Peter Singer's Argument
You've looked at a few things that present Peter Singer's argument against the way we use animals for food and other products. Pretend that you're talking to a friend and they ask you why Singer thinks it's wrong to eat a cheeseburger. Explain his argument (or what you take to be the core of his argument).
Remember, you're trying to explain this to someone who isn't familiar with Singer. And, what you're trying to explain is not just *what* he thinks, but why he thinks it. If I were explaining to a friend why Singer thinks it is wrong to eat a cheeseburger, I would begin by explaining suffering. One example that Singer gives relating to the idea of suffering is about a baby and a horse. If a person slaps a horse and then slaps a baby with
the same force, the baby will feel the pain, but the horse will not. However, if a person takes a stick to slap the horse, it may feel as much pain as the baby did with the hand slap. If society thinks it is wrong to slap a baby in this manner, then it is also wrong to cause a horse the same amount of pain and suffering that the baby felt. Singer classifies animals, infants, and people who have disabilities to be in the same category. Therefore, it would only be justifiable that one would treat all the same. If an experiment is done on an animal, then it should also be done on an infant or a person with a disability. In addition, eating animals is not good for one’s health. Most animals that people eat have ate things that many humans eat plain, so why not just continue to eat those things plain? By eating the meat, one is only putting more processed food into their bodies. By eating an animal’s meat, society is treating animals like a machine. Unless one knows that an animal did not suffer in the process of becoming meat, he or she should not eat it. In regards to Singer’s beliefs towards the topic of Equality for Animals, he talks very strongly on the idea of suffering, and that there are animals who undergo suffering in the process of becoming dinner.
Remember, you're trying to explain this to someone who isn't familiar with Singer. And, what you're trying to explain is not just *what* he thinks, but why he thinks it. If I were explaining to a friend why Singer thinks it is wrong to eat a cheeseburger, I would begin by explaining suffering. One example that Singer gives relating to the idea of suffering is about a baby and a horse. If a person slaps a horse and then slaps a baby with
the same force, the baby will feel the pain, but the horse will not. However, if a person takes a stick to slap the horse, it may feel as much pain as the baby did with the hand slap. If society thinks it is wrong to slap a baby in this manner, then it is also wrong to cause a horse the same amount of pain and suffering that the baby felt. Singer classifies animals, infants, and people who have disabilities to be in the same category. Therefore, it would only be justifiable that one would treat all the same. If an experiment is done on an animal, then it should also be done on an infant or a person with a disability. In addition, eating animals is not good for one’s health. Most animals that people eat have ate things that many humans eat plain, so why not just continue to eat those things plain? By eating the meat, one is only putting more processed food into their bodies. By eating an animal’s meat, society is treating animals like a machine. Unless one knows that an animal did not suffer in the process of becoming meat, he or she should not eat it. In regards to Singer’s beliefs towards the topic of Equality for Animals, he talks very strongly on the idea of suffering, and that there are animals who undergo suffering in the process of becoming dinner.