Preview

Personhood Of Gorillas Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
439 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Personhood Of Gorillas Summary
In the passage of The Case for the Personhood of Gorillas, the authors, Francine Patterson and Wendy Gordon make exceptionally compelling arguments as to why animals like gorillas should be considered to be more than just animals. In this passage, they inform the reader about a certain gorilla named Koko, as well as her eighteen year old son named Michael. Both of these Gorillas have expressed certain elements and features that were once upon a time thought to be exclusive to humans and humans alone. (Francine Patterson and Wendy Gordon, 1993, para. 2-5) The passage itself poses a question that I find to be quite compelling. At what certain point, can an animal have “a claim to a basic moral right?”(Francine Patterson and Wendy Gordon, 1993, para. 4) At what point should an animal be put on the same level of basic moral rights as an ordinary human being? The authors, Francine Patterson and Wendy Gordon use the gorilla, Koko as a catalyst to further advance the validity of the case …show more content…
Koko is able to convey jokes through sign language. She is also able to feel concern, love, and hate; basically all of the emotions humans are able to feel. I believe that one of the main reasons why we as humans feel as though we possess a claim to moral rights is because each and every single one of us possesses a conscience. A conscience is an undeniable trait that guides every existing being to knowing right and wrong. It helps us in expressing empathy and sympathy. Any being that possesses a conscience deserves to be treated fairly and to me, that is one of the most compelling arguments in the case. I see little to no flaws in their reasoning for wanting animals like gorillas to be treated fairly and have a claim to basic moral rights. (Francine Patterson and Wendy Gordon, 1993, para.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Essay On Animal Cruelty

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Just look at them, listen to them, and if you dare, smell the odors that pour out when they interact with friends and foes. Look at their faces, tails, bodies, and most importantly, dare to look into their eyes. What we see on the outside tells us a lot about what’s happening inside animals’ heads and hearts. Animal emotions aren’t all that mysterious”. Yet, animal cruelty is ever present. The life of Kitty, a Chimpanzee held in captivity and forced to breed, illuminates the negative impact of animal cruelty. Kitty suffered for twenty-five years in a laboratory in Alamogordo, New Mexico. She was used as a breeder, giving birth to fourteen baby chimpanzees. Only four of those baby chimpanzees were allowed to be raised by their mother, Kitty. The others were used in harmful experiments. Kitty displayed remarkable motherhood characteristics, which was the primary reason as to why she was used as a breeder stated by the Humane Society. Chimpanzees are also one of the few animals protected by the animal law. The animal law gives Chimpanzees more animal rights compared to other animals due to their mental intelligence and capabilities. It is widely known that Chimpanzees are extremely intelligent and mock human behavior such as laughing, crying, and…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Determining the rights of non-human animals and deciding how to treat them may not be a choice available to our human society. As an advocate for the rights of animals, Tom Reganʻs three main goals are to abandon the use of animals in any scientific research, discontinue all commercial animal agriculture, and to completely terminate both commercial and sport animal hunting. To support these intentions, Regan argues that every human and non-human animal possesses inherent value, which makes them all more than a physical object or vessel. He then states that possessing inherent value allows every human and non-human to have rights of their own. To further his argument, Regan claims that the any human and non-human retaining rights requires equal treatment and respect from others. To conclude his argument, Regan states that due to these reasons, non-human animals cannot be treated as resources and must be treated by humans as equals. In this paper, I object to Reganʻs third premise, which states that non-human and human animals must be treated as equals and with respect, because our communication barrier with non-human animals restricts us from determining their notion of equal treatment or respect, and that attempting to do so could…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Yong Summary

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The event related to animal rights that motivate Ed Yong to write this article is the Great Ape Project. The Great Ape Project was established in 1993 and requests a basic set of moral and legal rights for great apes. The questions that were raised by Yong about this issue are why can’t all nonhuman animals that feel pain have rights. Another question Yong has is what would be the credible reason not to…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Regan, Tom. "Animal Rights, Human Wrongs." Forming a Critical Perspective. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 336-40. Print.…

    • 1234 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Much thanks to Jeremy Rifkin for showing us that science supports what we pet owners and animal rights activists have known in our hearts all along: animals have feelings and abilities not very different from humans. I found the stories about Koko the gorilla who is fluent in sign language, and Betty and Abel, the tool-making crows, intriguing and heart-warming. When will more people begin to realize that we share this world with many creatures deserving of our care and respect? However, Rifkin should take his argument farther. Animals have a right to live without being confined, exploited, tormented or eaten.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Personhood for Primates

    • 2464 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Bibliography: Chandler, David. "Bill Would Give Rights to Primates." Boston Globe (February 16, 1999): A1.…

    • 2464 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Primate Observation

    • 2701 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The gorillas are the largest primates still existing today. The gorillas in the enclosure varied in size and appearances. All the females were much smaller then the male silverback, however within the female group, their sizes also varied. Some females within the group were less massive and more lengthy then for example the female in charge of the newborn gorilla. The “mother” of the baby gorilla, Kabibe, was much larger then the other females and she seemed to have more authority within the social group. The male silverback, Oscar Jones, was impressively…

