Performing Animals The Ill Treatment of Performing Orca’s...

Immanuel Kant, an 18th century philosopher argues that human beings have an intrinsic worth that makes them valuable above all else, especially animals. In his argument, Kant postulated the soul as necessary for giving unity to the human person and found that it is not the human body that gives human beings their dignity, but their rationality and their status as rational beings and moral agents. Animals in Kant’s state of mind are a means to an end (the end being man) and overall have no importance. But if rationality is the key to being dignified, then animals are dignified organisms and in turn have great importance to this world than Kant gives them credit for. Animals are rational. Based on behavioral dispositions humans have†¦show more content†¦We carry out the same basic actions and the only discrepancy between them is their interpretation due to the language barrier. The aggressive tendencies these creatures are developing can even be attributed to what we u nderstand to be anxiety disorders due to their lack of natural order, their lack of space, their lack of nutritional resources similar to what they would find in the wild (ex. harbor seals). Some people would disagree and completely ignore the affirmation of animal dignity and its need for acknowledgment and respect. Kant explains that we can use animals in any way we please. We do not even have a â€Å"direct duty† to refrain from torturing them. Kant admits that it is, probably wrong to torture them, but the reason is not that they would be hurt; the reason is only that we humans might suffer indirectly as a result of it, because â€Å"he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.† Fast forwarding to the 19th century, CEO’s of organizations such as SeaWorld, Sealand of the Pacific, and Loro Parque took a more subtle approach to accepting the captivity of Orcas by saying that these creatures are in a much safer and beneficial living con ditions compared to their kind in the wild. They attribute such claim to the research put into killer whales (Orcas) that has led to a clearer understanding of prevention and treatment of