A Study On Speciesism

With the development of the times and the progress of science and technology,human beings have become more and more prominent in nature.Human behavior is closely related to nature,but also has an impact on nature,especially the relationship between man and nature.Since ancient times,China has proposed that man and nature should live in harmony.However,with the continuous expansion of human desire,our desire to conquer nature has become stronger and stronger.Some people believe that man should become the center of nature.With this view becoming more and more popular,the human race has produced unfair treatment and unequal consideration for non human species,specifically manifested in the abuse and oppression of animals.This idea of species discrimination was gradually accepted by people,and non human species began to become human tools and even trophies.The research on the theory of species discrimination can make human beings realize their own discrimination and prejudice against animals,reflect on the past atrocities against animals,promote human introspection,and create a harmonious relationship between man and nature.The theory of species discrimination originated in ancient Greece.People used animals as tools and ignored the moral rights of non human species.At the same time,the emergence of anthropocentrism and utilitarianism and Kant’s denial of the moral status of animals also promoted the development of the theory of species discrimination.The concept of species discrimination theory has also changed since its development.In a broad sense,species discrimination theory is still the prejudice of human species to safeguard the rights and interests of their own biological members while derogating from the rights and interests of other biological members.In a relatively narrow sense,species discrimination theory refers to the unfair consideration and treatment of organisms not classified as a certain species.Nowadays,the three main manifestations of the theory of species discrimination include animal discrimination,racial discrimination and gender discrimination.The fundamental reason for the existence of animal discrimination is the differences between non human species and human races.The idea of species discrimination has been supported by some scholars.Cohen refuted the principle of equality and pointed out that animals have inherent value but do not have moral status.He pointed out that the use of animals can contribute to human production and life.Chappelle refuted the division standard of moral importance.He believed that it was not rigorous to use the ability to feel pain and happiness as the standard to measure whether animals have moral status.Chappelle revised the division standard of moral importance to determine whether a species has moral status based on its positive development.He pointed out that the positive development of human species is more important than that of non human species.Krantz refutes the theory of animal liberation.Like Cohen,he opposes the view that animals have moral status.He believes that animals do not have reason.He cites Descartes’ thought to refute singer’s theory,providing a new point of view for the study of species discrimination.Other scholars criticized the theory of species discrimination.Singh put forward the principle of equality and expanded the moral horizon for the liberation of animals.He demanded that human beings should treat animals with equal consideration.Human species should expand the scope of moral community and include non human species into the scope of moral consideration.Singh criticized the theory of species discrimination from the concept of animal liberation.Reagan opposed the theory of moral obligation and refuted the animal tool theory put forward by utilitarians,and then summarized the principle of respect,the principle of injury,the principle of minimum overpowering and the principle of deterioration.Reagan strongly criticized the theory of species discrimination.In his literary works,Coetzee recorded his thoughts on animal liberation and his anxiety about the gradual loss of animal rights,and put forward his thoughts and questions on the issue of animal rights in follow-up research.In fact,his thoughts are a strong criticism of the theory of species discrimination.He strongly opposes any act of animal abuse.In Coetzee’s view,the integration of human nature and animal nature is reflected in the love for non human species.He said that animals are also rational,so there are a large number of animals who can understand human emotions in his works.Coetzee has integrated his attitude towards animal rights protection into his works,which has contributed to the liberation of species.Finally,this paper argues that the concept of species discrimination has potentially led to human behavior of harming non human species and human deprivation of moral rights of other species,thus resulting in inequality between human and other species.Moreover,the concept of species discrimination has further strengthened the sense of superiority of human beings and hindered the emancipation of animals’ minds.At the same time,the unequal treatment of other species except human beings has also objectively damaged the harmonious relationship between human beings and nature.Therefore,we should recognize the disadvantages of species discrimination and the limited rationality of anthropocentrism,and correctly treat the status of non human species.In practice,the negative effects of species discrimination can be overcome to some extent by promoting the awareness of species protection,advocating animal liberation movement and advocating the concept of anti discrimination,so as to promote the progress of human society and the harmonious development of the relationship between man and nature.