A Critique of Arguments for Animal Rights

I

n recent years numerous questions were raised about the morality of killing and eating animals. Do animals have right to live and not made to suffer? Should people stop eating animal meat? Should laws be enacted to protect animal rights?

This essay suggests the following two theses. 1) Animal rights arguments are not logically conclusive, 2) Someone may develop reasons in the future, but for now, there is no morally compelling reason to stop eating animal meat.

I shall address various major arguments for animal rights and their weaknesses.

Read here: Is It Immoral To Kill Animals?

Are Humans Good or Evil?

Are humans good or evil? Or both?



There's Mother Theresa and there're Jihadists who behead innocent civilians. Are humans innately more like Theresa or more like Terrorists?



Or do we have a choice to being one instead of the other?



Perhaps there is no innate human nature. We form habits from frequent choice- acts over an extended time. We become habitually good or bad.



Read here:

Are Humans Good or Evil? by Clancy Martin and Alan Strudler | Harper's Magazine

What is LOVE? -- If you loved me, you wouldn’t want to change me !?

If you loved me, you wouldn’t want to change me | Philosophers' Mail

The impulse to alter our lovers appears to run counter to the spirit of
love. If we loved and were loved, surely there wouldn’t be any talk of
change? Isn’t love about the acceptance of an entire being, in their
high and low points?



But,  being told we simply have to love someone for all that they are, or else
think of ourselves as bad people, is asking too much.



How could someone
never want to change any part of us if they know us properly? Do they
lack all ambition for our true potential? Do we not ourselves aspire to
change and improvement? Then why blame them for wanting from us what we
at heart want from ourselves?



For the Greeks, given that we are all very imperfect, part of what it
means to deepen love is to want to teach – and to be taught. Two people
should see a relationship as a constant opportunity to improve and be
improved. When lovers teach each other uncomfortable truths, they are
not giving up on love. They are trying to do something very true to
love: which is to make their partners more loveable.

Is parental lying morally justified?

Parents in U.S. and China Both Lie to Their Kids, Study Says | TIME.com:



Parental lying is important, the researchers wrote, because “this practice may play a role in children’s lying behavior and evaluations of others who lie, two issues that are widely recognized as central to moral development.”


In conclusion, they wrote, their study raises “important moral questions for parents about when, if ever, parental lying is justified.”



Also read:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/parent-pulse/201208/parental-lying  and Chinese Lying about Good Deeds

Libraries should promote learning, not police values

Libraries should promote learning, not police values 

sides
being a bastion of knowledge, public libraries also enable Singaporeans
to participate more effectively in building a better society for all.
To be engaged citizens who understand trade-offs and propose expedient
solutions requires that we be exposed to information and viewpoints that
at times may challenge what we hold dear. Critical thinking skills are
best honed when we are exposed to contradictory ideas, data and dogmas. -
See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/libraries-should-promote-learning-not-police-values#sthash.Cku2qWiU.dpuf

Besides being a bastion of knowledge, public libraries also enable Singaporeans to participate more effectively in building a better society for all. To be engaged citizens who
understand trade-offs and propose expedient solutions requires that we be exposed to information and viewpoints that at times may challenge what we hold dear. 

Critical thinking skills are best honed when we are exposed to contradictory ideas, data and dogmas. 

Political scientist James Fishkin, widely cited for his work on deliberative democracy, has identified five
elements integral to legitimate deliberation. They include making accurate information and relevant data available to all participants, and attaining substantive balance where different positions are compared based on their supporting evidence. 

There is also a need to allow for diversity, where all major positions relevant to the matter are considered, and the practice of conscientiousness, in which participants sincerely weigh all arguments. 

Finally, equal consideration should be given to views based on evidence and not on the people who advocate those views.

 cited for his work on deliberative
democracy, has identified five elements integral to legitimate
deliberation. They include making accurate information and relevant data
available to all participants, and attaining substantive balance where
different positions are compared based on their supporting evidence.
There is also a need to allow for diversity, where all major positions
relevant to the matter are considered, and the practice of
conscientiousness, in which participants sincerely weigh all arguments.
Finally, equal consideration should be given to views based on evidence
and not on the people who advocate those views. - See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/libraries-should-promote-learning-not-police-values#sthash.Cku2qWiU.dpuf

Besides
being a bastion of knowledge, public libraries also enable Singaporeans
to participate more effectively in building a better society for all.
To be engaged citizens who understand trade-offs and propose expedient
solutions requires that we be exposed to information and viewpoints that
at times may challenge what we hold dear. Critical thinking skills are
best honed when we are exposed to contradictory ideas, data and dogmas. -
See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/libraries-should-promote-learning-not-police-values#sthash.Cku2qWiU.dpuf

Besides
being a bastion of knowledge, public libraries also enable Singaporeans
to participate more effectively in building a better society for all.
To be engaged citizens who understand trade-offs and propose expedient
solutions requires that we be exposed to information and viewpoints that
at times may challenge what we hold dear. Critical thinking skills are
best honed when we are exposed to contradictory ideas, data and dogmas. -
See more at:
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/content/libraries-should-promote-learning-not-police-values#sthash.Cku2qWiU.dpuf

Does Evolution Explain Religious Beliefs?

Does Evolution Explain Religious Beliefs?
I don’t think science as such can explain everything. Therefore, assuming that the existence and nature of the world can be fully understood (I’m not sure it can!), this is going to require something more than science.

If the person of faith wants to say that God created the world, I don’t think you can deny this on scientific grounds.

The interviewee for this installment is Atheism: What Everyone Needs to Know.”
Michael Ruse, a professor of philosophy at Florida State University and the author of the forthcoming book “

Interviewed by GARY GUTTING for New York Times
July 8, 2014

eBook: Perceiving God: Epistemology of Religious Experience

To download go to this link -Perceiving God: Epistemology of Religious Experience by William Alston

The central thesis of this book is that experiential awareness of God, or as I shall be saying, the perception of God, makes an important contribution to the grounds of religious belief. More specifically, a person can become justified in holding certain kinds of beliefs about God by virtue of perceiving God as being or doing so-and-so.

We believe in the reality of objects that we perceive using our senses. In like manner we are justified in perceiving the existence of metaphysical entities using our consciousness (mind).