Philosophy paper

ALTELJI

[7]

[RAZAN, YOUR NAME IN HEADER SHOULD START ON THE SECOND PAGE AND BE PLACED BEFORE THE PAGE NUMBER. SEE THE INSTRUCTIONS IN NOTES ABOUT WRITING AND FORMATTING FOR WHAT TO PUT ON FIRST PAGE AND HOW TO FORMAT EVERYTHING.]

HAVE HUMAN BEINGS VIOLATED ANIMAL RIGHTS?

[YOU NEED A BETTER TITLE. THE ANSWER TO THE ABOVE QUESTION IS OBVIOUSLY YES, AND THIS IS NOT THE REAL SUBJECT OF THE PAPER]

Introduction

In this paper, I intend to explain Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities theory for treating nonhuman animals ethically, then apply this theory to Carl Safina’s discussion of various nonhuman animals in his book Beyond Words, How Animals Think and Feel. Martha Nussbaum is an American philosopher, who focuses on moral theories. She is a distinguished Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. [TELL THAT SHE COEDITED A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS TITLED ____________ (GIVE FULL TITLE IN ITALICS) WITH CASS SUNSTEIN. THEN TELL WHO SAFINA IS]

Martha Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach to ethical treatment of Animals

Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities theory advocates for the better treatment of animals and recognition of their rights [ENTITLEMENT TO JUSTICE] as cognitive beings. In Chapter 14 [OF ANIMAL RIGHTS], “Beyond ‘Compassion and Humanity’: Justice for Nonhuman Animals,” Martha Nussbaum [MOVE RED STATEMENT ABOVE HERE] [NOW EXPLAIN THE TITLE. TELL WHERE THE WORDS IN QUOTES COME FROM. TELL RAWLS’ POSITION ABOUT NOT INCLUDING ANIMALS IN THE THEORY OF JUSTICE. TALK ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH THEIR NOT BEING ABLE TO RECIPROCATE IN A SOCIAL CONTRACT]

[NEXT, YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN THAT NUSSBAUM DISAGREES WITH RAWLS ABOUT HUMANS PROVIDING ONLY COMPASSION AND HUMANITY TO ANIMALS. EXPLAIN WHY SHE BELIEVES THIS APPROACH IS NOT SUFFICIENT. THERE ARE TWO POINTS—ONE IS THAT SUFFERING DOES NOT REQUIRE BLAMING THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR MISTREATING ANIMALS AND THE SECOND IS THAT ANIMALS ARE ENTITLED NOT TO BE MISTREATED. YOU NEED TO FIND WHERE SHE TALKS ABOUT THIS AND EXPLAIN IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS. THE PART ABOUT ENTITLEMENT NOT TO BE MISTREATED IS THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEA IN THE CHAPTER. THE DISCUSSION OF CAPABILITIES IS MEANT TO SUPPORT THIS CLAIM. AFTER YOU EXPLAIN THAT PART, WHICH INVOLVES TALKING ABOUT ANIMALS AS AGENTS, ETC., THEN YOU CAN TALK ABOUT THE CONCEPTS OF A DIGNIFIED EXISTENCE AND FLOURISHING]

puts more emphases on the element that animals are like humans, in the way that they can also feel injured and sorrowfulness. Martha [NUSSBAUM] defines the term ‘dignified existence,’ as the right [ENTITLEMENT] to be free from discrimination, coercion and interference and just like human beings, animals too have this right (page 299). [CITE CORRECTLY. SEE PAPER INSTRUCTIONS. YOU WILL LOSE POINTS FOR INCORRECT FORMATTING] She claims that there are animals that are forced to take part in activities that they do not desire such as Circus and in this manner human beings ignore the feelings of the animals. She refers to this act as discriminating against animals and does not show any equality. Martha [DO NOT REFER TO HER BY FIRST NAME] [NUSSBAUM] also defines the term, [NO COMMA] ‘flourishing’ [PUT THE WORD IN DOUBLE QUOTES] as living within an optimal range that indicates goodness, generativity, [WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?] growth and resilience and she insists that animals need to flourish too (page 311). [FIX CITE HERE AND EVERYWHERE] She writes that, “A human being can be expected to learn to flourish without homicide and, let us hope, even without most killing of animals. But a lion who is given no exercise for its predatory capacity appears to suffer greatly.” (Page 311). She also defines the term, ‘justice,’ as the quality of being equitableness and she makes it clear that animals should be treated equally to human beings. [YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON HER EARLIER DISCUSSION OF FLOURISHING, WHERE SHE PROVIDES THE BASIC IDEA, NOT A QUALIFICATION OF IT.]

