Famous Thinkers Paper
The two famous thinkers that I have chosen are similar and different in their way of what has made them famous. I have chosen Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mr. Peter Singer. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was famous for fighting for the equality between the blacks and whites. Mr. Peter Singer, who was famous for wanting animal rights of equality.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was and is still one of the most well-known social activists in the world. When he stood up and decided that there needed to be a change he not only changed the United States, but the whole world. ???When Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy, it saddened him that he could not befriend people who were not black.??? He was trying to solve the problem in society of segregation. He felt that everyone should be equal no matter what their skin may be. He has many memorable moments in history including leading the bus boycott in 1955 this happened after Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus like the colored folks were required to do, in 1957 he helped form an organization that worked for the civil rights movement, he fought for equal voting rights for both the blacks and whites, he also led sit-ins at lunch counters not only with blacks, but white folks too they were all demanding equal treatment in restaurants, and many more. His most memorable moment in history though has to be the, I have a dream speech that he did in Washington D.C.
The time in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up was a time in history when the blacks were equal but not really equal. The blacks were not allowed to attend the same schools, go to the same stores, or be in the same hotel as whites. There were other things that were segregated like the public restrooms and water fountains. There was a quote that I have found concerning him and the civil rights movement, ???It has been said that Martin Luther King, Jr. did not make the Civil Rights Movement, but the Civil Rights Movement made Martin Luther King, Jr.??? There could not have been a better quote about him, because it says to me that his passion for the civil rights of all people made him to be the out spoken man that he was and it helped in making the removal of segregation possible.
His many speeches that he did kind of in my opinion put him in the front as the leader so to speak of the civil rights. It may have been going on for years before he got on board, but when he joined the movement I feel that his passion for the equality of rights for everyone no matter their color made him the leader.
Now to change the pace a little we switch to Mr. Peter Singer. He is best known for his book written in 1975 called, Animal Liberation. He claims that humans become speciesism when they do not take into account that animals ability to suffer. He compared this speciesism to racism and sexism. Many people argued the fact that ???nonhumans??? as the animals are referred to are not similar to ???humans??? because they are not able to vote or be able to accomplish other things that ???humans??? can do. I feel that we should start with a definition of speciesism so we may at least get the beginning step of understanding this. The definition says, ???A prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of ones own species and against those of members of other species.???
Mr. Singer argued that all beings are capable of suffering and feeling pleasure and that they should all be regarded as morally equal and based on that all their interests should be considered equal. He goes on to argue that animals being used as food in to be considered unjustifiable. He says that everyone should practice the veganism which is no meat products or anything produced from them such as eggs.
His book Animal Liberation is considered to be the foundation of the modern movement in animal rights. In my personal view of this people have been using animals as food for years. The Indians and other settlers that settled here in the United States had to use the animals for food to ensure survival to me that is not cruel. I am sure if the animals were in the role of the humans they would have killed us for food. If you are using the animals such as deer??™s, turkeys, buffalo, etc. for food I do not see a problem with that, but if you are just killing them for sport then I have a major issue with that and in that situation I am for animal rights.
In comparison of the two famous thinkers I chose they are both similar because they stood up for what they believe in and what they believe will make the world a better place. Another thing that is similar is they were both fighting for the rights of equality. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for the equality of the blacks where Mr. Peter Singer was fighting for the equality of the animals or ???nonhumans???. They are different because the civil rights movement has been a more talked about movement so to speak and the rights for animals is not that much of a movement because there are many people that will never see animals as equal.
In conclusion, the two famous thinkers that I have chosen even though in different times and fighting for different things they are both trying to better the world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to better the human aspect of the world by making all people equal no matter what their skin color may be. Mr. Martin Singer was trying to better the animal aspect of the world be saying they need to be considered equal too because they are capable of suffering and feeling pleasure the same as humans are capable of doing. He believed because of that then animals should be considered equal. I feel that both these two gentlemen have made an impact on the world with putting their passion and knowledge out about what they believed in.
References
1. http://castle.eiu.edu/~wow/classes/fa03/mlkcontributions.html
2. http://learningtogive.org/papers/paper193.html
3. Dyson, Michael Eric. I May Not Get There With You. New York: The Free Press, 2000
4. http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindowfailOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&source=&sortBy=&displayGroups=&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE|EJ3010111215&userGroupName=uphoenix&jsid=5bbc96fb612d7699a36275c898423fd6
5. http://www.egs.edu/faculty/peter-singer/biography/
