Introduction
The essay seeks to discuss whether the use of animals for scientific or commercial testing is acceptable. And under the rules of utilitarianism, animal testing is considered a moral action that can bring the greatest happiness to society, since it does not violate the principle of utility. Besides, under the rules of deontology, animal testing is considered an immoral action that destroys moral values. In order to establish the argument, it starts to introduce what is animal testing and its current usage. Utilitarianism and deontology will be introduced. It will then move on to the argument on what problems were resulted by animal testing and whether animal testing violates the principle of utility and deontology. At the end, it can be said that animal testing is considered morally right.
Background Information
An animal test is any scientific experiment or test in which an animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress, or lasting damage. In animal experiments, animals would be injected or fed with probably harmful substances, exposed to radiation, and forced to inhale toxic gases. Also, the lab assistant may surgically remove animals’ organs or tissues to deliberately cause damage and subject animals to frightening situations to create anxiety and depression. Only vertebrate animals such as mammals, birds and fish, and some invertebrates such as octopuses are defined as ‘animals’ by European legislation governing animal experiments regulations.
Current Usage of Animal Testing
Animal testing is usually used for scientific and commercial testing. Animals are used to develop medical treatments, determine the toxicity of medications, check the safety of products destined for human use, and other biomedical, commercial and health care uses. It can help us understand our own bodies and how they work. Also, animals are used to see whether new chemicals have harmful effects, such as finding out whether a chemical causes cancer or illness to our body.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism states that one thing is ethical, or good when it develops the best quantity of good for the best variety of individuals. It is a theory of standardizing ethics that asks whether a specific action is good or bad, moral or immoral. They answer this question with an economic examination that focuses on human lives and says that those actions that build individuals’ happiness and profit for them are good. As an example, a utilitarian could ask whether or not it’s moral for politicians to pay billions of dollars on campaign advertisement. He or she would examine that money could have been better spent on something else.
What Is the Principle of Utility?
The principle of utility states that the most ethical action is that the action that has pleasure or happiness for the most people. Actions are right if they manufacture the greatest pleasure. Actions are wrong if they produce a lot of pain than pleasure to a lot of people. In utilitarianism, good is outlined as the existence of pleasure and the absence of pain. This can be called utility. Hence, utility may be a philosophical theory. Recall that a hedonist believes that the great life consists exclusively within the pursuit and experience of enjoyment or happiness. The feelings of enjoyment and pain are biological events involving our central system that are controlled by our neural structure. We obviously experience pleasure after we perform certain acts that fulfill biological functions like eating, drinking, and having sex. We also experience pleasure after we perform certain intellectual activities, like reading a philosophy textbook, playing piano, or drawing a picture. However, but not forever, experience pleasure when we do the right thing. Conversely, we experience pain when these functions are left unrealized.
Deontology
Deontology is the branch of ethics in which individuals outline what is morally right or wrong by the actions themselves, instead of pertaining to the results of these actions, or the character of the one who performs them. The word deontology comes from the Greek roots ‘deon’, which implies duty science. Thus, deontology is the ‘science of duty.’ Deontological ethical systems are distinguished by a focus upon and strict adherence to independent moral rules or duties. To create the correct moral decisions, one must understand what those moral duties are and what correct rules exist to manage those duties. When the deontologist follows his or her duty, he or she is by definition behaving morally. Failure to follow one’s duty makes one immoral.
What Is the Principle of Deontology?
Deontological ethical systems usually stress the explanations why bound actions are performed. Merely following the right ethical rules is usually not sufficient; instead, one should have the right motivations also. A deontologist isn’t thought-about immoral even supposing they need to break an ethical rule, as long as they were impelled to stick to some correct ethical duty. Nevertheless, an accurate motivation alone isn’t a justification for Associate in Nursing action in an exceedingly deontological ethical system. It can’t be used as a basis for describing Associate in Nursing action as virtuously correct. It’s conjointly not enough to easily believe that one thing is the correct duty to follow.
Animal Right and Autonomy
Animal testing damage the right and autonomy of animal. Animal rights show that sure things are wrong as a matter of principle, that there are some things which are virtuously wrong to try and do to animals. Human beings should not do those things, regardless of what the cost to humanity of not doing them. For example, the human use of animals for scientific or commercial purposes, since the actions hurt animals, can’t be accepted. People should not do those things, even if they are doing that in a very humane method.
Was Animal Testing Violating the Principle of Utility?
If animal testing can help scientists or companies to make safe product to human, animal testing was not violating the principle of utility. I have mentioned the principle of utility states that the most moral action is the action that provides pleasure or happiness for the most people. Actions are right if they produce the greatest pleasure. Since animal testing is commonly used for test whether the products harm to the body, damage the normal body system or contain allergic factors. That brings a lot of benefits to humans due to decreasing the injury to humans.
