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Is animal testing ethical? Is animal testing ethical?
Animal testing is ethical Animal testing is ethical
Animal testing is ethical under certain conditions Animal testing is ethical under certain conditions
Animal testing is unethical Animal testing is unethical
Animals have no rights and are not the equal of humans Animals have no rights and are not the equal of humans
Engaging in research is a part of human nature Engaging in research is a part of human nature
Animal testing is ethical unless the experiment violates ethical and legal guidelines Animal testing is ethical unless the experiment violates ethical and legal guidelines
Animal testing is ethical if all human benefit outweighs all animal suffering Animal testing is ethical if all human benefit outweighs all animal suffering
Animal testing is unreliable and unnecessary Animal testing is unreliable and unnecessary
Animals are part of God's creation Animals are part of God's creation
Humans cannot disregard animals’ rights for their own benefit Humans cannot disregard animals’ rights for their own benefit
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Is animal testing ethical?
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Animal testing is ethical

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Engaging in research is a part of human nature

It is an essential trait of humans to strive for knowledge through experiments, regardless of whether they involve animals or not. Indeed, it is morally wrong to restrain humans' intrinsic desire for knowledge by forbidding animal experimentation on ethical grounds.
Aristotle Edward Wasserman Celeste Kidd
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The Argument

From earliest infancy, humans sort the world into categories, predict how things work, and test those predictions. On evolutionary terms, scientific thinking is essential for human survival.[1] Therefore, it is an innate trait of humans to seek knowledge through methodological inquiry. The presence of such a trait means that research activity holds an intrinsic value. This value is independent of the value of the research’s results. To use an analogy, undertaking research (including that involving animals) is equal to the value of nest-building for birds or foraging for apes.[2] In expecting humans to cease undertaking animal studies, we want them to abandon their natural behavior. Overall, it is ethical to conduct animal testing. Expecting humans to cease animal testing would be ethically wrong.

Counter arguments

The alleged natural drive for humans to undertake research would not be irredeemably frustrated if they refrained from using animals in research. Human creativity, which is also innate, can produce other solutions to achieve the same research goal. While conducting animal research is allegedly a means to satisfy one of the humans’ natural drives, it is also a means to undermine one of the animals’ natural drives (namely, survival). Animals do not have the option to not participate in an experiment; they are forced by humans. Such an argument for animal research is, therefore, anthropocentric. It does not make animal research ethically justifiable.[2]

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Premises

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References

  1. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428610-400-human-nature-being-scientific/#ixzz6aZ7YB6sn
  2. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj0xY7Ls6zsAhVDURUIHeM6BEUQFjAAegQIAhAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnuffieldbioethics.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FThe-ethics-of-research-involving-animals-full-report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw05ng7SodIKbnVg8ecUN1kI
This page was last edited on Wednesday, 14 Oct 2020 at 02:15 UTC

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