What is our obligation to alive creatures?

What is our obligation to alive creatures? 

Our obligation is to complete the life cycles that God has planned for us to carry out without altering the food chain in a negative way.

4:30 AM - WINTER 1999.

I was deep into sleep when my dad woke me up. It was time to go. It was time when no one else knew we would be leaving. A time where we wouldn’t disturb anyone. Not even the sun was awake.

We left and walked deep into the woods; deep into the darkness. We walked as fast, but made no sound until we reached the clearing. Then we finally were able to sit. I looked up at my dad, but he didn’t look at me. He was keeping watch…then it happened. Without making a sound, we took a life.

Philosophers throughout time have debated what our moral obligation to alive creatures are. As humans, we have the largest mental capacity along with the ability to take the life of any creature we please for more than survival. (Suddendorf, Thomas) I believe that our obligation is to complete the life cycles that God has planned for us to carry out without altering the food chain in a negative way.

Medieval Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed that God had a part to play in the obligations of humans. He argued that God established a hierarchy of life forms in nature so that the lower forms may be killed and eaten by all higher forms. (Carroll, William) I fully agree with this position. In simple terminology, it is stating that plants are to be killed by animals for food, and animals are to be killed by humans for food.

For Aquinas, animals lack reason and exhibit motion by a kind of natural impulse. This indicates that they are naturally enslaved and accommodated to the uses of others. Ancient philosopher, Porphyry, disagrees with this point of view. He believes that animals are rational and, because of this, deserve justice in the same way that humans do. (Emilsson, Eyjólfur)

I disagree in the sense that I do not believe that animals deserve the same level of justice in the same way that humans do. As humans, we have the capacity to imagine and create, which is something that animals do not have. (Suddendorf, Thomas) Yes, I believe that we need to treat animals with respect, as they are another form of life, but I do not believe that they are on the same level as humans.

Both Aquinas and Porphyry’s point of view lead to the study of Environmental Ethics. It is “discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents.” It was developed into a specific philosophical discipline in the 1970s due to the increasing awareness in the 1960s of the effects that technology, industry, economic expansion and population growth were having on the environment. (Brennan, Andrew)

Upon looking at both of these philosopher’s point of views, I believe that they both need to consider that it is a rational animistic instinct to follow the food chain. (“Food Chain”) All animals have the need to survive and intertwined in this need is the need for food. As humans, we are at the top of the food chain due to our knowledge and technology.

One of our moral obligations to animals is to maintain the top of the food chain by having ethical conditions on which we kill. “Choosing ethically raised meat helps you get all the advantages of meat without negatively impacting the health of the planet.”  (Jacob, Aglaee) These animals that are raised this way are also killed in an ethical way. Not only this, but humans require the nutrients that come from animals to maintain their survival. No matter if we choose to eat meet or not, I believe that we need to be ethical.

Maintaining our obligation to complete the life cycles that God has planned for us to carry out is respected in the death process of animals for many years. Cherokee tribes conducted post-kill rituals to their gods that would start four days before a hunting trip and last until four days after to purify the spirit to please the spirits. After killing an animal, “Cherokee hunters would ask the gods' forgiveness for taking the animal's life. If a deer is killed, they would throw the tongue and some of its meat into the fire as a sacrifice.” (Broadley, Jacob) Their moral obligations to animals always related back to respecting their gods, the natural food chain, and the environment.

6:30 AM – WINTER 1999

It was my first kill. We had just taken the life of a twelve point deer with a bow and arrow. Just like the rest of our deer tags, it was a perfectly clean kill. One shot. The deer didn’t feel any pain. Now we were going to have enough deer meet to last until the next deer season.

When we talked up to the lifeless animal, we thanked God for providing us with food and the animal for giving us his life. We had fulfilled our moral obligation to complete the food chain the way that God had planned it.

Works Cites

Brennan, Andrew. "Environmental Ethics." Stanford University. Stanford University, 3 June 2002. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Broadley, Jacob. "Cherokee Hunting Traditions | The Classroom | Synonym." Cherokee Hunting Traditions | The Classroom | Synonym. Demand Media. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Carroll, William E. "Creation, Evolution, and Thomas Aquinas." Creation, Evolution, and Thomas Aquinas. Catholic Education Resource Center, 2003. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.

Emilsson, Eyjólfur. "Porphyry." Stanford University. Stanford University, 18 Feb. 2005. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

"Food Chain." National Geographic Education. National Geographic, 11 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Jacob, Aglaee. "The Disadvantages of a Diet With Little Meat." Healthy Eating. Demand Media. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Suddendorf, Thomas. "Why Playing “House” as a Kid Is What Separates Us From the Animals." Science: The State of the Universe. Slate, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.