The Ethics of Societal Inclusion: Can Animals Join? Christene Zhang Econ 4999 March 23, 20062One definition of a society is a “self-perpetuating group of individuals occupying a particular territory, which may have its own distinctive culture and institutions.” 1 The term is most commonly used to describe human societies, although it may be used to describe animal societies such as a pack of wolves or a herd of elephants. A society or group is a natural formation of similar individuals who join together on of their own will. This paper explores whether human society is limited to human participants or whether animals can also become part of the society.2 Based on natural selection, historical progress, and the capacity of thought and rationality, it seems clear that society is limited to humans; though animals often interact with humans and provide valuable services or companionship, they are not in fact part of society. What are the definitions, reasons for joining, and benefits of a human society? A society’s existence is predicated on the human nature to form groups and bonds with other humans. It is through these similarities that humans construct social groups based on gender, race, location, belief or preferences. Members of unique groups tend to acquire shared patterns of behavior and cognition. This brings up an important question: why do humans live in groups? Do they live in groups because it is human nature? Human nature is inherently an ambiguous term. The literal definition of human nature is the essence of being human or, in Darwinian terms, a species with typical behaviors and beliefs. On the other hand, human nature could be defined by that which is constituted in nature, which is usually taken to mean that which is the product of natural selection. In animals, the two definitions are interchangeable. The reason behind the behaviors of bats 1 Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society, 2006 2 This paper examines if entire species of animals are capable of entering human society. Age, race, or gender of the animal or human is not a factor in this discussion.3or chimps is largely a result of natural selection. This could also be true for humans. The evolution of humans and the study of biology are the core fundamentals to the study of human behavior and thought. Some philosophers argue that there are only two ways in which the human mind and its products can be designed, either through natural selection or divine intervention.3 This paper focuses on the first rather than the latter, because it can be said that social norms and groups are likely to be the products of evolved adaptations, which are a result of natural selection. What separates humans from animals if both are derived from the same concept of natural selection? The difference between animals and humans is that humans are rational social beings that create certain constraints and opportunities that can shape the way they think about the world. Being rational, they are able to comprehend both the regularities of the external world and their social needs and be able to adapt and form decisions and conclusions from them.4 Humans are not only able to adapt to their environment but also diminish the negative impact of that change. In contrast, animals must adapt to their surroundings for survival because they are incapable of making radical changes to their environment. Animals are incapable of reducing the negative impacts of environmental changes whereas humans are capable of diminishing these same impacts. Being social creates opportunities that are common to all societies, such as the possibility of a division of labor, the need for social order and distributing knowledge not only to individuals but also across generations. One advantage of a social group is 3 Wikipedia Encyclopedia Online, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mind, 2006 4 Kenan Malik, Society for the Study of Human Biology, Institute of Education, London 2002 http://www.kenanmalik.com/papers/sshb_universal.html4cooperation, which leads to the division of labor among a society. Each member only needs to learn a part of the accumulated knowledge. Therefore, each individual can focus on only a small portion of knowledge but still be productive for a greater portion of their lifespan. This individual works using only a part of the total existing knowledge that he has learned and supplies the other members of society with the results of his work. Therefore we see that it is of fundamental importance for human beings to belong to a society and that animals are unable to partake in these social activities that define a society. In addition to the economic and social benefits of belonging to a society, there are also the benefits of ethics and virtues that a society establishes and maintains. Ethics tells us what is good or bad as defined by a particular society. Without the guidance of ethics, humans would revert to their primal form and would therefore break apart the foundation of humanity. But ethics can only survive and exist if there is a group to accept and adopt the ethics that are created. Humans are capable of adopting these ethics because humans are rational beings and have the capacity to understand and comprehend, whereas the most talented animal would not be able to grasp these human concepts of ethics and interpret them in meaningful ways. In contrast to animals, humans possess universal values and behaviors through social interactions. As a result of these interactions humans have the capacity to make historical progress over time. If we value this viewpoint, then the definition of human essence would change from what we consider to be the common properties of our humanity to be the product of our historical and cultural development and not just our5biological genetic makeup.5 This proves that humans are able to form interactions with other humans and make historical progress. In contrast, animals are unable to make history which is supported by Aristotle’s quote, “many animals have memory, and are capable of instruction; but no other creature except man can recall the past at will.”6 Society plays an important role on a person’s quality of life. Previous members and generations in the society have developed tools and gained beneficial knowledge that is passed on from one generation to another. Take into consideration that the life span of a society is so much