in how we treat animals. I will discuss the messages and lessons that the readings have presented on animal ethics, particularly in The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Dead Body and the Living Brain, Rachel in Love, My Friend the Pig, and It Was a Different Day When They Killed the Pig. These stories are particularly relevant to the topic of animal ethics and what constitutes moral treatment of animals, each carrying important lessons on different facets the vast subject of animal ethics.
League, Animal Defense. “Policy Statement on Animal Research.” Civil Rights in America. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 1999. American Journey.Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
For many years, people assumed that humans are significantly different from other species, which made them somewhat superior. However, research on animal behavior, especially our closest relatives, the apes has led to new discoveries that show many similarities between human and animals. Some of these similarities have questioned the uniqueness of humans and have led to debates not only among scientists but in the public as well. Frans de Waal, a renowned primatologist and the author of The Ape and the Sushi Master, is among the scientists that claim animals and humans are quite similar. The main focus of his book is to show that culture is not exclusive to humans. De Waal was not the first scientist to propose the theory that animals have culture nonetheless; it was received with a lot of enmity. He attributes this to the fear of losing the qualities that make humans special. Claims of language in apes became so threating that animal research was almost banned. According to de Waal, “attempts of censorship do reveal just how much insecurity surrounds human uniqueness”. (32) In an attempt to support his argument, he addresses the controversial issue of morality in animals. Morality is considered a cultural aspect and therefore people often use cultural biases in decision making. Dan Kahan, a psychologist, referred to this as cultural cognition, which “refers to the tendency of individuals to conform their beliefs about disputed matters of fact to values that define their cultural identities”. Subsequently, theories on morality depend on the perspective of the scientists who carry out the research. De Waal supports his theory by analyzing aspects of morality in humans and comparing them to animal behavior.
Small law firms offer the paralegal a chance to work in many different areas of law and allow them to provide many different services while working on...
Every year approximately 100 million animals are killed as a part of scientific research in the United States alone. Animal testing is a highly controversial practice in the modern world. There are records of animals being used in biological and medicinal research as far back as 384 BCE with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Many people believe animal testing is unethical as it is bringing harm to animals in order to benefit humans. Ever since the beginning of this practice, animal testing has been used for a variety of purposes, all of which are inhumane and unethical.
Horse racing has become increasingly popular as demonstrated by the growing amount of money bet on events each year. The Kentucky Derby, horse racing’s most well known event, is an applicable example. While lasting just over two minutes, the main race generated $112.7 million in wagering, up 7.8% from the year prior. (Brisnet.com) Some critics, however, feel that the sport as a whole has become artificially supported through genetic enhancement used to achieve the high level of precision and strength necessary to excel. An anonymous opinion piece in the New York Times brings attention to the relationship between an industry that has grown exponentially in revenue and the pressure placed on those in position to capitalize on that growth. In light of this opportunity to make a substantial amount of money trends have been established that undermine the safety of both the jockey and the horse. Although through the horses inability to voice an opinion in its own partnership a unique situation is created. Unlike the horse, a jockey may refuse the trainer or mangers urging to partake in jeopardizing or otherwise illicit activities. The risk thus unwillingly imposed on the horse raises large ethical and moral concerns, especially when the motives behind the behavior are made clear. In specific circumstances the use of genetic enhancement may be extremely beneficial although within horse racing the implementation of such procedures are by and large not utilized for the benefit of the horse but for the increased profit derived through alteration. Genetic alteration of horses is ethically and morally unjust within the context of horse racing because the long term risks the horses are unwillingly exposed to garner more importance than the in...
vivisection Animal Research and Testing, Is it Ethical? “It is a simple fact that many, if not most, of today’s modern medical miracles would not exist if experimental animals had not been available to medical scientists. It is equally a fact that, should we as a society decide the use of animal subjects is ethically unacceptable and therefore must be stopped, medical progress will slow to a snail’s pace. Such retardation will in itself have a huge ethical ‘price tag’ in terms of continued human and animal suffering from problems such as diabetes, cancer, degenerative cardiovascular diseases, and so forth.” Dr. Simmonds, a veterinarian who specializes in the care of laboratory animals, is one of many who believe that animal testing is an ethical practice.
I will first look at the views of Peter Singer, who is a utilitarian. A
In the natural sciences there are always ethical norms that limit how knowledge can be produced. In the natural sciences, experimentation is an important method of producing knowledge but ethical judgments can limit the use of this method. There are areas that are considered unethical ...
Orlans, F. Barbara. In the Name of Science:Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation. New York: Oxford UP: Oxford UP, 1993.