Thursday, February 27, 2020

The Ethical Questions Surrounding Vegetarianism Essay

The Ethical Questions Surrounding Vegetarianism - Essay Example Some choose the vegetarian lifestyle for religious reasons as they find it wrong to eat the flesh of animals. But for many, the decision to adhere to a vegetarian diet comes down not to a matter of nutrition, but a question of ethics. Vegetarians often cite their love for animals as a reason to reject a meat-eating lifestyle, claiming that slaughtering animals for the purposes of consumption is morally objectionable. Still others argue that meat consumption contributes to environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, and the exploitation of natural resources in the interests of raising feed crops as opposed to more sustainable crops. Whatever the reason, the ethical dilemmas surrounding vegetarianism continue to foster debate among people who wholeheartedly embrace a meat-eating diet and those who condemn the consumption of meat as being morally and ecologically detrimental. It is important to note that there are several levels of vegetarianism by which one can decide to liv e. The catch-all term â€Å"Vegetarian† indicates that a person’s diet does not include the flesh of animals, but the label does allow that animal by-products, such as gelatin, dairy foods, and eggs, can be consumed. Within the vegetarian label, there are several sub-categories. â€Å"Lacto-ovo† (or â€Å"ovo-lacto†) vegetarians eat dairy and eggs, while â€Å"ovo-vegetarians† do not eat dairy, and â€Å"lacto-vegetarians† eschew eggs. There is even a category of dieters referred to as â€Å"pescetarians,† who consume fish and other seafood but no other meats (though many vegetarians do not consider pescetarianism to be â€Å"true† vegetarianism). â€Å"Vegan† is the one of the strictest forms of vegetarianism, as adherents do not eat meat or any animal by-product—this includes the aforementioned dairy and egg products, but also includes any animal-produced food such as honey. But there are offshoots of veganism t hat are even stricter: fruitarians, for example, only eat fruits, seeds, and nuts in an effort to avoid harming plant life, and su vegetarianism not only prohibits the consumption of animal products, but also forbids the eating of all varieties of onion and garlic—essentially, any vegetable that produces an odor. The decision about which path of vegetarianism an individual may take depends on several factors, including concerns about health and weight-related issues and religious beliefs—for example, su vegetarianism is synonymous in many parts of the world with the Buddhist faith. But arguably the greatest influences on a person’s decision to â€Å"go veggie† are questions of morality and ethical behavior. The predominant motivation for many vegetarians is the preservation of animal life. Many vegetarians believe that killing animals for the purpose of eating them is wrong, because animals are living creatures and should be afforded the same right to liv e as human beings. As David DeGrazia states, â€Å"[A]nimals are not mere resources for our use, playthings for our amusement, or even practicing grounds for good behavior towards other humans. They count for something in their own right† (148). Because animals have this â€Å"moral status† in our world, DeGrazia argues, â€Å"it’s wrong to cause extensive, unnecessary harm† to them (149). Abuse of animals is a hot-button topic. Whenever dogs or cats are shown in the aftermath of severe abuse, the public outcry can be deafening, with hundreds of people condemning the abusers while volunteering to shelter the defenseless animal. Yet there is generally not a similar outcry when it comes to the slaughter of animals for meat consumption, because many

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Produce a written analysis of learning theory related to planning, Essay

Produce a written analysis of learning theory related to planning, preparation, delivery and asessment of your teaching and learning programmes - Essay Example Our lives could be very complicated if we were unable to learn because it would mean that we would not be adequately available to our society. We would sit as vegetables or empty shells alone in some dark room because we would not know that there was anything else. We would simply sit because there was nothing to show us that there was more to life than what we were doing at that time. Because learning seems to be a complicated situation we as humans have identified that we need to understand what learning is all about and how it affects us and the world around us. We also want to know how it affects people on a global level. Since learning is so important to everything we do it is important to analyze learning theory to see why it relates to how we as teachers cerate learning programs. Early learning theorist had their basis in both education and psychology. Many psychologists studied learning and influenced the field. The first learning theorist that comes to mind is Jean Piaget. Piaget spent his time with very young children and decided that children did not think like adults but that they had their own thought processes that had their own order and logic (Papert, 1999, p. 1). Although he later created his four stages of development his real interest was in epistemology. The theory of knowledge was interesting to him so he studied extensively it from a scientific standpoint (Papert, p. 3). According to Papert, a former student of Piagets: The core of Piaget is his belief that looking carefully at how knowledge develops in children will elucidate the nature of knowledge in general. Whether this has in fact led to deeper understanding remains, like everything about Piaget, controversial. In the past decade Piaget has been vigorously challenged by the current fashion of viewing knowledge as an intrinsic property of the brain. (Papert, p. 3). The Behaviourists and in particular B.F. Skinner