Should we care about the life of an ant?

Discussion in 'General Philosophy' started by Why?, Sep 21, 2007.

  1. shichimenshyo Caught in the machine Registered Senior Member

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    Thats generally agreed to be scientific fact.

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  3. Dunn11x Jesus Christ is The Messiah! Registered Senior Member

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    Just because scientists believe that to be true doesn't mean it is.
     
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  5. shichimenshyo Caught in the machine Registered Senior Member

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    animal-
    A multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia, differing from plants in certain typical characteristics such as capacity for locomotion, nonphotosynthetic metabolism, pronounced response to stimuli, restricted growth, and fixed bodily structure.
     
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  7. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Main Entry: human
    Function: noun
    : a bipedal primate mammal of the genus Homo (H. sapiens) : MAN; broadly : any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae —hu·man·like /-"lIk/ adjective
    Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
     
  8. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    So a human is not a mammal Dunn11x ?
     
  9. shichimenshyo Caught in the machine Registered Senior Member

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    wait a mammal !!!!! thats part of the group of creatures classfied as animals!!!! EUREKA!!!!!
     
  10. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Yeap

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    hu·man (hyōō'mən) Pronunciation Key
    n.
    1. A member of the genus Homo and especially of the species H. sapiens.
     
  11. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    why would we care if the ants don't care. When I start seeing little ant funerals, then maybe I'll start caring.
     
  12. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Will you start caring when there are no animals left anymore ? Humans cannot survive without animals, remove the animals and you kill the humans.
     
  13. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    First hit:

    "In his book The Diversity of Life, renowned entomologist Edward O. Wilson discusses the importance of insects and land-dwelling arthropods in the ecosystem, saying that "if [they] all were to disappear, humanity probably could not last more than a few months." Most other life forms, like amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals would also become extinct because of the domino effect that would occur in the food chain.

    Many insects are herbivores, or plant-eaters, which makes them primary consumers. This abundance of primary consumers provides protein and energy for secondary consumers, known as carnivores. There are many secondary consumers, such as spiders, snakes, and toads that could not survive without feeding on insects. Tertiary consumers eat other carnivores; for example, bears and chimpanzees eat insects as well as other animals."

    From: http://www.riverdeep.net/current/2002/03/030402t_insects.jhtml
     
  14. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    I am not gonna care about any 1 ant. EVER!!! I will care about all ants, but an ant. NOPE! NEVER! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!
    In fact, think I want an ant rug. <squish> ah, look at that. I now have an ant rug in front of my keyboard. Tomorrow, its mosquito earrings. Rolley-polley bugs...they're next.
     
  15. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    So why is it ok to kill an animal just for the fun of it ?
     
  16. Thrix Registered Member

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    Because they're just ants. Why is it not okay?
     
  17. Thrix Registered Member

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    It's just as easy to kill them as not kill them too. I just need to lift my feet.
     
  18. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Is it ok for me to kill your cat ?
     
  19. Thrix Registered Member

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    I don't have a cat. But if I did own a cat, and I had an emotional attachment to that cat, I'd say no.

    Do you have an emotional attachment to the ants I crush?
     
  20. maxg Registered Senior Member

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    710
    Depends on what you mean by OK. It reflects poorly on the person doing so, since it's the sort of behavior I would expect from a 8 year old and it seems like a waste of time and energy, but I can't see anything immoral about it.

    No, as someone else pointed out it would hurt me (if I did have a cat) and therefore you are acting immorally. You have a moral obligation to other people but not to ants.

    If you believe we (as humans) have a moral obligation to ants, where does that obligation end? Is it immoral for me to pick up food off my floor because I am depriving ants of sustenance? Is it immoral to have an exterminator come to rid my house of carpenter ants (they're ants too, at least I think so)?
     
  21. Dunn11x Jesus Christ is The Messiah! Registered Senior Member

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    lol, yes in that we breath oxygen, give live birth, and are warm blooded, but I just don’t think it’s right to classify us as animals. God created humans in his image, not animals.
     
  22. Yorda Registered Senior Member

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    not everyone agrees with science so they shouldn't have the right to create stupid definitions* that everyone has to agree with.

    *"humans are animals (although they're completely different)", "pluto is not a planet"
     
  23. Dunn11x Jesus Christ is The Messiah! Registered Senior Member

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    Amen!
     

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