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Essay: Animal Ethics

Animal Ethics

By Tiffany Tong

Peter Singer is right in arguing that sentient animals should be treated ethically, although I disagree with where he draws the lines between sentient animals and those that may not be. I mostly agree with his explanation of why sentience equals to rights, why rights require ethical treatment from humans, and what kind of treatment is warranted.

Singer’s argument is that the basis for having rights, or the criterion for having an interest, is whether a living being experiences suffering, in other words, if the being is sentient (Singer 2003). “There can be no moral justification for refusing to take [the being’s] suffering into consideration” if they have an interest in whether they are suffering (Singer 2003: 136). For example, it does not make sense to give stones interests, for if someone kicks the stone, it will not suffer; however, a sentient being, such as a mouse or a human, will suffer from the kick. How can one deny an organism rights when the content of the rights pertain to them? All other criteria, such as the “use of a public, rule-governed language” (Singer 2003: 137) or intelligence, for granting rights are irrelevant because the capacity for suffering is a prerequisite for having any interests.

Furthermore, if one agrees to his criterion for having rights, then his claim that humans and animals should have equal rights is also legitimate (Singer 2003). Humans are not completely equal in abilities or intelligence, yet everyone is guaranteed equal moral consideration – no infant or mentally challenged person have their rights retracted from them. Why should moral consideration be different with animals? Physical abilities should not be the basis of how our interests are constructed: “moral equality is distinct from factual equality (Singer 2003: 136).” One quote that I particularly resonated with is “if possessing greater intelligence does not entitle one human to exploit another, why should it entitle humans to exploit nonhumans? (Singer 2003)”

I, however, disagree with him on where the boundaries are between sentient and non-sentient animals. Singer claims that we do not know if molluscs and insects suffer with our current state of knowledge. I believe they do. These boundaries between taxa are man-made and thus arbitrary. For example, octopi are intelligent and expressive about their pain; few people would deny that they are sentient creatures, yet they are classified as “lowly” molluscs by Singer. Whether a nervous system of a being is central or not does not warrant different levels of rights, especially when pain is a “mental event” and cannot “be directly observed (Singer 2003: 136).” The very fact that some beings have a nervous system means that they are built to feel pain, and thus deserve rights and ethical treatment. Personally, I think Singer is failing in to the same trap he denounced: moral equality is different from physical similarity.

In addition, I believe Singer is not completely correct in what he considers as ethical treatment. On one hand, I agree that it is morally wrong to use animals in experiments which include inducing pain and that animals should not be slaughtered for meat, because nonhumans are not means, but rather “ends in themselves (Singer 2003: 142).” Also, each organism’s interests “are to be taken into account and treated equally with the like interest of any other being,” therefore no animal should have more rights or consideration than another animal (Singer 2003: 136). Just because a panda is more visually and emotionally appealing than a worm does not mean the worm is less worthy of consideration for interests.

On the other hand, from his subsequent publications, Singer promotes a utilitarian[1] way of deciding which animal’s rights are worthier to all others. He holds that the rights of particular individuals can be forfeited if, and only if, it provides better welfare for a greater number of beings. I think a utilitarian way of thinking is directly opposite to the concept of rights: utilitarianism gives humans particular rights to makes decisions that impact other organisms, which means an unequal distribution of rights. However, overall, I think Peter Singer offers a good explanation for the reasons and methods for morally correct treatment of fellow animals.

References:

Singer, P. [1973] 2003. “Animal liberation,” pp. 135-142 in VanDeVeer, D. and C. Pierce (eds.). The Environmental Ethics and Policy Book (Third Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

[1] Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 5 November 2007. Pers. Comm.

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Essay: The Chinese Mercantilists

The Chinese Mercantilists

Tiffany Tong
November 15th, 2007

China has been growing in GDP at rates that the world has never seen before. It took China less than 10 years to double its GDP, while it took Britain 58 years, the USA 47 years, and Japan 34 years (Hou & Hou, 2002). Countries that started market reforms at the same time as China have all seen less growth (Remmer, 1998). There are many speculated reasons for this apparent disparity: in this essay, I will argue that a mercantilist approach to the political economy is necessary for a smooth transition into a capitalistic system with free markets. Drawing from the Chinese case study, I will attempt to identify the characteristics of the reform policies and explain why it has been so successful in terms of economic growth. In the process, I will try to answer questions such as “is creating devolution beneficial to rapid growth?” or “is a strongly autonomous government required to push reforms forward?”

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assignment: structural adjustment policies

Structural adjustment policies

Proponents of these schemes say that short-term drawbacks (i.e. reduction in health for the more economically disadvantaged section of the community) are necessary prices to pay for a long-term economic health of the country. Opponents say that forgiving the crippling debt load and applying some limitations on military spending might be better approaches. Using the sources of information offered in this module, discuss the arguments for and against external involvement by the IMF and World Bank in the affairs of sovereign nations.

