Speciesism And Moral Status Peter Singer Summary
Sagarika Reddy
Philosophy Honors
03/28/16
Dr. Shorter
Speciesism and Moral Status In his work Speciesism and Moral Status, Peter Singer compares the behaviors of humans with cognitive disabilities to the behaviors of nonhuman animals. He argues that all human beings do not have cognitive abilities that exceed that of all nonhuman animals. In fact, many nonhuman animals have cognitive abilities that surpass the cognitive abilities of human beings with severe mental retardation. Through his argument, he questions the ethical significance of the idea that all human beings have a certain kind of moral status. Singer explores the issue of moral status through religious, speciesist and cognitive grounds in order to propose that human beings must …show more content…
Speciesism is the idea that simply being human is enough to have superior moral rights to non-human animals. Those who value speciesism might agree with the views of Bernard Williams who claims that, “we humans are doing the judging, we are entitled to prefer our own kind” (Singer 572). William essentially adopts the “whose side are you on” argument to moral status. Singer denounces this argument by applying it to people who suffer from severe cognitive disabilities. He asserts that if an alien is capable of understanding and communicating, singer has “much more in common with [the alien] that [he does] with someone of my species who is mentally retarded and has no capacity for verbal communication” (Singer 573). This same argument can be applied to nonhuman animals. If a nonhuman animal is capable of comprehension and communication, that animal has much more in common with human beings than someone with severe mental retardation. The “whose side are you on” argument simply falls short since not all human beings are capable of equal understanding and communication. Singer asserts that simply being a part of the Homo Sapien species does not entitle someone of a higher moral status than being a member of the Pan Troglodytes species. Essentially, Singer argues that moral status must be based on cognitive ability instead of perceived intrinsic
Philosophy Honors
03/28/16
Dr. Shorter
Speciesism and Moral Status In his work Speciesism and Moral Status, Peter Singer compares the behaviors of humans with cognitive disabilities to the behaviors of nonhuman animals. He argues that all human beings do not have cognitive abilities that exceed that of all nonhuman animals. In fact, many nonhuman animals have cognitive abilities that surpass the cognitive abilities of human beings with severe mental retardation. Through his argument, he questions the ethical significance of the idea that all human beings have a certain kind of moral status. Singer explores the issue of moral status through religious, speciesist and cognitive grounds in order to propose that human beings must …show more content…
Speciesism is the idea that simply being human is enough to have superior moral rights to non-human animals. Those who value speciesism might agree with the views of Bernard Williams who claims that, “we humans are doing the judging, we are entitled to prefer our own kind” (Singer 572). William essentially adopts the “whose side are you on” argument to moral status. Singer denounces this argument by applying it to people who suffer from severe cognitive disabilities. He asserts that if an alien is capable of understanding and communicating, singer has “much more in common with [the alien] that [he does] with someone of my species who is mentally retarded and has no capacity for verbal communication” (Singer 573). This same argument can be applied to nonhuman animals. If a nonhuman animal is capable of comprehension and communication, that animal has much more in common with human beings than someone with severe mental retardation. The “whose side are you on” argument simply falls short since not all human beings are capable of equal understanding and communication. Singer asserts that simply being a part of the Homo Sapien species does not entitle someone of a higher moral status than being a member of the Pan Troglodytes species. Essentially, Singer argues that moral status must be based on cognitive ability instead of perceived intrinsic