In this chapter, Midgley discusses how animals are involved in every community. I find this interesting because it is not often that humans consider animals a prominent part in "their society". It seems like most humans are so caught up in themselves that they don't think about animals. The only time that we consider animals part of the community would be if we had a pet. My family has a dog and I have to admit that we treat her as if she is more than part of the community - we treat her like a part of our immediate family.
Midgley goes on to state, "The treatment of domestic animals has never been impersonal" (113). This is an important statement because it relates to what I stated above, and shows how people tend to treat their pets as members of the community/family. In section 5, Midgley talks about parent-child behavior and how animals seem to tolerate more things from children than from adults. This shows that animals relate human children to their young. Does this show that animals can reason? It seems like multiple other philosophers we have studied so far argue that animals have no ability to reason or judge or feel, yet I think the fact that can distinguish children from adults is a sign that animals are not simply dumb machines.
The chapter also went on how to discuss how children seek variety which is a reason why they are so fascinated with animals. It says how adults tend to "grow out" of this fascination with animals and the bond with them diminishes over time. Therefore, it seems as if humans could benefit form realizing that we live in a shared community with animals and that maybe all people should look at animals from a child's perspective. Perhaps this would change the way humans treat animals - domestic or not. I think it would change the outlook that some humans have towards animals and allow them to see that humans aren't the only creatures living on the Earth.
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