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essay: looking at media

Critically assess and evaluate a media piece

The media is our portal to the world. Before the internet become popular, the media was, in fact, the only portal to the world. All news reports and opinion pieces could only be distributed by the media. Back then, using Gillmor’s metaphor of information as an ocean (Gillmor 2004), big media companies were truly the only ports where one could access the oceans. With prevalence of the internet, the recipients of information have also become the contributors. The oceans have flooded the ports, and now almost everyone can reach out to the ocean if they cared. However, the entrenched notion that traditional media companies are correct and authoritative in their reporting has remained with us to this day. This is extremely dangerous because, as our readings have shown, the advertisements and big corporations have power like never before to influence, or filter, what gets published and what doesn’t. Most of us have failed to critically think about what the news tell us, sometimes unconsciously, and how our opinions are altered. We usually do not have enough time to research into every piece of news and make an informed decision. One particularly interesting scientific study has shown that even the subtle facial expressions of a news reporter on television can influence people’s votes on presidential candidates in the United States, regardless of how neutral the news report was (Mullen 1986). The written word, such as using “loot” instead of “find”, probably has an even larger effect than facial expressions.

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Essay: Conservation and Moderate Scarcity

Conservation and Moderate Scarcity

Tiffany Tong
October 15th, 2007

The concept of conservation promotes protection of natural resources to balance consumption and preservation so that future generations will have sufficient resources to utilize[1]. Conservation, however, can only deal with resources that are “moderately scarce” relative to human wants, and cannot be applied to resources that are extremely abundant or scarce relative to human wants[2]. In both extreme cases, conservation fails to be implemented because it is a relative concept that offers no concrete limit or guidelines, and only implies, but does not enforce, a constraint on human activities.

Conservation as a relative concept tells us how our actions should be relative to what we could have done otherwise2. It, thus, implies that there should be a constraint on human desires and actions2. Conservation tells us that although we have the ability to use up all our natural resources today, we should constrain our immediate wants, and spread out our consumption in order to leave some for tomorrow. Yet, the problem is that, since our usage is relative, there are no concrete limits to restrict our consumption, even when over harvesting of resources can bring negative consequences.

In cases where the resource is very scarce relative to human wants, non-binding constraints will break down and will not be able to be enforced. When there is an extremely high level of desire for a particular resource, its market price will rise. If there are very strict laws governing the protection of that resource, the market price will only increase even more because of scarcity. Thus, even if breaking the constraint will result in, for example, a death penalty, the risk of one’s life would still outweigh the benefits of earning an equivalent of many years worth of money to support one’s family2. Therefore, when immediate human wants far outweighs the long term goal of conservation, no kind of constraint can be enforced to protect the natural resource.

One example of a resource of extreme scarcity is illegal logging of mahogany in Brazil. The huge demand for mahogany furniture, piano, and guitars, which are known for their beauty and hardiness, in the international market has led to huge discrepancies in the numbers exporters and importers of mahogany report: much more is imported than exported legally (Greenpeace 2001). The Brazilian government estimated in 2001 that 80% of all logging done in Brazil was illegal (Greenpeace 2001). Even with strict laws and hefty fines in place, the illegal trade is still rampant because mahogany is scarcer than human wants.

In cases where there are plentiful resources relative to human wants, humans will have no desire to consume all of the resource. Therefore even if no constraint is required to protect that resource, there will still be enough for future use. In other words, there will not be a large market for the resource and thus no high prices to drive people to break down any constraints.

An example of an abundant resource is silicon. On earth, silicon is the second most abundant element, making up 25.7% of the earth’s crust by mass (Chemistry). Silicon is also very useful because it is the principal component of most semiconductor devices such as microchips that are essential to the functioning of computers (Chemistry). Although there is a huge and increasing demand for silicon, the supply is equally abundant. Therefore conservation does not apply to its protection; no regulation or constraint is required for the protection of silicon as a resource.

References

Chemistry: WebElements Periodic Table: Professional Edition: Silicon: key information. http://www.webelements.com/webelements/elements/text/Si/key.html Accessed 15 October 2007.

Greenpeace Calls on UK Government to Seize Mahogany as Brazilian Government Bans Trade. http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/press-releases/greenpeace-calls-on-uk-government-to-seize-mahogany-as-brazilian-government-bans-trade Accessed 15 October 2007.

[1] Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 5 September 2007. Pers. Comm.

[2] Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 17 September 2007. Pers. Comm.

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Essay: mongolian grasslands


Mongolian Grassland Degradation as an Environmental Issue

Tiffany Tong
October 5th, 2007

An environmental issue is defined as “a clash of interests in which someone causes or will cause a harm or perceived harm on someone else’s interest by way of the natural environment1.” The principle theme of the Mongolian grassland degradation problem has all the main components of an environmental issue: conflicting lifestyles and harm caused to all the inhabitants of the grasslands.

