Oh great, another Randroid on the forum. Or are you Galt?
Originally Posted by
Yagamai
Animals do not have rights. The concept of 'rights' apply only to volitional beings.
Only in your own little world.
Humans aren't
that exceptional. We perceive more nuances than most animals due to our intelligence, but our choices are just as predetermined (which is what matters)
Animals do not survive by rational thought (nor by sign languages allegedly taught to them by psychologists). They survive through sensory-perceptual association and the pleasure-pain mechanism. They cannot reason. They cannot learn a code of ethics.
Yeah, like this crow with a brain the size of a walnut:
Reason is not an "on or off" property, and comes in degrees. Some agents have more reasoning power than others. Unlike a bacteria, a horse has many attributes (brain power and nervous system among them) which may warrant a consideration (and
do in most people).
All complex social animals have codes of ethics (as in: behavior patterns which are enforced by the collective). Wolf packs, bonobo groups, dolphins, etc. Even some insects.
Animals are not volitional beings. Animals do not have rights.
Rights, like codes of ethics, are constructs of the mind. What "rights" you have depends on who you're asking. Torture and murder a stray dog and see whether people think you violated someone's rights. All animals (including us) are machines who have no libertarian freedom, so using volition as an argument is silly.
Last edited by Odlov; Feb 15, 2011 at 07:05 PM.