PHI 103 Counterargument Paper WK 3 ASSIGNMENT

1 Running head: THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES

The Ethics of Elephants in Circuses

Dr. Christopher Foster

PHI103: Informal Logic

Ashford University

Annotated example for Week Three Assignment

2 THE ETHICS OF ELEPHANTS IN CIRCUSES

Main Argument :

P1: Elephants are highly intelligent animals.

P2: Putting elephants in circuses requires them to live their lives in extreme confinement.

P3: Anything that requires highly intelligent animals to live their lives in extreme confinement is wrong unless it serves a purpose that outweighs the suffering involved.

P4: Putting elephants in circuses does not serve a purpose that outweighs the suffering involved.

C: Therefore, putting elephants in circuses is wrong.

Counterargument:

P1: Circus elephants provide enjoyment for humans.

P2: The treatment of circus elephants is not cruel.

P3: It is morally acceptable to use animals for human enjoyment provided that their treatment is not cruel.

C: Therefore it is morally acceptable to have elephants in circuses.

This is the main argument in Standard Form.

The main argument is your argument for your thesis.

The conclusion of your main argument is your thesis statement.

This is the counterargument in standard form, as indicated in the instructions.

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The next three paragraphs provide support for each premise of the counterargument (as indicated in the instructions). This would be added even if the premise seems obvious.

Clarifying the meaning of key terms is often an important aspect of defending a premise.

Notice that it is important to be as fair as possible to the other side, representing the counterargument in the strongest possible light.

The first premise of the counterargument is an obvious

background fact. If people did not find elephants in

circuses enjoyable, there would be no elephants in circuses.

Circuses exist solely for entertainment. Anything not enjoyable

would be dropped, especially something that requires as much

money and labor as elephants.

The second premise hinges on the meaning of the word “cruel”.

To be cruel is to intentionally inflict pain for the primary purpose of

inflicting pain, or to inflict substantially more pain than is required for the

desired result. Giving a vaccination shot to a child is not cruel, because it is

not done for the purpose of inflicting pain and there is not a substantially less

painful way to get the benefit. Similarly, the mere fact that elephants in circuses suffer to some degree

does not mean they are treated cruelly, provided that suffering is not the goal and that they are not

made to suffer more than is necessary for the intended

purpose.

The third premise is supported by common practice.

Meat, leather, milk, and other animal products are routinely used despite the fact that they require

animals to suffer some pain. Working animals typically suffer various degrees of discomfort or pain, yet

their use is not generally considered unethical if they are treated as well as possible given the goal. Of

course it would be wrong to use humans in this way, but animals do not generally have the rights that

humans do. Carl Cohen, for example, argues that rights come from an agreement between moral

agents. He concludes that animals do not have rights because they cannot make such agreements

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It is, of course, good to use scholarly sources to back up important points.

The first sentence of each paragraph states the topic of the paragraph.

This demonstrates why the conclusion of the counterargument follows from the premises (as indicated in the instructions).

This part of your argument may not agree with your own position at all, but it is important to represent the argument as well as you can so that you demonstrate an appreciation of the best argument on the other side.

This paragraph presents a reasonable and fair discussion of the points of disagreement between the two sides (as indicated in the instructions).

(Cohen, 2001). While the suffering of animals is a

consideration, it does not prohibit their use for the enjoyment of

humans. So long as the use does not seek pain and

suffering as part of the goal, and is carried out as humanely

as possible, using animals for human enjoyment is

morally acceptable.

This counterargument is deductively valid - if all of the premises

are true, then the conclusion must be as well. The third premise sets two

conditions for the moral acceptability of having elephants in circuses. The first

two premises state that both conditions are

met. It follows absolutely then, that having

elephants in circuses is morally acceptable, which is what the conclusion

says.

The primary disagreement between the sides will likely rest on

whether the treatment of elephants is cruel and unnecessary. Certainly,

life as a circus elephant can involve pain and suffering, but so can

life as a wild elephant. Furthermore, the intentional infliction of pain

and suffering is not always wrong, for example, giving a medical shot.

However, many would find the suffering inflicted by the confinement of

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This objection will be developed further in the final paper. A preview of that objection is given here (as indicated in the instructions).

This paragraph further develops the objection, in preparation for the final paper.

Again, this point may (or may not) be antithetical to your own view. The point of this second paper is to develop and be fair to the strongest objection you can provide to your own argument.

elephants to be an infliction of suffering for a unnecessary purpose that does not justify the degree of

suffering inflicted. These issues represent the main points of disagreement between the two sides.

The best objection to the original argument is probably

aimed at the fourth premise. Posing such an objection would

require looking at how elephants are actually treated and examining

the degree to which elephants’ presence in circuses contributes to a

further purpose.

For example, Ringling Bros. claims that circus elephants are

guaranteed nutritious food, and prompt medical care, that

their training provides a focus for their mental and physical

abilities, and that they are allowed time for play and social

interaction. “A positive, healthy environment is the foundation of training elephants. Therefore, the

cornerstone of all circus elephant training at Ringling Bros. is reinforcement through praise, repetition,

and reward” (elephantcenter, n.d.). If these claims are true, then it

could be argued that their entertainment value to children and

others might be sufficient to outweigh any suffering caused to the

elephants in captivity.

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References

Cohen, C. (2001). Why animals do not have rights. In The Animal Rights Debate (pp. 27-40). Oxford, England: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Elephantcenter (n.d.). Pampered performers. Retrieved from http://www.elephantcenter.com/meet-

our-herd/pampered-performers/