Emily Smukler Mrs Wagner AP Seminar December 2022 Word Count: 1093 Animal Testing Outline Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, is defined by the Legal Information Institute of Cornell as the use of living animals in a laboratory “for scientific research [...] for a variety of purposes including studying biology [...] testing pharmaceutical products and cosmetics'' and more for human gain (Cornell Legal Information Institute, 2022). There is much controversy over the ethicality of animal testing, as these animals are being forced into a potentially harmful situation. This form of investigation is not new to the scientific world, as animal vivisections have been performed since before the …show more content…
The first, utilitarianism, can be described by philosophers such as Jeremy Bentham as an attempt to increase the number of “good things'' and decrease bad things (Wang, 2020). This extends to animal research as experimentation may harm the animal. It is thus categorized as a negative aspect, and should not be used even for the human benefit. On the other hand, advocates for kantian philosophy follow the principles of its originator Emmanuel Kant. As an enlightenment philosopher, he actively promoted the idea that morals must be put behind scientists in order to improve the human condition. In his eyes, animals are subhuman and “have a reduced value” due to their lack of intelligence in comparison to humans (Wang, 2020). Thus, it is socially acceptable for animals to be used as a means to an end rather than risking the lives of our own people. The philosophies have their clear distinctions, and advocates of both are faced with the debate on how their ideas can be implemented into the laboratory. Many laboratories may adopt forms of either philosophy to justify their methods of experimentation, yet there are others that abuse its ideals to create a harmful space for lab animals. The American-Anti Vivisection Society, a large organization whose goal is to better the condition of human-animal interactions, published in an article by author Susan Hunnicut (2013) on animal …show more content…
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