The clash of interests occurs between the new and old lifestyles of the Mongolian plains. Traditionally, the lifestyle was centred on the principle “love nature as your parents (Moyers 2001).” The size and health of one’s herd represented one’s wealth (Moyers 2001); herders had the incentive to take good care of the grasslands which supported their herds. Both traditionally and under communist control, rotation of grazing land was practised and flock size was kept to an optimum. When the Soviet Union collapsed, however, the economy became a market economy, and started to be driven purely by profit. Now the new symbol of wealth is money. Herders have started to decrease rotation, to increase herd size, and to keep more animals for profit rather than sustenance, like goats for cashmere (Moyers 2001).

The new practices ultimately harm all the herders, since their livelihood is totally dependent on the resources the natural environment provides. Rotation used to be sufficient in letting the grass grow again after a grazing season, but now the fields seem constantly barren. As one elder said, the grass used to grow up to his stirrups when he was young; now it is barely 3 inches high (Moyers 2001). Moreover, the spread of Western culture encouraged people to settle down close to large roads, where transportation is more convenient (Moyers 2001): less mobility of the herders means higher strain on the grasslands (Moyers 2001). As a consequence, the grassland degradation problem is increasingly becoming an environmental issue that has a major effect on the future of the Mongolian people.

1 Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 7 September 2007. Pers. Comm.

References

Moyer, W. 2001. Earth on Edge. Public Broadcasting System.

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Essay: conservation a normative concept

Why is “conservation” a normative concept?

Tiffany Tong

September 28th, 2007

Conservation is a normative concept because the principles of conservation are based on value judgements that cannot be rationalized or proven true, except by the norms of a society. First of all, conservation is the ideology that promotes protection of natural resources to strike a balance between consumption and preservation so that enough resources will be available for future generations to use and enjoy1. In addition, a normative concept is where a norm, or a cultural standard, is backed with good reasoning, and usually strong scientific evidence, to become a guiding principle for society’s actions2. Normative concepts are prescriptive: they talk about what we should and ought to do, as opposed to descriptive statements which attempts to describe reality as it is. They are essentially a value judgement made by the society as a whole, regarding which actions are right or wrong, good or bad, and which actions we should prioritize (Wikipedia). Therefore, by definition, conservation is a normative concept because it judges the value of our environment and descendants by the norms of our society and results in statements about what we should or ought to do in order to preserve those values.

Normative concepts are so abundant and ubiquitous in most societies that we normally do not think deeply about their implications. Taking conservation for an example, one might ask, “Why do we have to think for future generations?” Or “Why do we believe nature is important and should be preserved?” The answers to these questions cannot be logically deduced without coming back to the fundamental premise that it is the norm, or the “correct” way, to do so. Hence, if our society thought that either future generations or nature is not important, then we might not even have the concept of conservation at all.

1 Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 5 September 2007. Pers. Comm.
2 Wood, Paul. Associate Professor, University of British Columbia. 19 September 2007. Pers. Comm.

References

Wikipedia: Normative. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normative Accessed 28 September 2007.

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Essay: beauty and the dove campaign

New Saviour or New Suppressor?

Tiffany Tong

November 15th, 2006

Only 2% of [surveyed] women describe themselves as ‘beautiful’; almost one half of them think their weight is ‘too high’.

Dove Campaign for Real Beauty Website (“Dove”)

The above findings are from a Dove initiated survey of 3,200 women aged 18 to 64 from ten countries including the United States, Canada, and Japan (“Dove”). In response, Dove launched a new advertising campaign in which the city bloomed overnight to reveal eye-catching billboards. It turned heads not because of its stick-thin, sexy female models, but because of it featuring models with thick, round thighs and full stomachs that curve out instead of in. The different coloured women, in pure white underwear, laugh with their mouths wide open. Confident, natural, basic are the first words that come to mind.

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Essay: Nature as Teacher

Nature as Teacher:

Ecosystem Characteristics Applied to Urban Settings

Tiffany Tong

November 15th, 2006

Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”

Ancient Indian Proverb

Introduction

The earth’s condition has been deteriorating since the industrial revolution (Hails). Global warming, pollution, peak oil, ozone layer depletion and many others have become household terms. The most famous international environmentally friendly protocol, the Kyoto protocol, has been signed for 8 years. Yet, not only has Canada failed to meet its goal of reducing 6% of carbon dioxide emissions from the 1990 level, but instead, is has actually gone up 24% (CBC News). Our current ecological footprint analysis tells us that for everyone in the world to live a Canadian lifestyle-that is with large sprawling urban areas and more than one car per family-we need the total resources of 4.2 Earths (the ecological footprint per capita in Canada is 7.6 hectares when the biocapacity is 1.8 hectares) (Hails). Although words such as sustainability or ecological footprint are tossed around, by most people, casually and without real meaning, I believe it has come to a time when these terms should be treated by all with serious respect and, accordingly, take action to help prevent a global crisis happening. Where should we start? By thinking and being sustainable.

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Essay: Speciesism

Tiffany Tong

October 16, 2006

What is the common ideology between mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, peace activist Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and many others? Your answer may be that they are all vegetarians, but in fact, they all believed speciesism is immoral. Accordingly, one might ask: what is speciesism?

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