Are we special?

[varghedin]

Ok, so I've just come from religion & ethics class, and I've gotten to thinking. Are humans special? Are we nothing more than a type of animal, or is there something else to us? Animals swim faster, jump higher, leap longer, run swifter and bite harder than us. They have better sight, hearing, sense of touch and smell, and they possess senses we

Comments

[andraax]

Your question should not be whether we are animals or not.

Your question should be: "If we are, does it really matter?"
I think it doesn't. Our philosophical outlook doesn't change our behaviour.

[varghedin]

I think we're very affected by our view on things. If we all thought ourselves clearly superior to all other animals, would we treat animals the same way as if we thought that all animals (including humans) were worth exactly the same?

All our conscious actions are chosen by us for the reasons that we feel will adhere to our personal outlook at the time.