NEWS CONCERNING ANIMAL ETHICS
----- Original Message
-----
From:
"DawnWatch" news@dawnwatch.com
Sent: Wednesday, July
06, 2005
Subject: DawnWatch: Time
Magazine article on animal ethics -- 7/11/05 edition
The July 11 edition of
Time Magazine (on stands now) has a positive article headed "Honor
Among Beasts.
Think altruism, empathy and a sense of fair play are traits only
humans possess? Think again." (Pages 54-56.)
It opens with a
description of the "play bow" dogs do before engaging in mock
fights. The magazine spread includes lots of fun photos of dogs in
various play-fight postures. Marc Bekoff, an ethologist at the
University of Colorado, tells us that dogs playing are also
"exchanging an incredible amount of
information."
The article lets us know
how much things have changed for the better:
"Only a decade or so
ago, scientists were arguing vigorously over whether animals had
emotions: just because a dog looks sad or a chimp appears to be
embarrassed doesn't mean it really is, the skeptics said. That
argument is pretty much over. The idea of animal emotion is now
accepted as part of mainstream biology."
Given the place rats
generally have in society, largely considered vermin worthy of only
of extermination and not even included in laws that protect
laboratory animals, the following line was
welcome:
"And thanks to Bekoff
and other researchers, ethologists are also starting to accept the
once radical idea that some animals-primarily the social ones such
as dogs, chimps, hyenas, monkeys, dolphins, birds and even
rats-possess not just raw emotions but also subtler and more
sophisticated mental states, including envy, empathy, altruism and
a sense
of
fairness."
Later in the article a
researcher notes that social animals such as "dogs and rats"
clearly have a sense of justice.
The article discusses
various studies showing that animals who share work will also share
the food reward, even when not forced to.
One researcher suggests
that animals may have rules of conduct but that "doesn't mean
they're ethical creatures."
Following that line, the
article ends with:
"But while animals may
not possess true ethics or morality, Bekoff, De Waal and a growing
number of their colleagues think fairness and cooperation may be
the forerunners of those qualities, just as the apelike brain of
our distant ancestor Lucy was the forerunner of our own, much more
sophisticated minds. After all, Lucy was no Einstein-but without
her, the leap from the tiny brains of primitive mammals to the
subtle intelligence of an Einstein could never have
occurred."
I wonder about the
assumption that all humans are "ethical
creatures."
The article is lengthy
and a fun read. You will find it on line at:
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1079521,00.html
It gives us a great
opportunity for letters about the way human society treats members
of other species.
Time Magazine takes
letters at:
letters@time.com
Always include your full
name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to
the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be
published.
Yours and the
animals',
Karen
Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal
advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and
facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You
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"starting to accept the
once radical idea that some animals-primarily the social ones such
as dogs, chimps, hyenas, monkeys, dolphins, birds and even
rats-possess not just raw emotions but also subtler and more
sophisticated mental states, including envy, empathy, altruism and
a sense of fairness.">>
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Chickens:
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