    • 2701 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    More than three decades ago Peter Singer heralded the need for a new kind of liberation movement, one calling for a radical expansion of the human moral canvas and more importantly, a rejection of the horrors human beings have inflicted for millennia upon other sentient beings, treatment historically considered as being both natural and unalterable. Often regarded as being the father of the modern animal liberation movement, Singer contends that the campaign for animal liberation today is analogous to the struggles for racial and gender justice of the past. (1976, p. 34-36) This essay will attempt to highlight the distinctions made by Singer between sentience and self-conciousness and what implications such a distinction suggests for the moral status of animals. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to identify and contrast the moral status of animals with that of human animals and identify the bases of such standing in ethical deliberation.…

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is understood that this may be an attempt to encourage readers that may not believe in the concept of animals having rights to look at a bigger picture in relation to this topic and find connections. However, the idea of including aliens as a means of supporting her argument regarding animals is not something that the group was able to connect with as aliens are not considered a part of our society or law. The criticism that Sarah and Katie have regarding this argument is that Midgley discusses how using intelligence is not a viable way to determine if something is or is not a person, but feels that measuring the emotional complexity of the non-human is just as, if not more, challenging to measure accurately. Perhaps in some species, their emotional capabilities are not known to human beings because the animal reflects them in a way that we do not understand. While there is appreciation for the thought that emotions should be included as criteria in determining if something is or is not a person, Midgley should provide some information pertaining to the method in which this information can be…

    • 1370 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In discussion of inhumane treatment, a controversial issue is whether animals are entitled to their rights. While some argue that only humans have rights, others contend that animals should have the same privileges as humans. The author of “A Change of Heart about Animals,” Jeremy Rifkin, claims that animals should have better treatment. Rifkin rhetorically changes one’s view on this subject without the consent of the reader. Rifkin begins by showing the animals’ human qualities, then giving a counter statement to common objections, and finally ends it by utilizing negative language. Rifkin’s expressive strategy is to note the similarities between animals and humans. Rifkin mentions Koko, a 300-pound gorilla. Koko was able to learn sign language…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For this paper I decided to visit Zoo Atlanta to observe lowland gorillas. I got to the zoo at around eleven in the morning and found out the feeding times for the gorillas. Once I found them, after watching them for a little while I selected the most active group to go watch during feeding. The point of this trip was to make me feel as if I was doing a field laboratory observation of primate social behavior and it definitely did. As you read my paper I will include what I saw, my feelings towards it, and also any questions or facts I received during my visit from volunteers or signs throughout the exhibit. To put this paper into perspective with this anthropology class I will be using five terms that are from chapter seven to relate the field observation. I hope you enjoy my paper, cause I sure enjoyed writing it.…

    • 1888 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After reading the article A Change of Heart about Animals by Jeremy Rifkin . I conclude that Rifkin is really interested in the way animals feel and the research that proves animals are just like humans . He is persuading us to think that animals are just like us by giving lots of examples of animals having emotions just like humans do. There is also lots of science that leads me to believe animals are just like us. Like the studies researchers have done on pigs, they need attention to stay happy because keeping them isolated or alone will make the pig feel depressed.I feel like animals should have their own rights because they are very intelligent and some, like Koko the gorilla, can communicate with humans. Betty and Abel the…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Response In the article “Of Primates and Personhood” written by Ed Yong, demonstrates major developments between primatologist, biologists, and ethicists around the world. These major developments are a pending spanish law that would grant unprecedented protection toward great apes; Also, a recent extension to a swiss law that protects the dignity of organisms, and to redefine the meaning of human rights, and indeed whether such rights are the exclusive domain of humans. Furthermore, the Great Ape Project (GAP) has been established (1993). Not everyone had been comfortable with the GAP’s project, says Yong;…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gorillas in the Mist is the incredible story of Dian Fossey, an American Primatologist who spent the prime of her life studying and tracking gorillas. Throughout the story, she tells of the hardships that she had to face in order to study these magnificent creatures. At one point, when she was just beginning to get deep into her research and make incredible studies, all of her work was destroyed by a local militia and she was forced to leave the area. However, despite all of this, she refused to give up. Even though she came very close to calling it quits, she stuck through to the end and continued to make her discoveries.…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This empathetic response based on caring for animals is the main sign in distinguishing humans from androids. These triggers are common things that would be overlooked in Western society: eating meat, hunting, animal fur coats or rugs. The need to distinguish humans from androids has caused people to be obsessed with caring for an animal. This concept of how animals should be treated — i.e. animal rights — are different from the rights which are in place in current Western society. Although it is still clear that animal rights are being exploited for human benefit. In this essay, I will argue that Dick is alluding to in our current society, animal rights are not progressing sufficiently, and what is impeding…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays