Use of Animals in Biomedical Research

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Recommended: Arguments about animal rights

The issue of human morality has always been widely controversial and vitally important; it is our anchor that we use to define the humane yet we cannot agree on its dimensions. Morality seems to be all that separates us from the unfeeling universe, which is filled with morally horific natural laws such as "survival of the fittest." Or, at least, such "callous" impartiality seems unjust to our modern societies. Behind the screens of prosperity and enlightentment we have the luxory of moral scrutiny -- a luxory that should be fully explored and developed as our only wall against the apparent moral abyss of the rest of the universe. With enough investigation, we will realize that animals must be considered as we decide who deserves rights -- and what they are.

There is a fundamental system for establishing rights in others of recognizable consciousness that is (nearly) universal to human beings. Yet, there is significant evidence of varying interpretations of those fundamentals that give rise to many different morals in different cultures. Some believe, perhaps in a cruelly impartial stance, that morality is merely a set of learned rules that varies between cultures. Babies certainly do (eventually) develop morally -- kindergarten is as much a time for learning not to take toys from others as the alphabet. Still, this claim should not be taken too far -- even across huge cultural gaps there are similarities in philosophy and morality. The golden rule shows up in various forms, composed independently by many cultures. It may be safe to assume that simply being a society encourages such togetherness and morality, but as we are social creatures such a concession only furthers the point for animal rights as we are not the only so...

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...mesh. "What Mother Nature Teaches Us About Motherhood." Time 155.19 (8 May 2000): 4 pp. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. 3043084. Owens Lib., Maryville, MO. 15 Nov. 2002

Newman, Aline Alexander. "Do Animals Have Feelings?" National Geographic World .310 (June 2001): 6 pp. Masterfile Elite. EBSCOhost. 4570708. Owens Lib., Maryville, MO. 16 Nov. 2002

Perry., Denise. "Touching Look at Animal Feelings." Animals 128.4 (July 1995): 2/3 pp. Masterfile Elite. EBSCOhost. 9507250122. Owens Lib., Maryville, MO. 16 Nov. 2002

Regan, Tom. "The Case for Animal Rights." The Norton Reader. Ed Linda H. Peterson, John C. Brereton, Joan E. Hartman. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2000.

Works Consulted

Cartmill, Matt. "Animal minds, animal dreams." Natural History 107.2 (Mar 98):2541 words. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost. 461356. Owens Lib., Maryville, MO. 4 Nov. 2002.

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