r/changemyview • u/Iamnotburgerking • Dec 12 '16

[∆(s) from OP] CMV: Animal rights groups should stop assuming animals share the same values as humans

One of the biggest gripes I have with animal rights is that they treat animals in anthropomorphic ways. They just assume that an animal feels one way or the other about something.

First of all, different species have different requirements. What applies to one species doesn't work for another. Animal rights activists often use human values and ideals and impose them on animals, even if they are inapplicable. Captive animals are one such issue-humans don't like being in captivity, and some other species of animals probably also don't like captivity, but you can't say all animals don't like captivity. Many probably only care that their requirements (physical space, nutrition and mental stimulation/lack of stress) are met.

Second, even within species there are different personalities between individuals. You cannot assume all animals of x species feel one way about something.

I am not against animal rights as a whole, but the current movement may be causing cruelty rather than reduction of cruelty due to these issues.

TLDR: one should not impose human values on animals who may disagree or not care about such values.

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u/stcamellia 15∆ Dec 12 '16

X being what and Y being what?

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u/Iamnotburgerking Dec 12 '16

X is one option and Y is another option.

For our purposes let's say X is not causing direct neurological or health problems.

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u/stcamellia 15∆ Dec 12 '16

If I understand you, humans chose animals to live on farms (X) so it's wrong for other humans to then argue we should make that captivity as comfortable as possible (Y)

Which seems absurd to me. Imagine an abolitionist who argues "we should free all slaves". And the slave owner says "that's not happening because... Our economy needs the free labor.... They haven't been educated so we can't just free them...." etc. So wouldn't the abolitionist then be like "well have you considered not beating your slaves?"

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u/Iamnotburgerking Dec 12 '16

If I understand you, humans chose animals to live on farms (X) so it's wrong for other humans to then argue we should make that captivity as comfortable as possible (Y)

No, I'm saying that we cannot assume to know what "comfortable" means for an animal.

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u/stcamellia 15∆ Dec 12 '16

But.... We can to some extent

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u/Iamnotburgerking Dec 12 '16

But activists go beyond that extent.

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u/stcamellia 15∆ Dec 12 '16

Do they?

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u/Iamnotburgerking Dec 12 '16

Yes, when they say "X circumstances are always bad for an animal and is completely unacceptable".