Comments on: Revisiting Animal “Rights” http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/tibor-r-machan-revisiting-animal-rights/ Bilingual Blog about the Moral Status of Nonhuman Animals and Related Fields of Study Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:32:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Prof. Dr. Tibor R. Machan http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/tibor-r-machan-revisiting-animal-rights/comment-page-1/#comment-10876 Prof. Dr. Tibor R. Machan Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:54:43 +0000 http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/revisiting-animal-rights/#comment-10876 Becoming a mathematician is an achievement and so without having done what it takes to achieve it one cannot be one. But being a human being or a cat or a tree is not an achievement and when one has some of the crucial attributes that make one such, while lacking some others, without having become something else, it is then warranted to be classified as human or cat or tree. The comparison suggested in the comment is unsuccessful, it is like comparing apples and sissors. Becoming a mathematician is an achievement and so without having done what it takes to achieve it one cannot be one. But being a human being or a cat or a tree is not an achievement and when one has some of the crucial attributes that make one such, while lacking some others, without having become something else, it is then warranted to be classified as human or cat or tree.

The comparison suggested in the comment is unsuccessful, it is like comparing apples and sissors.

]]> By: mijnheer http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/tibor-r-machan-revisiting-animal-rights/comment-page-1/#comment-8774 mijnheer Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:28:52 +0000 http://tierethikblog.de/2007/07/15/revisiting-animal-rights/#comment-8774 A broken chair is still a chair, and a human being who is mentally handicapped is still a human being. But a former mathematician who can no longer do mathematics is no longer a mathematician, even though he or she remains a human being. The same goes for someone who has never been able to do mathematics. The attribution of moral standing to someone who is not a moral agent on the basis that they share the attribute of being human with others who are moral agents seems to be like awarding a degree in mathematics to someone who can't add, on the basis that his brothers and sisters are mathematicians. A broken chair is still a chair, and a human being who is mentally handicapped is still a human being. But a former mathematician who can no longer do mathematics is no longer a mathematician, even though he or she remains a human being. The same goes for someone who has never been able to do mathematics. The attribution of moral standing to someone who is not a moral agent on the basis that they share the attribute of being human with others who are moral agents seems to be like awarding a degree in mathematics to someone who can’t add, on the basis that his brothers and sisters are mathematicians.

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