[IN THIS PARAGRAPH YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN THAT THERE ARE TWO LISTS OF THE SAME TEN CAPABILITIES. TELL THAT SHE ADAPTED THE HUMAN LIST FOR ANIMALS. TELL THAT SHE INTENDS THESE TO GUIDE MAKING LAWS FOR PROTECTING THE ENTITLEMENTS OF ANIMALS. THEN SHOW THE LIST THE WAY I SHOW IT IN MY NOTE ON CHAPTER 14 RATHER THAN THE WAY YOU SHOW IT. YOU SEEM NOT TO HAVE READ MY INSTRUCTIONS. WHAT YOU DO BELOW TAKES UP TOO MUCH SPACE. I WANT YOU TO EXPLAIN ONLY THE CAPABILITIES YOU WILL APPLY TO SAFINA’S ANIMAL EXAMPLES AND DO THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU APPLY THE PRINCIPLES.] Martha argues against John Rawls who claims that her concepts are misguiding and there is a lot of misunderstanding. The misunderstanding is that animals deserve justice and other entitlements because of their similarity to humans. This is wrong. Martha also [NUSSBAUM] presents 10 political capabilities which are briefly explained below:

· Life: right to life, which should be of the normal length a human being should live. This means that human or any other life should not be terminated prematurely.

· Bodily Health: this encompasses nourishment and also the reproductive health to ensure continuity and also shelter to keep safe from harm.

· Bodily Integrity: the feeling of safety and freedom of movement from one point to another without worrying that some harm will befall you. Freedom against robbery, violence, rape and on the positive side, having opportunities to make friends, lovers and choices in the subject of reproduction.

· Senses, imagination, thought: being capable of using the senses to fantasize, imagine, contemplate and reason in a manner that reflects an informed and educated individual.

· Emotions: being capable of showing attachments and feelings that lead to love, kindness, goodness, care and on the other side having the right to be angry, grieve and justify anger.

· Practical Reason: being able to decide what is good and also engage in critical thinking about one’s life and the future ahead.

· Affiliation: being able to have and maintain good relationships with others such as friends, relatives, lovers, or wives. This mostly encompasses social attraction.

· Other species: being able to live in peace in the environment. The environment encompasses the plants, non-living things and other animals.

· Play: being able to be happy, laugh and enjoy recreational activities.

· Control over one’s environment: the capability to participate in activities that are happening around. These activities could be political or social. Political encompasses, freedom of speech and freedom to express leadership desires or choosing the desired leader. Social encompasses, wealth and riches and employment.

Capabilities Concepts [APPLIED] to Carl Safina’s Discussion of [WHALES] one Group of Animals

Safina's discussion demonstrates that animals have feelings and describes their cognitive nature. He elaborates the communication abilities of the wolves, whales, and other animals. We, [NO COMMA] human beings consider ourselves superior to the other species, but by various measures, we are the most frequently irrational, distortional, delusional, and worried lot. [THIS IS TOO CLOSE TO ORIGINAL TEXT NOT TO QUOTE. ALSO CITE] In other words, emotionally, we are not much different from the other animals which we consider to be having no feelings. [THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO SAY ABOUT HIS PROJECT. HOW DOES HE WANT HUMANS TO THINK ABOUT ANIMALS? LOOK AT THE PAGES I SAID TO LOOK AT]

Safina explains different groups of animals and for the case of this assignment I am going to use the whales. Safina asks a question, ‘What makes an animal lovable?’ [USE DOUBLE QUOTES AND CITE] Whales may not be the type of animals that human beings would love yet they are impressive in their own ways. Despite this, [REGARDING] the different species of whales such as humpbacks, grey whales and porpoises some individuals would easily say, ‘That’s my favorite animal!’ [USE DOUBLE QUOTES] The Humans need the whales as they play a very important role in the ecosystem by supporting a healthy ocean and planet in general. These animals have flourished in their environment, by playing the irreplaceable role of balancing the ecosystem. They do not even harm human beings as they spend most of their times in deep oceans lying down like huge rocks. [YOU NEED TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF KILLER WHALES ENJOYING THEIR LIVES WHEN NOT INTERFERED WITH. TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC WHALES AND CITE]

On the ethical approach, human beings[‘] activities have threated to wipe away this lovely and rare creature out of this planet with undertakings such as ship strikes, poor fishing practices and underwater sonar. [NOW YOU NEED TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF HUMANS KILLING OR CAPTURING WHALES.]

