I know we've had these discussions before and I had this discussion with a friend but what is the worth of a life to you? Is your dog equal to a plant? Is your best friend equal to your dog?
My friend argues that human life is more valueable to him simply because he can empathize with a human. You can't empathize with any other form of life. My argument was that just because we, as humans, can't empathize with another form of life it doesn't make us any more superior.
My friend also argued that humans are sentient. I argued that so are animals. My dog didn't eat or drink anything for 3 days when I left him with my breeder, and he whined like crazy. To me, that seems like sadness. Wolves fight to survive in the wild, meaning they are aware they are alive. Sentience.
He believes animals can't show love. But I argued that dogs show affection all the time. It seems that dogs are the only ones I can defend here since I've had experience raising one since real young.
But the truth is... if I had raised a colony of ants... and had gotten Rocky at the same time and until this point, I had to choose between the two. I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of the ant colony. And between my father and Rocky... I'd choose my father. To me, all life has worth but I would take some life over others.
What are your thoughts?
My friend argues that human life is more valueable to him simply because he can empathize with a human. You can't empathize with any other form of life. My argument was that just because we, as humans, can't empathize with another form of life it doesn't make us any more superior.
My friend also argued that humans are sentient. I argued that so are animals. My dog didn't eat or drink anything for 3 days when I left him with my breeder, and he whined like crazy. To me, that seems like sadness. Wolves fight to survive in the wild, meaning they are aware they are alive. Sentience.
He believes animals can't show love. But I argued that dogs show affection all the time. It seems that dogs are the only ones I can defend here since I've had experience raising one since real young.
But the truth is... if I had raised a colony of ants... and had gotten Rocky at the same time and until this point, I had to choose between the two. I wouldn't hesitate to get rid of the ant colony. And between my father and Rocky... I'd choose my father. To me, all life has worth but I would take some life over others.
What are your thoughts?