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Quote by: CaptainChaos StrongHearts...
Can you sum up, in a simple statement for me, why it is immoral to kill animals? |
First off, let me say it is not immoral to kill animals [of which humans, too, are animals] in an immediate life or death struggle for survival. Surely we can all think of scenarios where that can be seen, and is so not only in history but even in the present and will continue to be so in the future. I have to preface my answer to your question with this so that the abnomalies are given room for in today`s modern world. Furthermore, in lieu of the word “kill,” the word “exploitation” is the more appropriate word for that is what erases the prejudicial application of treatment of animals.
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My answer to your question, CaptainChaos:
It is wrong to kill animals based on exploitation because it results in pain, suffering, or deprivation of life. Pain and suffering are unpleasant states. Just as we have an interest in not being the target of actions resulting in pain and suffering, so do animals. They, like we, seek to move away from the source which is causing it. We share that behavioral characteristic with them. We have evolved to empathise and have the ability to extend that across the species barrier to affect pain and suffering through being able to lessen it or in many cases eliminate it. The Principle of Equal Consideration of Interests is one of respect for what we share with animals -- a desire to not live in a state of pain or suffering. This pain and suffering is one which is brought about through exploitation based on prejudicial reasoning. Man, the animal of higher reasoning, has an obligation and responsibility to apply reason consistantly and non-prejudicially so that it cuts across all issues to the point where it does not result in being neurotic or causes him to forfeit his life.
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That is basically it. With rebuttals, I will add more details, but I tried to keep it to one paragraph that covered the main reasoning/philosophical points in as short as space as possible. Sorry if it wasn`t short or simple enough. I needed more than three sentences.