Animals can be Considered Persons
Affermitive
Without animals
humans wouldn't
be superior
Animals have
ability to
suffer just like
humans
Humans are
animals. Our DNA
matches to that of
animals
Without animals, humans
wouldn't be superior:
Humans developed from animals. They can be superior
because of animals. Animals roamed the Earth before
humans shaped it as it is today so we can live peacefully. They
bring balance to the ecosystem, and without them, we
humans would be dead. We should reject speciesism, prevent
animals from being test subjects and give them human rights.
brain that is also known as the brain’s “reward circuit”.
Animals have ability to suffer
just like humans
Animals can suffer in the same way and to the same degree
that humans do. They feel pain, pleasure, fear, frustration,
loneliness, and motherly love. There is a 67 percent similarity
between the DNA of humans and animals. When someone
hurts animals, emotionally and physically, they feel the same
way us humans feel. Animals share the same nervous system,
neuro chemicals, perceptions, and emotions, all of which are
integrated into the experience of pain.
Humans are animals
Humans are animals. More than 65% of their DNA matches
with animals and 99% with apes only! We cannot classify
animals as not humans, we are animals; we developed from
them. Animals feel like we do, they think like us, animal brains
are similar to human brains. Both animals and humans react
in the same way. There is a reason why we share so much
DNA. It is because we are animals. We give birth like
mammals and survive like animals. We also need food, water
and shelter. In the end, we are animals, and we should
consider them as persons.
animals. To give more examples, both animals and humans
Should animals be considered
persons? They deserve the
same rights as humans because
they feel and express just like
us. Animals are useful to
humans and without animals,
there wouldn't be humans. We
need to value them.
Animals can be
Peter Singer
Support
Philosophical terms:
Peter Singer's
Theory
“What we must do is bring nonhuman
animals within our sphere of moral
concern and cease to treat their lives as
expendable for whatever trivial purposes
we may have,” says Peter Singer. He states
that nonhuman animals should
be concerned with and relate to
human behaviour. They should be treated
as humans.
Beliefs change as
time moves on
Personhood changed with time and culture.
In the past, nonhuman animals may not be
considered people but now they do!
Back then, everyone believed in Descartes'
theories. They considered animals as
machines and weren't respected. It was
proven later on that they can think and
behave like us. Singer's criteria for
personhood is Consciousness, intelligence,
understanding you exist as an individual
through time, self-awareness, and planning
for future events.
Dualism
If we believe in dualism, we need to
consider animals as persons. The mind and
the body are both different entities.
Animals feel like us, think like us and
survive like us. We need to conclude that
animals are conscious beings, and they
have a soul just like us.
Philosophy is something that cannot be right or
wrong. There are no fixed answers, and there are
always arguments. Animals feel and think like us,
but there are many things they can't do that
human can. In the end, animals shouldn't be
considered persons; they should be a different
category and have the same rights as humans.
Negative
Animals have
limited feelings
Humans are more
complex
They don't have a
sense of morality
Animals have limited feelings:
They have basic emotions such as joy and sadness, but there
are many emotions they can't express. Animals give off
certain signs that may indicate they are happy, but in reality,
these actions result in neural activity. For example, when
dogs wag their tails, they’re happy but this is not a sign of
emotion! This response results from neural activity in the
nucleus accumbens (nyoo·klee·uhs uh·kuhm·bnz) in your
Humans are a species that have similar minds, but you cannot
compare human minds to animal minds.
Humans are more complex
Humans are also more complex than animals because animal
brain structure is more important than brain size but the
human brain with its complex highly folded cortex that no
other animal brain can do the things human brains can do.
The human brain is far more complex than non-human
animals. This lacking ability allows us, humans, to be more
skilled than any other life form on the planet. It’s not only
intelligence that we are talking about here. Our brain is made
in a way that helps us evolve and survive. This complexity
allows us to know what’s right and wrong.
Animals don't have a sense of
morality
We have discovered many inventions such as futuristic
electronics and devices. However, animals can’t do that.
Although they are capable of evolving, they don’t have the
complexity which humans have. Whilst animals and humans
share the five senses, humans have an extra “sixth sense” —
an intuitive power to gain awareness of the surrounding
environment. This is why humans require rights more than
can be given stimuli to react to. Humans make conscious
choices as to how they react to stimuli. Since these decisions
are conscious, we are able to distinguish what’s a “good”
choice and a “bad choice”.
Should animals be considered
persons? Humans can make
important conscious decisions.
With their decisions, they can
change the world and develop.
Animals can't do things that we
do; they are machines.
Considered Persons
Rene Descartes 
Support
Philosophical terms:
Materialism
According to materialism, animals don't
have a soul. They have no emotions just like
us, and they are living corpses, but we
should be considered superior because we
can make conscious decisions and moral
choices. We can develop, and biologically,
we have more features than nonhuman
animals. This is what makes us humans and
not them.
Descartes' Theory
“For it is highly deserving of remark, that
there are no men so dull and stupid, not
even idiots, as to be incapable of joining
together different words” By this quote,
Descartes means that humans are not
incredibly stupid and they know what is
right and wrong. On the other hand animals,
no matter how happy or perfect, cannot do
what they like.
Personhood criteria 
doesn't make sense
The personhood criteria don't apply to all
organisms. A study has found out that only
land mammals have self-awareness and can
recognise themselves in the mirror. The
criteria for personhood doesn't apply to
babies, which means they shouldn't be
considered humans.