Peter Singer on Relationship between Human and Animals

Abstract

This Article is entitled “Peter Singer on Relationship between Human and Animals”. The objectives of this article are to study the relationship between humans and animals in the aspect of using animals as for food and research subjects and to find how humans should act toward animals. This article was a documentary research based on the Animal Liberation book by Peter Singer and his other works as a conceptual framework.

      The study shows that problems in the relationship between human and animals derive from speciesism; an unreasonable bias or view towards other lives. The relationships between humans and animals are in the direction of an exploitation of animals because animals are classified to be lower than humans. The lives of animals are therefore only to satisfy the goal of humans. Singer, as an ethicist who was influenced by the concept of utilitarianism, has an opinion that ethics should not be limited to only humans but should also extend to other lives in order to improve the status of animals to be equal to humans. This is because animals could feel pain, especially mammals that have senses similar to humans and could feel suffering. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the equality between animals and humans. As a practical ethicist, Singer’s concept is based on changing ideas on an individual level and convincing to take action rather than a theoretical argument. In his perspective, to gain benefits, humans need to change their behavior. They should not bring suffering to animals but happiness.