Ethical Exploration Of Using Animals For Medicine

Medical use of animals is one of the main ways for human beings to use animals for their own welfare,but there are many arguments about whether human beings should use animals for their own benefit.In theory,both the traditional strong anthropocentrism and the modern weak anthropocentrism uphold the view of human value priority,and believe that human is the only existence with intrinsic value in nature,and it is morally justified to use animals to seek benefits for human.Instead of anthropocentrism theories emphasize the other human life has intrinsic value,the same will and other life on the same subject position to consider,don’t think use of animals for human benefit has moral justification,to the happiness of mankind is founded upon slavery to animals is unethical behavior.Because it is difficult to reach a consensus in theory,animal medicine is in trouble in reality.The use of animals in medicine in traditional Chinese medicine culture has encountered strong challenges in contemporary times.Similarly,the rise of animal welfare movement in the West has restricted the use of animals in the field of medicine,and the above predicament has directly affected the healthy development of human medical undertakings.The theory of life community provides a way to solve the above arguments.As the contemporary form of marxist ecological theory,the theory of community life in the unity of human and nature as the basic starting point,the thought in the practice of human activities,on the one hand,our subjective initiative to human’s own value standard to use and transform the nature,on the other hand,nature also with its objective laws regulating human don’t abuse of nature,Human beings and nature have formed a relationship of mutual respect and unity.While nature is being humanized,man is also being naturalized constantly.The theory of life community emphasizes the unity of ecological rationality and economic rationality,and stresses that ecological rationality should be used to reshape the basic value principles of society,so as to overcome the ecological crisis caused by the single economic rationality.The theory of life community advocates that human beings should set up the value of respecting nature,internalize caring for nature as the code of conduct in people’s heart,and achieve the unity of ecological value and human morality.In terms of the relationship between human beings and animals,the theory of life community emphasizes the harmonious coexistence and development of human beings and animals from the perspective of the internal unity of human beings and nature.Life community theory overcomes the anthropocentrism and non anthropocentrism debate on animal medicinal problems,emphasize from the perspective of the dialectical relationship between human and animal consider the value of the relationship between human and animal,which emphasizes the intrinsic value of the human,in some sense admit that animal’s intrinsic value,but when the interests of human and animal conflict and contradiction,The intrinsic value of human life can be used as the priority value basis when dealing with the conflicts between human and animals.Medical use of animals has moral legitimacy,but it is against putting human interests and needs absolutely above animals.In the judgment of specific animal medicinal behavior,whether it conforms to the good motive,whether it adopts a reasonable way,whether it enhances the optimal effect is taken as the moral standard or not.Theory,in practice,life community requires that we must pay attention to when using animal medicine human obligation to save the species,it is forbidden to use the endangered animals,restrictions on use of wild animals,can appropriate domestication of wild animals,and try to develop substitute of natural animal medicine,eventually to promote animal medicinal modernization management system,and realize the fusion of human morality and natural ecology.