Are humans somehow better than other animals?

[St0ne]

Recently I have observed how similar we are to other mammals on this planet, our nature is the same and we are subject to the same forces of nature that bring death & life, etc. The only real difference between us and any other animal mammal or otherwise is our level on conciousness, most religions AFAIK have little to say about the value of the lives of other animals and their reason for being here or if the go to their own heaven or hell. So if the oly difference between us and them is our level of conciousness which could convincingly be attributed simply to the structure and workings of our brain, why do we so often put such a lower value on the life of an animal than that of our own.

 

[Halcyon]

Humans are worth no more than any other animal, the only difference is that we have the opportunity to understand, they do not.

Why does man put a lower value of life on other animals?
Partly its the natural empathy we have for our own species, which causes normal preference towards other humans. Partly its the superiority complex most of us have instilled into us as children.

 

[Bishka]

Humans are worth no more than any other animal, the only difference is that we have the opportunity to understand, they do not.

Why does man put a lower value of life on other animals?
Partly its the natural empathy we have for our own species, which causes normal preference towards other humans. Partly its the superiority complex most of us have instilled into us as children.

That's great, I've never thought about it that way Halcyon!

 

[Valjean]

Before this discussion radiates off in a dozen mutually uncomprehending directions, perhaps we need to discuss what we mean when we say "better."

 

[St0ne]

Better = Higher value, more meaningful, destined for something more.

 

[Bishka]

Better = Higher value, more meaningful, destined for something more.

How do we know that animals aren't destined for something more? Maybe they have a very special role in this life or in the next.

 

[St0ne]

Exactly so why is it that that so many of us treat animals like we know that that is not that case.

 

[Bishka]

Exactly so why is it that that so many of us treat animals like we know that that is not that case.

Punctuation please... Sorry, I have a hard time reading things without punctuation.

Why do we treat animals like that? They don't have a 'voice' so-to-speak, whose going to stick up for them, and like Halcyon said; we have a superiority complex. Maybe we should be like Jains and treat all animals with repspect.

 

[gnomon]

Exactly so why is it that that so many of us treat animals like we know that that is not that case.

Who is we? There are many different levels of human society. Are you comparing modern to tribal? Rural to urban?
Which animals? Dogs hold an extraordinarily privilaged position in human society as opposed to...cockroaches.

I think the question is more complex than a simple generalization put forth in the OP. I, for one, assert that no living thing on this planet is "better" or destined for anything. I also feel I am in no place to judge other societies and their treatment of certain animals.

 

[kevmicsmi]

Why do humans treat animals with less regard? Maybe the same reason the lion treats the water buffallo with less regard when he decides for the better of his species he will scrifice one of theirs

 

[St0ne]

I ask this because many years ago in school I said that any animals life is equal to and as meaningful as our own and such has an equal right to live. I think the question posed to me was would I dive into a sinking car where I could save a child or a worm which one would I save? I didn't reply because I was young and felt defeated by the question, in reality yes I would save the child but would I do it because the worms life was of lesser value? I don't think so, I would have saved the child because society would have labelled me that heartless ******* who saved a worm over a child. The pro-lifers tell me about the miracle of life and that everyone should have a right to live, I just doesn't wash right when you save an animal over a human though.

To me it seems that it's society thats the cruel *******, not me.

 

[ch'ang]

Personally I follow the "might is right" philosophy as everything else is subjective and so if a human can overpower and kill an animal then they have the right to. Also most people value humans more because they are closer to what they are them animals so they favor them more because they can relate more, just as I don't feel any sorrow for someone killed by a snake somewhere in Brazil but would be incredibly distraught if any of my family died

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

Ch'ang I'm not sure why everything other than "might is right" has to be subjective. Did you mean that as a kind of Nietzschesque "will to power"?

Oh and Seyorni and gnomon were right about this being a complex issue!

 

[Valjean]

Better = Higher value, more meaningful, destined for something more.

How do we measure value, meaningfulness, or destiny?

A chicken may well consider its life more valuable than yours. I don't know that there is an objective yardstick for value.

"Meaningfulness" is also rather subjective, and I question weather it is actually a factor in "betterness."

Ultimate destiny is a matter for soothsayers, and if we judge value by mundane destiny then you'd have to hold that the poor and underprivileged are less than the powerful

 

[Atheist_Dave]

I believe we are just another animal to walk this earth.

"We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities... still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin." - Charles Darwin

As animals we should consider ourselves more important, but as humans, with the benefit of our immense consciousness, we should realise, we are all the same.

 

[michel]

How do we measure value, meaningfulness, or destiny?

A chicken may well consider its life more valuable than yours. I don't know that there is an objective yardstick for value.

"Meaningfulness" is also rather subjective, and I question weather it is actually a factor in "betterness."

Ultimate destiny is a matter for soothsayers, and if we judge value by mundane destiny then you'd have to hold that the poor and underprivileged are less than the powerful

I agree with both your posts. This is too 'open' for personal interpretation of the question.

The example of the worm and the child is extreme; I have no doubt that all of us here would save the child, rather than the worm.

Society tells us that if we swerve our cars violently at speed to avoid a rabbbit, or a cat, that we are 'wrong' to do so, because the death of an animal on the road is 'preferable' (if that is the word) to the possible death of a few humans in a car accident, as a result of the avoidance of the animal.

I suppose one could morally say "Well, it was the Rabbit or perhaps up to three motorists".......which would be logical.

I have swerved many times to avoid animals, and I am sure most of us drivers do so. It is human instinct (well, in me, at any rate) to do by best to avoid killing an animal while driving.

To get back to the original question, as it was worded, I would say "No"; I believe that all life is equally important, and deserving of respect - even that poor cabbage which I am going to eat for lunch. I owe my sustenance to a living 'being' that I (vicariously) have killed (let's not mince words here). Doesn't make me feel good.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

To the extent that the question is meaningful, yes.

 

[Maxist]

It is a good argument, but you neglect one other reason that we are unalike from other mammles. Our level of conciencness and our level of intellegence is another deciding factor. Our cranial capacity is a decisive factor, which does make us better than other mammals. If the mammal has never made a particular contribution to society other than killings or allowing to live, how can it possibly be considered at the level of a mammal who has?

 

[Dave*1987]

And again, define "Better" please.

 

[CaptainXeroid]

Genesis 26And God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

I don't know if I'd use the term 'better', but God did create us to be different than the animals and gave mankind dominion over them.