While Immanuel Kant would clearly have a distinct view on animal rights, other philosophers, such as John Stuart Mill, might not be as easily inclined to take a stand either way. Mill believes in a philosophy called utilitarianism. Mill's approach, which is sometimes called Hedonistic Utilitarianism, holds that pleasure and pleasure alone is intrinsically good, while pain and pain alone is intrinsically evil. To determine what the best consequences would be in any given case, they think, we must determine which alternative available to us will bring about the optimum balance of pleasure over pain for everyone affected by the outcome. In other words, they want to induce the most pleasure for the greatest number of people and the least pain for the smallest number of people. Pleasure, in their view, denotes happiness, while pain denotes unhappiness. Utilitarianism takes into account the pleasures and pains of everyone affected by the outcome of what we do. It will not allow us to consider the pleasures and pains of some and ignore the pleasures and pains of others. Mill was a believer in the highest good, which he states, will follow the principle of utility. The principle of utility argues that action that produces happiness is morally correct. His idea of the principle of utility, therefore, is a consequentialist theory, or one that determines our moral direction through our consequences.

On the other hand, there are several theories that affirm animals should not be assigned rights. Most of these theories revolve around the notion that animals do not have the ability to reason, which is considered the most important feature of humans and is what sets them apart from non-humans. One of the most persuasive reasons usually offered for excluding animals from being direct objects of moral consideration is the claim that whereas man possesses an immortal soul, animals are not so blessed. This theory has dominated the Catholic Church and the popular mind for centuries. The supporters of this theory believe that since there exists a lack of soul in non-humans, there also exists a lack of reason, which in turn, demotes animals below humans and causes us to see them as inferior. Once we see them as inferior, it is extremely easy to deny their rights. Another viewpoint concerning the denial of animal rights is seen widely in the scientific community. Most scientists believe that since they have already demonstrated that human benefits are derived from animal experimentation, there is no need to provide any ethical argument that justifies harming millions of animals each year. They say that animals provide too much human benefit (food, transportation, entertainment) for us to be concerned with any moral aspects of whether or not to keep harming them. Finally, it is believed that only creatures capable of acting morally are themselves deserving of moral concern. This theory states that moral laws and principles are the product of a sort of social contract, which only rational beings are capable of participating in. The contract is an agreement among only rational individuals to treat others in a certain way, provided that they are themselves treated the same way in return. Since animals cannot enter into agreements such as these, mainly because they lack reason and language, they cannot be considered objects of moral concern.

Questions like this and others, which are very similar, have become the snowballing debate over the question of animal rights. Where do we draw the line? How do we determine the value of another being's life? Well, up to this point, we as a society have been pretty confident in judging the lives of millions of animals worldwide (or so we can conclude by looking at the number of animals sacrificed each year for the purpose of experiment, education, goods, etc.). We must first step back and analyze the ethical dilemma at hand and then proceed to carefully weigh its consequences.

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Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)