Animal Ethics

Question 1

What are the weaknesses of animal ethics?

Answer 1

• Many animals feel pain
• Some procedures require accessing specific parts of the brain that might then be damaged.
  -Speciesism suggests the likely benefits of research focus on the benefits from humans and not animals which is unfair
  -Animals should be treated ethically. They are not sufficiently different from humans to be treated as objects
  -Animals in experiments are not in their natural
  surroundings, and therefore distressing conditions

Question 1

What are the strengths of animal ethics?

Answer 1

• The knowledge obtained may also improve the lives of the species being tested on
  -Procedures can be carried out on animals that can not be done on humans. E.g. ablation and leisoning
  -Drugs have been developed that could have otherwise not have been developed. Damage to a human to study drugs would be unethical
• Pro-species ism suggest we ought ti do all we can to protect our own species.

Question 2

What are the practical strengths of animal ethics?

Answer 2

• Relatively small and easy to handle. Some animals (mice etc) have a similar brain structure to humans
  -Drugs have been developed that could otherwise not have been developed.
• Some animals have very short gestation periods and short reproductive cycles
• Drugs have been developed from animal research which benefitted both animals and humans, such as insulin for diabetes and drugs for Parkinson’s disease
• Some procedures require strict control over the environment - this may not be possible with
  The bri not the res ge
  humans

Question 3

What are the practical weaknesses of animal ethics?

Answer 3

• The brains of animals are not the same as humans:
  results may not be generalisable (so pointless)
• Some diseases (Parkinson’s) have to be replicated in animals using drugs, and so may not be the same as the disease itself. Therefore, studies might lack validity
• For example, the morning sickness drug thalidomide. Showed negative outcomes for humans but not animals
  -Human lives are complex and factors rarely occur in isolation
• Their genetic structure is not the same as humans, results may not be generalizable.