Whaling

Adressing Pro’s Arguments:“Whaling is not illegal[…]” Dropping the argument of legality as pro has clarified it’s purpose of clarification.“The killing of whales is not exceptionally inhumane”Humane:Merriam-Webster: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animalsDictionary.com: characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressedThefreedictionary.com: Characterized by kindness, mercy, or compassionOxford: Having or showing compassion or benevolence These are the top four definitions of humane when “define humane” is googled (yes, googled is now a verb in my book). By definition, killing a whale, or anything else that is not already suffering, is inhumane every time it’s done. I am not trying to appeal to emotions here, simply proving the point that really there is nothing humane about whaling: http://youtu.be...“Whaling is sustainable.” My argument about the environment was misrepresented. When pro used the argument, “whaling is sustainable,” to justify killing whales, I pointed out that just because something is sustainable, does not mean it should be killed. This was one of my criticisms on his arguments, not my argument for the effects on the environment. “Hunting a few non-endangered whales[…]” Two thousand whales per year is more than a few [3].“Whaling is not unethical” “Cultural norms differ form place to place,” I agree. However, as I mentioned in round one, the law does not establish moral codes; therefor, neither does culture. In some cultures, they regularly practice female genital mutilation when the girl is 13 years old. Some girls die from it. The Korowai tribe still practices cannibalism [1]. Culture defines ethics if and only if these practices should be tolerated. “Intelligence should not be a determining factor when killing animals for food because any animal that is sentient and can feel pain has the same right to not feel pain as any other.” If intelligence is not a determining factor, then what gives humans the right to life over every other species on the planet? If any sentient animal has the same right as another sentient animal, then why do we grant ourselves greater rights than all others? You made the clarification of “when killing animals for food,” but if intelligence is not a determining factor, then is it okay to kill humans for food? Intelligence is the only thing humans have going for us. Without it, we are lower than monkeys and whales. We have no sharp teeth or significant strength and size. The only reason we are not fighting other species is our intelligence. If intelligence puts us above all others, shouldn’t intelligence be a determining factor?Addressing Pro’s Questions:“Is it okay to kill a stupid human being but not a smart one?” No, but we are not comparing stupid whales and smart whales. I do not think it’s “okay” to kill anything. I think it is more unethical to kill a human than it is to kill a chimpanzee, and more unethical to kill a chimpanzee than it is to kill a cow, etc. There is a certain hierarchy of moral duty we owe to those species of higher intelligence. All life is valuable in itself, and it is never okay to take a life without consent. Intelligence is valuable in itself, and it is never okay to end intelligence without consent. However, it is worse to take a life when it is more aware of life's value. Humans are most intelligent and are most aware of the value of life, therefor it is least ethical to take a human life. Less intelligence means less awareness of self, life, and value. It is less unethical to end the life of a plant than that of a human because plants have no sense of life's value.“A "food pig" and a wild pig are the same animal with a different name. Yet it is okay to kill the first yet not hunt the other?” As all life is valuable in itself, it is not okay to kill either. Since they have equal intelligence as a species, one would think from previous arguments it is equally unethical to kill either. However, there is difference between the farmed and the hunted. This will be addressed again in my first arguement, "whaling is unethical." “To feed a thousand people, do you kill 50 sentient cows, or one whale?” Consider the following: The fifty cows would not have had a chance at any good life (as I only argue for good farm’s). The whale’s chance at a good and full life was taken away. The cow was given life under the condition that it would not be full. The whale was born under no condition. The 50 cows have little to no sense of self-awareness. Evidence suggests the whale does. To feed a thousand people, do you kill 1,000 bugs (assuming people eat bugs), or one cow? My ArguementsWhaling is Unethical: Again, there is a difference between the farmed animal and the hunted animal. Not necessarily in value of life, but in ethical responsibility. The farmer is responsible for ensuring the contented life of the farmed. The hunter is responsible for nothing but death of the hunted; and maybe sustainability to ensure continuous death. If given the choice between nonexistence or a comfortable, carefree life (we’re talkin Old McDonald's farms here e-i-e-i-o, not Ronald McDonald's factory slaughterhouse) the option should be quite simple. The farmer gives desired life to the animal. The animal gives life to the farmer. It’s a fair deal, fair trade, and the circle of life. The hunter however takes life from the animal and gives nothing back to the animal. It’s called greed, especially when commercialized. However, this is a trivial comparison when it comes to the animal. Comparing a whale to a farm animal is like to comparing a chimpanzee to a farm animal. Yes, cows and pigs have intelligence, but if you put them in front of a mirror, they have no idea what they’re looking at. Evidence suggests that whales and chimpanzees have a sense of self-awareness. Also, the level of communication in pigs and cows are nowhere near as complex and sophisticated as that of a whale or chimpanzee [2]. Cetaceans (marine mammals) and primates are more like humans than any other species and should be allowed more human-like rights. Really, the UN declares a pretty sufficient amount of inborn human rights. The very first one is the right to life [3]. The mind of a human and the mind of a whale have more similarities than they do differences, yet we give ourselves, and only ourselves, the fundamental right to life. The hierarchy of animal intelligence is currently highly debated from articles I have found. Many have said chimpanzees follow humans, yet recently there has been a rise in evidence suggesting that dolphins have more intelligence than chimps [5]. Since whales and dolphins are closely related, I would assume their intelligence it also. I would also assume whales may be a bit harder to test than dolphins. Adding the argument: Whaling is Unhealthy As mentioned in round two, researchers tested 137 whale meat samples, each of which exceeded federal guidelines. These federal guidelines were set as the level of mercury in food that is not to be exceeded. Mercury poisoning is caused often when an excess of mercury is ingested. Mercury poisoning can cause numbness or pain in certain parts of your skin, uncontrollable shake or tremor, inability to walk well, blindness and double vision, memory problems, seizures and death (with large exposures) [6]. All of the whale meat sampled in Japan tested positive for excessive mercury; so, not only is it unethical to hunt whales, it is also impractical. Current Conclusion: Pro has not yet given an argument as to why whaling should be considered ethical, but given much reason to compare whaling to the unethical nature of our current practices. He has argued that whaling is less unethical than factory farming: “The farmed pig lives its life captive, in a cage, bored. That is disrespectful to the animal. It is the same with a whale. I will eat a wild hunted whale versus a tortured factory-farmed cow any day of the week. The farm births the pig, gives it no life at all, and kills it. Nature births the whale, gives it a good life, and the whaler takes the whale's life and gives it to people [...]” I agree with pro on this entirely, which is why I support more ethical treatment of farmed animals and do not support factory farms. Pro has argued the claim "whailing is not unethical" but has not argued "whaling is ethical." [1] http://www.smithsonianmag.com... [2] http://www.wired.com... [3] http://us.whales.org... [4] http://www.un.org... [5] http://news.discovery.com... [6] http://www.nlm.nih.gov...