Word: comprehend
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...increasing number of citizens who are stepping forward as advocates of the rights of all animals. To his mind, the term animal rights is an oxymoron, because animals "are not part of any group who can understand morality, can reason, can conceive of its own existence or can fully comprehend pain." Leaving aside the years of close observation of animals by wildlife researchers that have proved such statements untrue, there is a fundamental question Mr. Sharfstein, in his concern for mankind's comfort, is ignoring about our future: can the interests of any one species be considered apart, in isolation...
Because humans "can understand morality, can reason, can conceive of [their] own existence [and] can fully comprehend pain," Sharfstein's argument implies, the death of another species of animal is less significant than the death of a human. However, it is precisely because of humanity's ability to understand morality, reason, and its own existence that it must bear the burden of responsible conduct toward other creatures in this world. Furthermore, the criteria (mentioned above) which are the basis of Sharfstein's unenlightened argument fail to take into account the circumstances which surround many of the issues to which...
...animals are not and never will be equivalent to humans. They may be cute and furry, but they are not part of a group which can understand morality, can reason, can conceive of its own existence or can fully comprehend pain. Killing animals is not murder...
...show that opened for review this week sadly recalled the 1956 U.S. debut, in which Bert Lahr and Tom Ewell found the laughs, and interpolated a few more, without grasping the work's tragic austerity. Williams and Martin may comprehend the play but do not show faith in it. Although the puns and pratfalls come mostly from Beckett, there are inexcusable interjections, and the emotional force is dissipated in kickshaws and clowning...
...wrong either, but FM radio was better." Years of colossal audiences and soaring ad revenues, however, bred complacency. "The networks closed their eyes to reality," says Ralph Baruch, former president of Viacom International and now a senior fellow at the Gannett Center for Media Studies. "They didn't fully comprehend the extent of technological changes." Norman Lear, creator of All in the Family and now the owner of six independent TV stations, sees the networks' distress as retribution for their copycat programming. "If these guys were standing in a circle with razors at each other's throats," he asserts, "they...