Once we ask why it should be that all human beings - including infants, the intellectually disabled, criminal psychopaths, Hitler, Stalin, and the rest - have some kind of dignity or worth that no elephant, pig, or chimpanzee can ever achieve, we see that this question is as difficult to answer as our original request for some relevant fact that justifies the inequality of humans and other animals.
Interpretation
This quote questions the inherent dignity of humans compared to animals and challenges the justification of human superiority.
Peter Singer highlights a philosophical inquiry into the concept of dignity and worth among humans, suggesting that it is challenging to substantiate the belief that humans possess an inherent superiority over animals. He draws attention to the moral implications of this belief and questions why all humans, regardless of their capabilities or actions, are often afforded a level of dignity that is not attributed to other sentient beings. The quote invites reflection on ethical considerations surrounding how we value life and the disparities between species.
In practice
In a debate on animal rights, one might use this quote to emphasize the ethical considerations of human superiority.
The belief that the animals exist because God created them - and that he created them so we can better meet our needs - is contrary to our scientific understanding of evolution and, of course, to the fossil record, which shows the existence of non-human primates and other animals millions of years before there were any human beings at all.
Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that suffers. How bad a pain is depends on how intense it is and how long it lasts, but pain of the same intensity and duration are equally bad, whether felt by humans or animals.
What is faith? If you believe something because you have evidence for it, or rational argument, that is not faith. So faith seems to be believing something despite the absence of evidence or rational argument for it.
Almost everybody accepts that some people can be killed. 'The concept of 'brain death' - the belief that people on respirators can legitimately be killed - shows that.
If we all think only of our own interests, we are headed for collective disaster - just look at what we are doing to our planet's climate.
Even in the era of AIDS, sex raises no unique moral issues at all. Decisions about sex may involve considerations about honesty, concern for others, prudence, and so on, but there is nothing special about sex in this respect, for the same could be said of decisions about driving a car. (In fact, the moral issues raised by driving a car, both from an environmental and from a safety point of view, are much more serious than those raised by sex.)
Every man has the right to risk his own life in order to preserve it. Has it ever been said that a man who throws himself out the window to escape from a fire is guilty of suicide?
All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible.
I believe that a worthwhile life is defined by a kind of spiritual journey and a sense of obligation.
Life is as tedious as twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.
Let not ambition take possession of you; love the friends of the people, but reserve blind submission for the law and enthusiasm for liberty.
The idea of cultural relativism is nothing but an excuse to violate human rights.
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