In Defense of Animalism Argumentative Essay
In Defense of Animalism
This paper puts forward the argument that because we are human beings we must also be animals.
# 152327
| 1,291 words
| 2 sources
| APA
| 2013
| 
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Description:
This paper presents a philosophical analysis of the 'animalism' ideology, i.e. the view that we are both essentially and most fundamentally animals. It describes mainstream arguments for and against animalism, and finally, the paper refutes arguments against its thesis, and concludes by explicating the philosophical implications of accepting this paper's position as valid.
From the Paper:
It is self-evident that you and I are human beings. Modern science defines human beings as belonging to the primate species called Homo sapiens, a subset of animals. In the words of American philosopher Eric Olsen: ``It would seem to follow that we are animals. Yet that claim is deeply controversial... There is a certain human organism, and that organism is you. You and it are one and the same.'' (2.1) This simply states the ideology called animalism."Animalism is often presented as the view that we are both essentially and most fundamentally animals. The former premise is founded by the argument that we could not possibly exist without being animals. As for the latter, animalism submits that our identity conditions derive from our being animals a priori, rather than from our being people or material objects (though we are both). If all animals are essentially and fundamentally animals - a premise almost ubiquitously accepted - and the human species, to which all human beings belong, is conceptualized as a branch of the animal kingdom, then it follows modus ponens that because we are human beings we must also be animals.''
Sample of Sources Used:
- Eric T. Olson, What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)
- Eric T. Olson, An argument for animalism'', in John P. Lizza (ed.), Defining the Beginning and End of Life: Readings on Personal Identity and Bioethics (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009)
Cite this Argumentative Essay:
APA Format
In Defense of Animalism (2013, January 28)
Retrieved December 04, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/argumentative-essay/in-defense-of-animalism-152327/
MLA Format
"In Defense of Animalism" 28 January 2013.
Web. 04 December. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/argumentative-essay/in-defense-of-animalism-152327/>