Human exceptionalism is a long held belief that humans are at any time essentially and categorically different and better than any other beings that exists within the environment. Within this belief, there is an elevation that humans deserve better and they deserve respect from the environment and its beings. The aspects of human exceptionalism propels humans as the ultimate being whose powers are unlimited and one who is at right to take away or include that which benefits them. It relegates all other beings into a particular condition of submission. In this essence, while humans are not limited to modify the environment for their benefit, all other beings are expected and required to adhere to the conditional of the environment as they are without necessarily challenging anything that pertains it if at all they are not approved and accomplished by the human being (Kaebnick, 28).
The animals, plants and the environment are all under the submission of humans where they are the sole determinants of what is important and what is not important from a rational perspective not of the whole but of the human. Human exceptionalism expects that all other beings are moral within the standards of the human and that they allow the environment and its population to remain so without necessarily calling on the humans to show any morality to nature. Human rights are the ultimate standard from which the standards of morality are gauged and anything that contravenes the human rights is regarded as ripe for elimination from this controlled environment. In a similar way, humans are afforded the right to solve their problems and that includes maximizing the ability of all other beings within the environment to solve those problems even when these other beings may not benefit in any way. Over the course of time, humans have made great advances in medicine ((Taylor, 302).
Today, there are very few illnesses or conditions that can be regarded as incurable or untreatable in humans. There are curative medications, vaccinations or immunizations all which have been developed over the years to facilitate humans to live a quality life by eliminating the risk factors that would otherwise undermine the value and quality of their lives. Further, with technological advances in medicine, the aspects of genetic modification have aided in the constant modification of the environment, animals and plans and to an extent the humans (Kaebnick, 31). Today, animals are being bred via predefined techniques that facilitate the maintenance of genes or behaviors that suit the human as opposed to the specific animal. It is not about the right of the animal but the benefit to the human that will be accrued from the modification. It is not about the impact that such modification will have on the environment and the species of that animal and it is not about the burden that such modification places on the animal.
All decisions are now based on how the human benefits irrespective of the burden or destruction to other species, beings or the environment as a whole. Plants too have not been spared and the continued breeding to capture or retain some desirable characteristics and eliminate those that are deemed unnecessary all falls in the list of the changes that have been implemented for the human to benefit. In an environment where coexistence is between all living things is key to the ability of the environment to sustain all now and into the future, humans have taken up the role of modification in such a way that they should be the sole beneficiaries while all other beings have to adapt to the changes without questioning if in any case they would. A pertinent aspect that reflects the notion of human exceptionalism is the development of medicine, immunizations and vaccinations for humans (Taylor, 290). In majority of the trials that are initiated to test the effectiveness and safety of medication, vaccinations and immunizations the strategy has been the use of animal trials. In these cases, animals are subjected to these tests whereby they may not ultimately benefit from the final product even when it has been proved effective.
Majority of these cases have involved the rats and rabbits as the subjects of the study. Apparently, there are no ethical guidelines that are put in place to protect the rights of these animals because of the perception that the process is meant to save or protect the lives of humans. Once these medications have surpassed this test or trial phase and determined to have no negative impacts on the human life, the researchers usually seek to include humans in these trials. In this phase, protocols and ethics are significantly put into use; the subjects are protected from exploitation and compensations are designed in case of any safety issues. The consent forms as well as the insistence on privacy of human subjects are all defined.
Further, the subjects are assured that the medication, vaccination or immunization will benefit them from a health perspective. Once it has passed this stage and deemed as effective and safe for humans, all the trials on animas that had formed the foundation of the research are regarded as basic processes. There is no further regard as to how the product under trial or test can be modified to benefit all human and animal subjects that were involved at one point or another (Taylor, 294). Once more it is a reflection of the human exceptionalism that has continually used the beings within their environment to suitably improve their lives irrespective of the impact that such compromised approaches could have on the other beings. It is important that humans recognize that even within this notion, they should be guided by the moral law of protecting other beings in as much as they protect their own. Humans cannot satisfy their needs in the absence of the environment or its other beings (Kaebnick, 27).
The collapse of the any element of the environment would indicate a collapse of the ecosystem equilibrium and the major impact would be experienced by the humans more than any of the living things within that environment. The humans have to recognize that they are not doing the environment and other beings favor by protecting them at least in the most basic way but aiding in sustenance of an ecosystem that is so important to a quality life. However, in the aspect of medicine trials for instance, the argument that usually emanates is that the costs incurred in research are enormous and there must be a return on investment which would be technically difficult to achieve if all animals and beings were to be afforded similar medications which in any way have to go through the research process. Humans are more likely to show a return on investment; a notion that is once more based on the ideals of human exceptionalism (Taylor, 288).
Works Cited
Kaebnick, G. "Humans, Nature, and Ethics." Center for Humans & Nature 4.2 (2011): 26-32. Web.
Taylor, Hollis. "Connecting interdisciplinary dots: Songbirds,‘white rats’ and human exceptionalism." Social Science Information 52.2 (2013): 287-306.
