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What Gives Us the Privilege? : Animal Rights Essay

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After an incident in 1933 involving the blinding of seventeen women from a mascara product, the U.S. congress passed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, which stated that products must be deemed safe for human use before being sold. This was the beginning of animal testing (Cruelty-Free Labeling). Most companies use animal testing, which ensures their product is safe for consumer use. Animal testing is a very controversial topic due to the fact that the knowledge and research gained through the tests is tremendous. On the other hand, there are millions of animals forced to endure these painful experiments. Those in favor of testing, due to the fact that it is reliable, argue that it is benefitting the health of society, and …show more content…

In the book Animal Rights and Human Morality, author Bernard E. Rollin explores this idea that humans feel they have been placed at the top of the food chain, and therefore can determine what creatures are or are not worthy of possessing a soul. He cleverly and sarcastically remarks on the ludicrous argument that animals are better to test on than humans due to the fact that they do not possess a soul, when it cannot be scientifically proven in any way that humans themselves have souls either. “Even if we suppose that animals do not have a soul while humans do, the key question is this: What does the possession of a soul have to do with being an object of moral concern?” (Rollin 45) Rollin continues to elaborate his frustration on this idea, stating that lacking a soul has nothing to do with ethical consideration towards animals (Rollin 45). Humans have no right to determine the existence of a soul from other creatures. The possession of a soul in animals, or lack thereof, cannot be the determining factor in whether it is morally permissible to cause them physical harm. What can be proven is that animals feel pain at the same level of humans. In the book In Defense of Animals The Second Wave, author Gaverick Matheny describes animals as being able to live long and happy lives just as humans do, based on the simple idea that humans and animals share the same scope of feeling.

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