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Rhetorical Analysis

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British philosopher Jeremy Bentham famously coined the phrase, “It is the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong.” What defines as a “good” for one person, may not necessarily be the same definition for another. However, Garrett Hardin defines what the “greatest good” is for our society in his essay titled, “Tragedy of the Commons,” in which he argues that in order to preserve the commons we must surrender our inalienable right to breed. Similarly, Peter Singer writes in piece titled, “Animal Liberation,” that, like humans, animals feel pain and therefore should be considered part of our society which requires humans to adjust and conform to meet the demanding needs of this particular group. Utilitarianism …show more content…

However, their ultimate goals differ greatly from one another, in the way that Singer’s proposition would only add to the overpopulation problem that Hardin wants to avoid. If we were to take consideration of the vast animal population this new approach would only further deplete the commons Hardin wants to so desperately conserve. Hardin explains that, “A finite world can support only a finite population; therefore, population growth must eventually equal zero” (30). In Singer’s world, this finite population just grew exponentially. Given that animals tend to breed much quicker than humans, how could we ever keep up with their ever-growing demand? Furthermore, Hardin and Singer deviate from one another in their approach of trying to persuade the views of their readers. Singer explains in great detail the mistreatment of animals in farms and testing laboratories, this approach clearly uses imagery as a way to appeal to his readers through ethos. Hardin does not worry about appealing to the feelings of his reader, nor does he care whether his audience is insulted by his blunt and extreme views about society. While Singer is well-known for deliberately provoking his audience, it is very evident in his writing that he cares deeply for the lives of animals. He reasons that the mere fact that animals can feel pain is reason alone to consider them part of our society, this shows a deep emotional bond to …show more content…

For this reason, most would oppose the notion that we must treat our loved ones no different than the way we treat complete strangers. This is what utilitarianism ultimately does to our society, we become numbers and we must always put the interests of society as a whole before our own. As a consequence, this new way of thinking will constantly challenge or deny our moral obligation to one another. This lack of consciousness is what leads Singer to believe that, “That there is no characteristic that human infants possess that adult mammals do not have to the same or higher degree” (213). All things considered, how could we ever choose the life of an animal before the life of another human being? Or how could we ever surrender our right to breed, for that matter? When you add animals and conditions to breeding to the equation, the scales in our society become severely unbalanced. Our feelings and family matter not to Hardin and Singer, only cold, hard

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