English 1A
In “The Scientific Basis for Assessing Suffering in Animals,” Marin Stamp Dawkins explains the different beliefs and behavior toward others that would likely cause pain or suffering. Dawkins is the head of the Animal Behavior Research group and the director of the John Krebs Field Laboratory. Her authority on the issue stems from her work in animals behavior and biology. The author’s bias is shown in her research in animals through their physical, physiological, and behavioral. The author assumes an audience who love animals and care how animals feel. The author assesses the ways in which persons attempt to endanger themselves in order to empathize with their feelings. Although it is difficult to understand the ways that person source pleasures, we are still cognizant of many of the pleasures human enjoyed from our own experience. Dawkins further discuss the interaction between human and animals which allows persons to begin to understand the feeling of animals, and concerns about whether or not animals experience suffering is a result of human behavior.
The article is organized in a manner that makes it effective and quite easy to understand as the author uses different subheadings that helps to categorize the different topics in the paper. The reader is therefore able to read through the parts of the article that are most important to their research if they cannot read through the entire article. The essay is organized under different sections which are Physical Health, Physiological Sign, Behavior, Asking the Animals, and An Objective Measure of Suffering. In the first section of Dawkins’ essay, the author argues that physical injury and illness is not a strong form of suffering when compared to mental state suffering.
The essay’s opening causes the readers to think whether or not we understand the feelings of animals in the same way that we understand other humans. Interestingly, the author uses personification and emotional appeals to draw empathy from the read and to compare the treatment of animals to that of humans. The style is important as it helps to bring across Dawkins’ passion about the suffering of animals and humans. The passionate tone also appeals to the emotions and logical thoughts of the readers. The language is simple and easy for college students and can help students to recognize the logical claims based on the audience’s knowledge about suffering animals. Throughout the article, Dawkins creates logical and ethical arguments that supports her idea that animals suffering is a cause for concern in the society.
The capture and transportation of farm animals is an example of the reasons that affects animal weight loss, injury and dead. Humans are responsible for these discomforts in the animals and they cause much of the suffering and physical discomfort in these animals. More importantly the mental suffering from these experiences can have more severe impact on the animals. The emotional appeal in this argument is intense as the readers are forced to think about themselves as animals and to make attempts to assess their personal mental suffering as one that is more significant than the physical injury. Dawkins explains her argument by referring to soldiers who experience physical injuries in a war and the ease at which these wounds can be healed. She suggests that this “suffering from pain” is not as challenging as the mental suffering which is internal and cannot be helped by doctors in many cases. Based on this argument, Dawkins clearly shows that physical injury is not a form of evidence that helps to determine animal suffering.
In the Physiological Signs section, Dawkins focuses on physiological changes in suffering animals that persons cannot see easily. In fact, the author suggests that changes are under the skin and includes brain activities, hormone, and stress which animal body produce while experience suffering. Based on this argument, Dawkins shows that persons cannot truly understand the physiological sufferings of animals. The author gives example about animals facing two different stress factors that are related to the predator and human suffering and that both of these stresses are the direct result of changes in brain activity. However, stress and suffering from predator is a good way and natural law for animals to adapt and to learn about new environment.
In the section on “Behavior,” Dawkins recalls the experiment which observed the behavior of pig “suffering.” The experimenters recorded the behavior of the pigs while they undergo fear and frustration. The author then compares the result with farm pigs to help to determine whether the farm pigs faced suffering or not. Dawkins attempts to explain two kinds of frustrations, which are movements from the agitation that the animals feel and the external suffering from human such as locking them inside small cage. The author points out that we need to understand that the problem of animal unpleasantness is not just pleasant or unpleasant, but that persons should become more appreciative of the unpleasant and its effect on these animals and persons. I think the author’s argument is effective because it forces the readers to think about the unpleasantness that arises from the treatment of animals.
In “Asking the Animals,” Dawkins discusses how “asking without words” approach is being used in a wide-variety of conditions, and how it is the most direct way of getting the view of the animals. The author refers to the experiment on rats and cigarette smoke and shows that the rats dislike the smoke as they blocked the smoke stream. In addition, the author also points to the experiment with chickens and the way they respond to being in the battery cage or outside running. This experiment reveals that even chickens desire the same freedom that human desire. Both of these experiments are important to Dawkins arguments as they show that animals make similar choices as person and express what is pleasant or unpleasant for them. Additionally, Dawkins looks at the example of “operant conditioning,” in animals. These animals pull a lever using a reward and consequence system. Dawkins explains that while using food as the reward, the animals tend to work harder to receive the reward then if a non-food object is being used. It is clear that Dawkins wants the readers to conclude that animals have a sense of what is needed more than other commodities.
In “An Objective Measure of Suffering,” Dawkins explains the animal’s view of its environment. The section further address the mental state of the animals and the pleasantness that arises from their need to work hard to obtain an object and get reward; while their mental state is unpleasant when they need to work hard to avoid these unpleasantness. Furthermore, Dawkins admits that human and animals are alike even though we do not know what their requirements are and what makes them comfortable. Dawkins then concludes that we need to see the world differently by attempting to understand the view of the animals’ world and this will help to understand the needs of humans.
Dawkins answers her question “can we know animals are suffering” throughout the article. She uses different sub-headings to draw the readers to the different challenges that animals face. Dawkins argues body injury and weight loss are a form of animals suffering which we can easily see, but that the physiological damages to the animals causes more suffering than physical damages. The arguments further reveal that physiological suffering are related to mental state and causes stress under animals’ skin which we cannot see. Dawkins focuses on unusual behavior in animals that are the results of humans. She discusses how animals have the ability to make choices like humans and try hard to obtain what they need for living such as food. In addition to her explanation, she suggests that in order to understand animals, we need to use analogy with our own feelings to tell us what other animals might be experiencing. Clearly, the article is important to understanding the factors that helps to shape the pain and happiness that persons feel and to recognize that like humans, animals undergo mental and physical sufferings.
