Animal Experimentation
Animal Experimentation is practiced throughout the world on hundreds of thousands of animals. These experiments cause unnecessary suffering and cruelty to animals for the purpose of testing cosmetics products (Cole). Cosmetic product experimentation on animals includes the testing of ingredients in shampoos, lotions, make-up and similar type beauty products. According to the article titled Cruelty Free Cosmetics, “These tests cause an enormous amount of pain and suffering to the animals. The only time they are relieved of their torture is when they die” (Cole). This paper will focus on why it is morally impermissible to test cosmetic/beauty products on animals using the moral theory of Utilitarianism.
A theory of Utilitarianism as presented in Peter Singer’s All Animals Are Equal, states, “If a being suffers there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering, insofar as rough comparisons can be made –of any other being. If a being is not capable of suffering, or of experiencing enjoyment or happiness, there is nothing to be taken into account” (Singer). Humans and animals share an important equality- the ability to experience pain and suffering and/or the ability to experience pleasure in their lives. Since animals are beings that can experience suffering, we must take this into consideration and stop their senseless torture for experimentation purposes for the sole purpose of creating cosmetic/beauty products. If a products use is determined to be unsafe or not yet determined to be safe for humans that same principle must apply to animals as well according to Singer, as the two beings are equal and consideration of …show more content…
When a company wants to launch a new lotion or shampoo it must first determine if the chemicals involved will be an irritant to the human skin. In order to test the safety of these chemicals they use animals, according to the article Animal Testing: Is Animal Testing Morally Justified, “The intensity of animal testing varies substantially. Many experiments cause minimal discomfort to the animals involved. Others, however, can cause extreme, long-lasting pain. Animals used in chemical testing are always alive and fully conscious and are never given pain relief” (par. 4). Many of the methods used on animals to research new products inflict pain and torture. According to Singer we must consider the pain and suffering of animal beings and human beings equally. Therefore, since companies would not experiment/test new products on humans, society should replace the archaic method of animal experimentation with more humane …show more content…
According to the article Cruelty Free Cosmetics there are other options. It states, “Methods like artificial tissue testing and test tube testing are alternative methods that can be used. Artificial tissue grown in a laboratory has proved to provide better results on how likely skin irritation on a person will occur compared to traditional animal testing” (Cole). Since there are other options available that provide the same result, without the needless suffering of animals, we must consider this alternative as the only option for product experimentation. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which was established in 1938 “specifically encourages cosmetic manufacturers to use ‘scientifically valid alternative methods’ to animal testing for their products” (Cole). Although these measures are in place by the Food and Drug Administration to encourage alternatives, they are not
Animal Experimentation is practiced throughout the world on hundreds of thousands of animals. These experiments cause unnecessary suffering and cruelty to animals for the purpose of testing cosmetics products (Cole). Cosmetic product experimentation on animals includes the testing of ingredients in shampoos, lotions, make-up and similar type beauty products. According to the article titled Cruelty Free Cosmetics, “These tests cause an enormous amount of pain and suffering to the animals. The only time they are relieved of their torture is when they die” (Cole). This paper will focus on why it is morally impermissible to test cosmetic/beauty products on animals using the moral theory of Utilitarianism.
A theory of Utilitarianism as presented in Peter Singer’s All Animals Are Equal, states, “If a being suffers there can be no moral justification for refusing to take that suffering into consideration. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering, insofar as rough comparisons can be made –of any other being. If a being is not capable of suffering, or of experiencing enjoyment or happiness, there is nothing to be taken into account” (Singer). Humans and animals share an important equality- the ability to experience pain and suffering and/or the ability to experience pleasure in their lives. Since animals are beings that can experience suffering, we must take this into consideration and stop their senseless torture for experimentation purposes for the sole purpose of creating cosmetic/beauty products. If a products use is determined to be unsafe or not yet determined to be safe for humans that same principle must apply to animals as well according to Singer, as the two beings are equal and consideration of …show more content…
When a company wants to launch a new lotion or shampoo it must first determine if the chemicals involved will be an irritant to the human skin. In order to test the safety of these chemicals they use animals, according to the article Animal Testing: Is Animal Testing Morally Justified, “The intensity of animal testing varies substantially. Many experiments cause minimal discomfort to the animals involved. Others, however, can cause extreme, long-lasting pain. Animals used in chemical testing are always alive and fully conscious and are never given pain relief” (par. 4). Many of the methods used on animals to research new products inflict pain and torture. According to Singer we must consider the pain and suffering of animal beings and human beings equally. Therefore, since companies would not experiment/test new products on humans, society should replace the archaic method of animal experimentation with more humane …show more content…
According to the article Cruelty Free Cosmetics there are other options. It states, “Methods like artificial tissue testing and test tube testing are alternative methods that can be used. Artificial tissue grown in a laboratory has proved to provide better results on how likely skin irritation on a person will occur compared to traditional animal testing” (Cole). Since there are other options available that provide the same result, without the needless suffering of animals, we must consider this alternative as the only option for product experimentation. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which was established in 1938 “specifically encourages cosmetic manufacturers to use ‘scientifically valid alternative methods’ to animal testing for their products” (Cole). Although these measures are in place by the Food and Drug Administration to encourage alternatives, they are not