Research proposal

Emily Montgomery

Exposition and Argument

Erin Kelly

November 1, 2016

Research Paper Proposal

The general topic I will be researching is human’s treatment of different animals and why this exists. I will be specifically looking into the effect of personifying animals and to what degree the level of humanization affects our treatment of them. Basically, do we feel more ethical obligation toward animals that we perceive as more human? Why do we treat our companion animals better than most other animals? Is it because we give them human characteristics or are there other reasons? In order to proceed with this investigation I will be using a variety of sources. I hypothesize that there is a large portion of the treatment of animals that relies on how closely we can relate them to ourselves, but also other factors come into play such as monetary value of the animal and what it is used for. Even if some animals may possess human-like behavior, humans de-animalize them if they have an alternate use for them. This is evident in factory farming and many wildlife abuse cases.

Two of my important sources are from the New Humanities Reader. I will be using “An Elephant Crackup?” by Charles Siebert as an example of the mistreatment of animals that can come even to those animals displaying behavior that could be seen as human-like. In the wild, elephants mourn their dead much like humans do, but despite this endearing and very humanistic feature, the people that live around elephants continue to poach which completely disrupts elephant culture thus leading to violent elephants. Another example of animal cruelty and mistreatment is seen in my second source from the New Humanities Reader, “Meat and Milk Factories” by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. This text discusses the very negative conditions of factory farming despite the positive qualities of the animals at stake. Pigs are describes as being “affectionate, inquisitive animals” and “cows have strong emotional lives” despite misconceptions. I’ll also be using an article by Jonathan Leake entitled “The Secret Life of Moody Cows”. This article provides more evidence for  the emotions cows feel and provides support to my argument that the treatment of cows in the factory farming industry is cruel despite the human-like emotions cows have been proven to feel. Another source I will use is an article by Lindsay Hamilton and Darren McCabe, “‘It’s Just A Job’: Understanding Emotion Work, De-Animalization And The Compartmentalization Of Organized Animal Slaughter.” This source will be used to, again, further investigate the mistreatment of animals in the factory farming and why humans have justified it through de-animalization. In addition to these sources, I will be looking for sources that can back up my claims about companion animals. Companion animals are overly humanized in order to justify the vast difference in the treatment of, for example, a dog in comparison with a pig. While both animals are smart and possess emotion, one is treated much better than the other and this is due to the over-humanization of pets and the de-animalization of livestock. De-animalization is similar to de-humanization in that it is used to justify actions. Referring to the meat that comes from a cow as beef, for example, takes away any indication that the food used to once be a live animal.

I intend to create my argument by primarily discussing human nature to give human-like characteristics to animals. I will then investigate this tendency in relation to companion animals. Next I will delve into how this applies to livestock and wild animals. I will assess the effect of money on attributing human-like characteristics to the animals. Finally I will assess the true importance of humanizing animals in relation to how they are treated. Ultimately I will conclude that even animals who perform very human behavior or possess very human emotion, are not treated well because of financial reasons. My sources I have outlines, as well as additional sources I have yet to discover will help me develop my argument throughout my paper. I think that the significance of this topic is extremely relevant and important. The humane treatment of animals is a huge issue in society and an important one to investigate in order to resolve the abuse issues that exist.

Works Cited

Siebert, Charles. “An Elephant Crackup.” The New Humanities Reader. 5thed. Stamford, CT:

Cengage, 2015. 352-365. Print

Mason, Jim and Peter Singer. “Meat and Milk Factories.” The New Humanities Reader. 5rded.

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2009. 543-566. Print

Leake, Jonathan. "The Secret Life of Moody Cows." The Sunday Times. The Sunday Times, 27

Feb. 2005. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

Hamilton, Lindsay and Darren McCabe. “‘It’s Just A Job’: Understanding Emotion Work,

De-Animalization And The Compartmentalization Of Organized Animal Slaughter.” Organization 23.3 (2016): 330-350. Business Source Premier. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.