Human morality.

[Exmortis]

What is the value of a humans life? Is it equivalent to that of a pig or a goat. Phsiologically there doesn't seem to be anything particularly unique that we possess that they do not. We and they, both have muscle, organs and bones, each of these structures are composed of countless cells of many different varieties, and each of these cells and made up of an almost uncomprehendable amount of atoms. Indeed, you and I and they are quite amazing things, aren't we.
Yet have you ever wept when you bought a cheeseburger at McDonald's or recoiled in horror at the sight of a fur coat? Have you ever felt cold dread creep down your spine as you trample an ant? These things would mean very little to the most of us. But why? Why then does the death of a single human, place such a weight upon our hearts. Are our lives not equivilant to the thousands upon thousands of pigs who have been processed into food for the masses or the billions of insects who are kill mindlessly by man-made pesticidesand other forms of poison or those who otherwise meet death at human hands?

What is the value of human life against that of the other species of this planet?

 

[lrkun]

Do you have a metric that we can use? What I mean by this is something that already exists which measures the value of human life?

 

[Exmortis]

No I do not. If I did I would not need to ask this question.

 

[Anachronous Rex]

There is already a thread on what amounts to very nearly the same subject: http://forums.leagueofreason.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6109

I'll give you the same reply:

1) While human being have demonstrated a considerable ability to destabilize the biosphere thus-far, we are also the only species on the planet with the ability to consciously repair said damage; we are also the only species that might be able to mitigate the impact of naturally occurring disasters, which could conceivably have a devastating impact on life on Earth. No other species, for instance, would or could stop a large asteroid from impacting the planet.

2) This may just be my anthropic bias here... but to me it seems meaningful. No other species cares what happens to the biosphere or other species (excepting obviously that predators care if their prey die out, symbiotic relationships, etc.) Without humans extinct animals are forgotten, a dead biosphere ignored by an uncaring universe. Without humans, Earth's history is like a library full of endless volumes never opened. No one will mourn our passing, but we alone can mourn theirs. This, to me justifies our existence.

 

[Cabbo]

There is also the sociological reasoning behind it. I think it's worth note that we used to need to hunt and eat other animals to stay alive, and this has wormed its way into tradition and social acceptance globally because of the uniform fact that creatures must kill to survive.
As well as this, there is the universal group mentality - people feel that humans are better than all other creatures because they are human. This camaraderie effect is true of any social group (although, thankfully, the situations in which this group mentality is applied without reason, or on the basis of prejudice, are declining), especially cross species.

Then again, we can logic good. Can goat logic good? Nonononononono.

 

[CosmicJoghurt]

The only real values I can find (being an amoralist) of humans in relation to other animals are that we're much more aware of stuff around us than other animals and that hurting another human would probably have a bigger influence on one's life than hurting an ant. Anyways, I must accept that none of this has any moral matter, considering my beliefs, so, whatever... xD