Animal Paper

Intro

Before this unit, I would’ve never classified myself as an animal. To be honest, I had no real reason as to why I wouldn’t either. I saw myself superior to them. My definition of an animal was just pretty much ‘any other living thing besides human beings’ (also found on dictionary.com). I grew up believing I was better than them. After having studied the way humans and animals react, I found that we truly are the same. Back when I was naïve, I remember always thinking that buying and selling humans was so terrible. We buy and sell animals all the time. What’s the difference? For many years, we have been given false explanations from many sources including the book of genesis, scientists, evolutionary studies, philosophers, (and so on) on why humans and animals are unlike. As if we are better than animals and shouldn’t be classified as one. These sources give pretentious idea’s to humans making them believe we can, should, and even are supposed to rule over and be a higher class than animals.

Book of Genesis

In the book of Genesis, it explains how God created earth. And in what order exactly. The book explains God to have made animals before humans, but humans being the concluding creation. It tells us that God made humans in his figure. The book says specifically man is supposed to rule over the animals. “Then God said let us make man in our image, in our likeliness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the earth and over the immense.” (Genesis 1: 26-28) According to Genesis, because it clearly states man is supposed to be ruling over animals (says God himself), it gives us this idea that we are somehow more advanced than animals; that we humans were chosen by God to rule over them. This separation from any other species makes us believe that God made the earth for us.
Religion is extremely powerful and highly influential on the way a lot of people act, feel, and think about certain things. If the book of Genesis is telling us we are above animals, most people will believe the same. Besides, what else is telling us otherwise?

Evolution Classification

Science classifies the web of life (evolution) through what species are more intelligent. Humans and many other animals are all on the web of life but humans are separated. According to science, we are more intelligent than animals. It tells us that we are a different genus (class) from other animals known as Homo sapiens sapiens. This idea puts a wedge in our train of thought. Scientific classification tells us we are a separate species of animals (only close to monkeys/chimps in which we share 99% of our DNA with them) yet we somehow are still above them.
Science is also known to be another form of religion. Some people practice the studies of science because it gives us evidence. Visual proof to see that we are more intelligent therefore higher beings than other mammals.

Identifying with your surroundings & being out of touch with Animalistic instincts

“You tend to identify with who you hang out with” (Andy 3/10/09). Everyone knows this is true. While keeping this in mind, studies show that we (humans) spend about 95% or more of our time with other human beings and not other mammals. We go about our daily lives interacting with other humans. While it is true that some humans have animal pets (such as a dog for instance), they don’t necessarily identify with them. We constantly try to humanize them by making them obey our rules and do some activities we do. We don’t give them any freedom to do as they please (just as we do). We feel the need to rule over them and control their lives by making them live in a house, making them eat the food we give them at the certain time period we put it out, making them potty trained (just as we do babies) and try to teach it to be more “civilized” just as humans believe we are. We are out of touch with our ‘animalistic instincts’. We sit in classrooms learning all day, have a certain place to go to the bathroom, buy our food (sometimes already made), we buy clothing, we have jobs to make money in order to buy different things we say we need. What’s wrong with going about our days just as a regular animal would? If we were to, many of us would think its absurd and crazy to act like an ‘animal’ and not like a human. From both who we hang out with/identify with and not acting like an ‘animal’ really helps separate us from classifying ourselves as animals.

Descartes Theory

Then there is Descartes theory of “I think, therefore I am”. Descartes was a philosopher who had many theories about us humans. One of his theories believed that the human mind and body are completely separate. We humans think with our mind and not our body therefore our minds must be separate from our body. He thinks we only experience things with our mind because we’re constantly thinking “I” rather than “My body”. Other living animals however do not say “I”, but in fact do not speak at all. Descartes believes that other living animals don’t think therefore are not. Because animals can’t think, they can’t feel or experience pain, etc. This idea is argumentative considering other animals do in fact feel (for example, if you’ve ever stepped on a dogs tail, they squeal. Descartes believes this is out of reaction and not the animal thinking “I’m hurting because someone stepped on my tail”). This idea of humans being able to think and other animals not being able to think separates us from identifying with them. Although a recent newspaper stated that while studying a (I believe it was an Ape/Monkey) in its cage, it showed the Ape collecting pebbles/rocks and then later launching them at people. This example clearly shows how this animal was being able to use its mind to think. We may not have proof that animals think in the “I” sense, but this does not mean that they do not think of themselves as “I”. This idea makes humans separate themselves from other animals and not classify themselves as one. We believe we are able to think and they are not therefore adding to our belief that we are superior to animals. “Bottom line is Descartes mind and body split (dualism) convinced us to see non human animals as unconscious things.” (Andy 3/17/09)

Subject (someone who’s experiencing) vs. Object (the experienced)

The idea of subject vs. object (Peter Singer – Animal Liberation) exemplifies how we often treat ourselves as objects because we’re constantly referring to ourselves as “my body”. Although we often treat ourselves as objects, compared to animals we like to think of ourselves as subjects. We treat animals like objects because we like to make them do as we say. We presume they don’t have a mind or soul (like we believe we do) therefore we must show them what to do. We don’t take the animals feelings into consideration. We see ourselves as subjects making us believe we are better and have the power to rule.

not finished.. more to comee