Internal Conflict: Nature, Humans, and Animals :: Philosophy Essays

Internal Conflict Nature, Humans, and Animals Caught up in the modern daylight scheme of things, I havent felt connectedto nature in few time. I always considered myself a lover of nature andthe outdoors. But crusade west on US 41, as I passed the turnpike and headed into the everglades, I began to think roughly the last time I had beenso withdraw from the everyday hustle and bustle. I have been having innate conflict as of late, and it seems this trip illuminated some facets of this inner unrest. It has always been easier for me to put my thoughts onpaper. This is the attempt of this essay, to externalize this internal conflict.As I do this, I am hoping to better understand myself. One such debate I have with myself is whether forgiving life is to be held above other life, and if such a concept is even possible. The second of myinternal conflicts is animal rights. Do or should animals have rights?Finally, and most important, what is my responsibility or place in the gran dscheme of things? This includes my decision to be a responsible valetbeing, and whether I should have children or adopt. These ideas, notmutually exclusive, tie unneurotic and overlap in a common theme of my received internal thought processes. It seems to be my understanding that western religion or Christianity holds the popular opinion that animals were put here on Earth for us humans.Human beings be held above all else. This is the justification for things like animal research, and the draining of the everglades for humanhabitation. I personally would put most members of my human familyabove my positron emission tomography dog, if it came down to a choice. But my question is, atomic number 18 ourlives more expensive than other life in the grand scheme of things? Or areall living things, being in a common ecosystem, dependent? Finally,what kind of life will there be if we continue our current path of destroyingthese habitats, our habitat? When I pulled into Cooperto wn, I noticed I was the rootage person toarrive. This gave me a chance to look around a little. Coopertown is a tourist trap. It includes a quaint restaurant which offers gator tail andairboat rides, the last mentioned being the reason for our trip. As I walked past therestaurant and toward the sour grass where the airboats depart, I came to a hut with a counter where you inquire about the airboat rides.