The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry

Yue Wang; Yuan Zhao; Fuhui Song

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry

Yue Wang, Yuan Zhao, Fuhui Song

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 4)

Received: 15 July 2020 Accepted: 27 July 2020 Published: 30 July 2020

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Abstract

Animal testing in the cosmetics industry have always been a controversial topic, which plays a vital role in the development and safety of cosmetics, but at the same time it seriously violates the survival rights of experimental animals. This study is a dialectical analysis of the business theme from two very different perspectives of thought: Utilitarian and Kantian. Utilitarianism advocates the pursuit of maximum happiness. Happiness involves not only those involved in the act but also everyone affected by it. Animals experimented in the cosmetics industry suffered great pain and did not get happiness, which means that the cosmetics industry goes against the morality of utilitarianism. Therefore, animal experiments conducted by the cosmetics industry are unethical. Kantian is very different from the utilitarianism in that Kantian believes that whatever the outcome, at least some actions are right or wrong. In this case, animal testing is justified in the cosmetics industry, mainly because it helps protect consumers of these products from the unknown consequences of their use. From a Kantian point of view, animal testing in the cosmetics industry is moral and beneficial. Based on the above two arguments, it is concluded that animal experiment is an indispensable link in the cosmetics industry. At the same time, relevant practitioners should respect the survival rights of experimental animals and conduct animal experiments with scientific and humane procedures to minimize the harm to experimental animals.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 8, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12
Page(s)	112-116
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Animal Testing, Utilitarian, Kantian, Cosmetic, Fair Trade

References

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[16]	Human Research Australia. (2018). Be Cruelty-Free Australia: Ending Cosmetics Animal Testing. Author.
[17]	Singer, P. (2006). Why Pay More for Fairness? by Peter Singer. Retrieved from https://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/200604--.htm
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APA Style

Yue Wang, Yuan Zhao, Fuhui Song. (2020). The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(4), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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Yue Wang; Yuan Zhao; Fuhui Song. The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2020, 8(4), 112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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AMA Style

Yue Wang, Yuan Zhao, Fuhui Song. The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanit Soc Sci. 2020;8(4):112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12,
  author = {Yue Wang and Yuan Zhao and Fuhui Song},
  title = {The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {112-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20200804.12},
  abstract = {Animal testing in the cosmetics industry have always been a controversial topic, which plays a vital role in the development and safety of cosmetics, but at the same time it seriously violates the survival rights of experimental animals. This study is a dialectical analysis of the business theme from two very different perspectives of thought: Utilitarian and Kantian. Utilitarianism advocates the pursuit of maximum happiness. Happiness involves not only those involved in the act but also everyone affected by it. Animals experimented in the cosmetics industry suffered great pain and did not get happiness, which means that the cosmetics industry goes against the morality of utilitarianism. Therefore, animal experiments conducted by the cosmetics industry are unethical. Kantian is very different from the utilitarianism in that Kantian believes that whatever the outcome, at least some actions are right or wrong. In this case, animal testing is justified in the cosmetics industry, mainly because it helps protect consumers of these products from the unknown consequences of their use. From a Kantian point of view, animal testing in the cosmetics industry is moral and beneficial. Based on the above two arguments, it is concluded that animal experiment is an indispensable link in the cosmetics industry. At the same time, relevant practitioners should respect the survival rights of experimental animals and conduct animal experiments with scientific and humane procedures to minimize the harm to experimental animals.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry
AU - Yue Wang
AU - Yuan Zhao
AU - Fuhui Song
Y1 - 2020/07/30
PY - 2020
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12
DO - 10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12
T2 - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP - 112
EP - 116
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2330-8184
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12
AB - Animal testing in the cosmetics industry have always been a controversial topic, which plays a vital role in the development and safety of cosmetics, but at the same time it seriously violates the survival rights of experimental animals. This study is a dialectical analysis of the business theme from two very different perspectives of thought: Utilitarian and Kantian. Utilitarianism advocates the pursuit of maximum happiness. Happiness involves not only those involved in the act but also everyone affected by it. Animals experimented in the cosmetics industry suffered great pain and did not get happiness, which means that the cosmetics industry goes against the morality of utilitarianism. Therefore, animal experiments conducted by the cosmetics industry are unethical. Kantian is very different from the utilitarianism in that Kantian believes that whatever the outcome, at least some actions are right or wrong. In this case, animal testing is justified in the cosmetics industry, mainly because it helps protect consumers of these products from the unknown consequences of their use. From a Kantian point of view, animal testing in the cosmetics industry is moral and beneficial. Based on the above two arguments, it is concluded that animal experiment is an indispensable link in the cosmetics industry. At the same time, relevant practitioners should respect the survival rights of experimental animals and conduct animal experiments with scientific and humane procedures to minimize the harm to experimental animals.
VL - 8
IS - 4
ER -

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Author Information

Yue Wang

School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China; School of Business, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Yuan Zhao

School of Education, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Fuhui Song

Student Affairs Office, Shan Dong College of Electronic Technology, Jinan, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Yue Wang, Yuan Zhao, Fuhui Song. (2020). The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanities and Social Sciences, 8(4), 112-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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ACS Style

Yue Wang; Yuan Zhao; Fuhui Song. The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2020, 8(4), 112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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AMA Style

Yue Wang, Yuan Zhao, Fuhui Song. The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry. Humanit Soc Sci. 2020;8(4):112-116. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12,
  author = {Yue Wang and Yuan Zhao and Fuhui Song},
  title = {The Ethical Issues of Animal Testing in Cosmetics Industry},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {112-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20200804.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20200804.12},
  abstract = {Animal testing in the cosmetics industry have always been a controversial topic, which plays a vital role in the development and safety of cosmetics, but at the same time it seriously violates the survival rights of experimental animals. This study is a dialectical analysis of the business theme from two very different perspectives of thought: Utilitarian and Kantian. Utilitarianism advocates the pursuit of maximum happiness. Happiness involves not only those involved in the act but also everyone affected by it. Animals experimented in the cosmetics industry suffered great pain and did not get happiness, which means that the cosmetics industry goes against the morality of utilitarianism. Therefore, animal experiments conducted by the cosmetics industry are unethical. Kantian is very different from the utilitarianism in that Kantian believes that whatever the outcome, at least some actions are right or wrong. In this case, animal testing is justified in the cosmetics industry, mainly because it helps protect consumers of these products from the unknown consequences of their use. From a Kantian point of view, animal testing in the cosmetics industry is moral and beneficial. Based on the above two arguments, it is concluded that animal experiment is an indispensable link in the cosmetics industry. At the same time, relevant practitioners should respect the survival rights of experimental animals and conduct animal experiments with scientific and humane procedures to minimize the harm to experimental animals.},
 year = {2020}
}

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