Tom regan essay

Document Type:Thesis

Subject Area:Philosophy

Document 1

Therefore, the contribution of Tom Regan in the field of ethics is one that cannot go unnoticed considering his contribution in championing for the rights of animals that have been forgotten in a long time. Among the things that Tom Regan championed for in the animal rights movement that he formed include the abolition of the act of using animals in different science researches where he argued animals were treated unfairly, abolition of animal agriculture for commercial purposes, and elimination of sport hunting and trappings of animals (Regan, 1). The subject of the research paper will be to examine Regan’s views on animal rights in comparison to those of human beings and to scrutinize the critics of Regan’s philosophy. Tom Regan’s Contribution in Ethics As has been mentioned, the contribution of Tom Regan in the field of ethics was entirely through championing for the rights of animals which is a path that is usually taken and pursued by very few people.

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Honestly speaking, very few people tend to have the feelings of animals at heart considering their use in such fields as scientific researches where animals like frogs are typically exposed to dangerous chemicals and killed to help humans in knowing the side effects that may be associated with a given drug that is discovered. Moreover, animals are very important in the lives of human beings and therefore they have no choice but to reciprocate this by treating them fairly. Additionally, Regan champions for the abolition of the practice of commercial animal agriculture by human beings because through this, animals are exposed to various painful experiences where they feel pain. He goes ahead to criticize the view that is held by his critics that despite the fact that animals feel pain, only the pain that is felt by human beings do matter.

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He criticizes this view and stand tall for the rights of animals by poking holes at the commercial agriculture where animals are the biggest casualties. This shows the kind of person that Regan was and his contribution towards ethics is revealed more through his actions. For example, I cannot hurt my neighbor’s dog or any other domestic animal that they rear because it is my direct duty not to harm or damage the property of my neighbor. In this line of thought, it is already evident the length that Regan is willing to go in order to make people understand how they should view animals to at least have the slightest shred of tenderness in the treatment they accord these animals.

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It is not deniable that people tend to accord the best treatment to their pets and the animals they rear. Since these animals are likely to be hurt more by the neighbors more than their owners, the call by Regan of the need by people to treat the animals as their neighbors themselves can guide people by appealing to their sense of responsibility to see that animals receive a fair treatment. Therefore, this view works to make the environment friendly and conducive for the animals to ensure that the threat that they are exposed to is minimal. Criticism of Tom Regan’s Animals Rights Philosophy Despite his tremendous contribution in the field of ethics as regards to animal rights, Tom Regan has been criticized by various scholars who believe that there were major fallbacks in his theory.

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According to Dale Jamieson in his book “Rights, Justice, and Duties to Provide Assistance: A Critique of Regan’s Theory of Rights,” the author argues that despite the contribution of Regan on the nature and foundation of the animal rights that he has addressed passionately and suggested what people should do to respect the rights of animals, he has attacked the Utilitarian philosopher’s arguments but have completely failed to give alternatives to these theories that are based on research and evidence and Dale Jamieson sees a major problem in this among other things that he discusses in his book (Jamieson, 352). It is not only unethical to criticize a person’s intellectual work just because it is unpalatable to you or entirely on the ground that you don’t agree with them, but it is also inappropriate to do so without giving alternative ways by which that issue you regard as wrongly addressed by the author can be best approached.

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Therefore, to be fair, Regan should have given alternative views to his readers so that he can be taken seriously and his approach be more believable in the manner in which he addressed the issue. However, as things stand, despite his huge contribution to the whole topic of animal rights, he has left a lot of loopholes to be exploited by his critics such as Jamieson which hold a lot of water because they are true in their right to poke holes on the things that are lacking in the theory as postulated by Regan. Nobis, Nathan. “Carl Cohen and Tom Regan, the Animal Rights Debate. ” The Journal of Value Inquiry, vol. 36, no. 4, 2002, pp. Free. Fr, 2013, http://tomregan. free. fr/Tom-Regan-Animal-Rights-and-Environmental-Ethics.

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