[MAKE A PAR HERE] On the 10 political capabilities, whales are denied right [THEIR ENTITLEMENT] to [THE CAPABILITIES OF] life, other species, and control over one’s environment. [NO PAR] [TELL SOMETHING FROM NUSSBAUM’S DESCRIPTION OF ANIMALS BEING ENTITLED TO LIFE. IT IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE ENTITLEMENTS SO WHAT PART OF HER DESCRIPTION APPLIES TO THE WAY HUMANS KILL WHALES] Whales are denied the right to life because many are times that the creature’s life has been terminated prematurely for the benefit of human beings who desire to use it as food. Human beings disturb the creature in its natural habitat and when it retaliates, they kill it and share the animals as meal and according to Safina this is unethical. Also human beings kill this animal indirectly through ship strikes, poor fishing practices and underwater sonar.

Whales are also denied the chance to interact with other species of animals such as dolphins. [THIS IS NOT A GOOD PRINCIPLE TO APPLY. IT WOULD BE MUCH BETTER TO USE EMOTIONS. SAFINA SHOWS HOW KILLER WHALES RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER SHOWING WHAT LOOKS LIKE LOVE AND SYMPATHY. WHEN A MEMBER OF A FAMILY IS KILLED IT DEPRIVES THE OTHERS OF THIS LOVE.] It is a scientific fact that both dolphins and whales are mammals and similar in some way nonetheless in country such as Japan, they slaughter hundreds of dolphins annually as traditional ritual and Safina refers to this act as cruelty to the animal. [USE NUSSBAUM’S DESCRIPTION OF THIS CAPABILITY AND CITE BEFORE YOU APPLY IT TO HUMANS’ VIOLATION OF THE PRINCIPLE]

Furthermore, whales are not free to enjoy their environment because human beings and their activities interfere with the animal’s natural status and habitat. Activities mentioned above such as underwater sonar and ship strikes interfere with whale’s habitat. [SAME COMMENT AS ABOVE. USE NUSSBAUM’S DESCRIPTION AND CITE.]

Conclusion

It has been known that how human beings treat the lower species is actually a reflection of our general values. [CITE] However, what is new to the human species is that animals also have feeling, [THOUGHTS AND] emotions, just like human beings. [BUT SAFINA AND NUSSBAUM BOTH POINT OUT THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME THOUGHTS AND SAME FEELINGS. THAT DOESN’T MATTER. WHAT MATTERS IS THAT THEY HAVE THESE CAPABILITIES. LOOK AT MY NOTE IN BLACKBOARD ON MISUNDERSTANDING OF HOW NUSSBAUM ARGUES FOR JUSTICE FOR ANIMALS] Thus, the suggestion put forward by Dr. Safina, [NUSSBAUM] that we have a duty of justice towards other animals, [NO COMMA] is not only appropriate, but also timely. It is high time that we recognized the importance of other life forms, and accorded them the value they deserve. The moment we recognize the [FULL] value of non-human animals, we shall also know that they have their rights as cognitive and sentient beings. This would make us to stop [MIS]treating them harshly, and uphold their protection, through the formulation of laws that guard their rights. [AS NUSSBAUM SAYS,] The whole world can follow these rules only if all countries makes constitutions that uphold non-human animals’ rights.

[LEAVE ONLY TWO SPACES BEFORE SHOWING THE WORKS CITED]

Works Cited

[CITE MY NOTE ON CHAPTER 14 FIRST]

NEITHER CITATION IS IN AN ACCEPTABLE STYLE. USE MY CITATIONS FROM THE SYLLABUS

Nussbaum, M. C. (2004). Beyond'compassion and humanity': justice for nonhuman animals.

Safina, C. (2015). Beyond words: What animals think and feel. Macmillan.