"Vivisection"

Questions

1    1. Is vivisection immoral?

2    2.  How do our emotional responses effect our beliefs?

3.   3. Is inflicting pain on humans different than inflicting pain on animals?

Response

The chapter on “Vivisection” is a perfect example on ethical issues in our society. It explains the good and the bad. The positives and the negatives. For my response I will focus on my third question: Is inflicting pain on humans different than inflicting pain on animals? In my opinion, I can see both sides having good arguments. We, as humans, inflict pain on others and are inflicted by pain for various reasons. We use torture on terrorists and doctors perform surgeries on patients. These are forms of pain being inflicted. Maybe the thought of inflicting pain on another person is not one of the most pleasant thoughts to think about, but what about the positive consequences of inflicting pain? Cutting up a person to donate a kidney to a person who NEEDS one, that’s inflicting pain and that is for a good cause. Scientists pretty much do the same thing to animals. They use vivisection to test certain drugs or perform different experiments on animals to benefit us. The animal usually can feel little or no pain during the procedure, just like humans during surgery. On the other side of the argument, I think it is unfair to the animal because they don’t have a choice. As humans who can speak and give consent, it isn’t bad to inflict pain on them because they agreed to it. It is not fair to the animal because they basically have no rights.

                Vivisection is very controversial and I don’t think there will ever be an agreement on if it is considered moral or immoral. But, in order for society to grow and become medically advanced, vivisection might be the answer.