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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (80192)	1/15/2004 4:16:51 AM
From: average joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Do you consider humans to have a special status different from that of lower animals or do you consider any creature that can experience "sensation or feeling" to have similar rights to humans? What about a human that cannot experience "sensation or feeling" such as the deaf, dumb and blind? Does that make them less human and less deserving of rights or not human at all. Is aborting a healthy fetus wrong while aborting one with defects OK? Is Leonardo da Vinci more human than you? Can a government justify the wholesale slaughter of an enemy based on the criteria the enemy is not fully human according to criteria we set on traits that we consider superior human traits? Is being human a genetic classification or a moral one? The criteria humans use to distinguish our rights as superior to that of non-human kind is our ability to reason. Since that is nonsense we obviously mean our reasoning skill is superior to that of animals generally, however a retard cannot reason as well as a smart horse so it is a poor criteria.

To: TimF who wrote (80192)	1/27/2004 12:15:48 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

"You classify pigs and cows as sentient?" Yes...in every sense and connotation of the word. Of course, "sentient" also applies to humans. In particular, I am referring in this instance to the capacity for suffering which is the general basis of civilized laws as to treatment of animals in slaughter, as pets, and so forth. "Sometimes sentient is used as if it meant sapient but I suppose that is a misuse of the word as they don't have the same definition." Yes, it is an extreme misuse of the word. "This is more an issue of semantics that substance but you keep saying it is a human rights issue." I say it is a human rights issue because humans are divided as to whether or not we have the right to absolute authority over animals and/or to what degree. For instance, it is almost universally agreed in rational circles that human rights as to treatment of animals are tempered and qualified by considerations of need and suffering. Thus, we are able to speak of mistreatment and to discuss it in a rationalized context. "that eating a pig or a cow is not an immoral act, or an act that violates anyone's rights, or an act that should be illegal." It IS an immoral act for many people though, isn't it?