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Juliane Phillips
Professor Kastner
English Composition 1103
30 September 2013
An Animal’s Rights
Tom Regan wrote “Animal Rights, Human Wrongs,” as means of explaining how
humans wrongly try to justify harming various animals for their own benefits. Regan describes
various instances where humans have hunted endangered animals into extinction and have
carelessly experimented on them to test products that we wish to use on ourselves. All that waits
for the animals is more harm and humiliation of being test subjects for scientists and being the
new attraction in a zoo or freak show. Regan also makes historical references comparing our
current treatment of animals with our past treatment of African Americans and women. This
subtlety implies that mankind has not matured from this cruel behavior. At first glance, the
reader would only think that Regan is describing humans’ cruelty towards animals throughout
historical times and the reasons behind this cruelty, but Regan eventually explains that, “harm is
not restricted to human beings.”(Animal Rights, Human Wrongs page 338)
Regan has had plenty of experience defending animals from human malice. Tom Regan
is an American philosopher who specializes in animal rights theory. Regan has written many
books on the subject. He is also the co-founder of the Culture and Animals Foundation. This
position clearly reveals that he would most likely defend animals in this, or any type or,
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argument and has likely done so for a substantial amount of time. It is due to knowing this fact
about Regan that the reader gains some insight about his credibility and allow the reader to agree
with Regan’s argument because the reader can easily feel that he is right about the cruel
treatment of animals by mankind.
Throughout this article, Regan demonstrates his credibility as a writer from his insightful
method of using the animals’ suffering to appeal to the reader’s sympathy. Regan’s writing
causes the reader to feel sympathetic towards the animals who have been harmed for human
benefit. He questions, “Why is this being done to the last remaining members of an irreplaceable
species?”(337) Regan describes, very vividly, the many animals all around the world who have
been hunted to the point of being endangered, or extinct, just to fill mankind’s needs. Regan also
describes how scientists have used innocent rabbits to test possibly harmful products. The rabbit
obviously doesn’t want to be subjected to this by the way it is making “a futile effort to escape
from a restraining device, called a stock, which holds the creature in place by clamping down
around its neck.”(337) The reader feels overwhelming guilt and shame for taking part in these
actions, even if it had only been indirectly because they either did not help the animal before it
was too late or by using the final products that were finally considered safe for humans as the
results of these cruel experiments. Regan has used this shame felt for taking part in the cruel
treatment of animals to show humans that their actions were more or less similar to the horrible
treatment of African Americans and women in the past, showing that humans haven’t really
changed from this appalling behavior.
Regan’s other strong appeal in this article was ethos. Regan’s appeal to ethos lies in how
he causes the reader to question themselves and mankind. He makes them question why this act
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is being done by “civilized” (337) men. Regan asks how mankind can “justify”(339) this act of
harming animals. Regan’s statements reveal that the animals are harmed by human acts and that
“harm is not restricted to human beings.” Regan questions if harm to the animals is “actually
justified.”(339) He uses examples in times of history when humans were treated as nothing more
than animals such as racism and sexism. Regan wants the reader to use the “same line of
reasoning”(339) in cases involving animals that were used on racism and sexism to see if the
reader can “justify”(339) the abuse to animals. Animals are being treated as slaves the way
African Americans and women were treated like animals. The only thing that had changed was
who was given the cruel and unjust treatment.
Regan uses the little logos that is in his article to strengthen his pathos and ethos.
Regan’s examples of logos are mainly uses statistics and historical examples. He uses statistics
to describe how “for every one animal captured alive, ten have been killed.”(337) He describes
the frail mortality of the animals mankind has hunted so clearly. Regan also implies how the
cruel an unjust treatment of animals can be similar to the historic movements involving slavery
and sexism, how African Americans and women were treated like the animals mankind is
mistreating. Animals, like African Americans and women, have been “assigned the rank of
slave.”(339) Regan implies that humans have only shifted the focus of their despicable treatment
from African Americans and women to animals.
Regan’s valid argument about the treatment of animals causes the reader to open their
eyes and see the animals as creatures whose suffering is just as real as the suffering mankind has
experienced throughout history. Regan made use of pathos, ethos and logos to strengthen is
argument better than his background could have. Regan’s entire article implies that humans
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must stop harming animals for selfish gain and protect what is left of their species in order to
keep these animals from vanishing from the world altogether and to actually change into
civilized human beings.
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References
Regan, Tom. “Animal Rights, Human Wrongs: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy” (2003):
Forming a Critical Perspective pages 336-341. Print.