(January 19, 2014 at 12:35 pm)Jacob(smooth) Wrote: The fundamental difference is that LastPoet is a human being, and the animals are, well, animals. Since human beings have rights which animals don't have, I see no problem with him imposing his views on cute, tasty animals but not wanting someone else's views imposed on him.
But surely there must be some property of being a human that confers these rights, which all humans have but animals don't, right?
So what is that property? consciousness? the ability to suffer? Desires which they can express their behaviour? Animals have all these things.
And I suspect you would give animals some rights, such as the right not be treated cruelly, e.g. a dog owner in the UK can be jailed if they violently abuse their dog. The question then becomes why not give animals all the rights to be protected for other actions of equal cruelty that would logically follow from this right, such as not to be farmed and have their lives brutally cut short?
