10/08/ · often regarded as being the father of the modern animal liberation movement, singer contends that the campaign for animal liberation today is analogous to the struggles 8/10/ · Singer’s book called “Animal Liberation” became scandalous because its author pointed out something that has been clear for a long time, but had no definition or name. Animals can be a man's best friend; however, they can also be ones worst enemy after passing certain boundaries. Peter Singer who wrote Animal Liberation gave valid points in my opinion
An Argument for Animal Rights and an Analysis of Peter Singer's "Animal Liberation" - Soapboxie
First published inAnimal Liberation was a philosophical bombshell. It forever changed the conversation about our treatment of animals. It made people—myself included—change what we ate, what we wore, and how we perceived animals. When a friend gave me a copy of Animal Liberation inpeter singer animal liberation essay, it was an epiphany. Someone has given a voice to it. I had been working in animal protection for 10 years in Washington, peter singer animal liberation essay, D. Commission on Public Health. I had witnessed appalling acts of cruelty to animals and I would cry as I drove home at night, peter singer animal liberation essay. I still ate meat and wore leather, as I had yet to make that connection, but I was peter singer animal liberation essay by an underlying sense that there was something inherently wrong with how animals were so easily subjugated and abused.
After reading Animal LiberationI realized that in the same way that racist and sexist views allowed us to discriminate against minorities and women, speciesism allowed us to inscribe an inferior status on animals and to regard them not as individuals, but as objects and means to fulfill our desires. I talked about the book, I wrote about it, I gave copies to everyone I peter singer animal liberation essay. It was then that I saw a need for an organization that would educate people about animal suffering and work to win their basic rights. That year I started PETA.
The 40 th anniversary edition of Animal Liberation is available for purchase starting April 14, Here, a few excerpts from the book:. When Mary Wollstonecraft published her Vindication of the Rights of Women inpeter singer animal liberation essay, her views were widely regarded as absurd, and before long, an anonymous publication appeared entitled A Vindication of the Rights of Brutes. If the argument for equality was sound when applied to women, why should it not be applied to dogs, cats, and horses? When we say that all human beings, whatever their race, creed, or sex, are equal, what is it that we are asserting? Like it or not, we must face the fact that humans come in different shapes and sizes; they come with different moral capacities, different intellectual abilities, different amounts of benevolent feeling and sensitivity to the needs of others, different abilities to communicate effectively, and different capacities to experience pleasure and pain.
In short, if the demand for equality were based on the actual equality of all human beings, we would have to stop demanding equality. The existence of individual peter singer animal liberation essay that cut across the lines of race or sex, however, provides us with no defense at all against a more sophisticated opponent of equality, one who proposes that, say, the interests of all those with IQ scores below be given less consideration than the interests of those with ratings over Perhaps those scoring below the mark would, in this society, be made the slaves of those scoring higher. Would a hierarchical society of this sort really be so much better than one based on race or sex? I think not.
But if we tie the moral principle of equality to the factual equality of the different races or sexes, taken as a whole, our opposition to racism and sexism does not provide us with any basis for objecting to this kind of inegalitarianism. Fortunately, there is no need to pin the case for equality to one particular outcome of a scientific investigation. The principle of the equality of human beings is not a description of an alleged actual equality among humans: It is a prescription of how we should treat human beings.
It is an implication of this principle of equality that our concern for others and our readiness to consider their interests ought not to depend on what they peter singer animal liberation essay like or on what abilities they may possess. Precisely what our concern or consideration requires us to do may vary according to the characteristics of those affected by what we do: concern for the well-being of children growing up in America would require that we teach them to read; concern for the well-being of pigs may require no more than that we leave them with other pigs in a place where there is adequate food and room to run freely. But the basic element—the taking into account of the interests of the being, whatever those interests may be—must, according to the principle of equality, be extended to all beings, black or white, masculine or feminine, human or nonhuman, peter singer animal liberation essay.
Thomas Jefferson, peter singer animal liberation essay, who was responsible for writing the principle of the equality of men into the American Declaration of Independence, saw this point. It led him to oppose slavery even though he was unable to free himself fully from his slaveholding background. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the property or person of others. It should be obvious that the fundamental objections to racism and sexism made by Thomas Jefferson and Sojourner Truth apply equally to speciesism. If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit nonhumans for the same purpose?
Many philosophers and other writers have proposed the principle of equal consideration of interests, in some form or other, as a basic moral principle; but not many of them have recognized that this principle applies to members of other species as well as to our own. Jeremy Bentham was one of the few who did realize this. In a forward-looking passage written at a time when black slaves had been freed by the French but in the British dominions were still being treated in the way we now treat animals, Bentham wrote:. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor.
It peter singer animal liberation essay one day come to be recognized that the number of the legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the os sacrum are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate. What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it peter singer animal liberation essay faculty of reason, peter singer animal liberation essay, or perhaps the faculty of discourse? But a full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, peter singer animal liberation essay, as well as a more conversable animal, than an infant of a day, or a week or even a month, old.
But suppose they were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? In this passage, Bentham points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal peter singer animal liberation essay. No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that [his or her] suffering be counted equally with the like suffering—insofar as rough comparisons can be made—of any other being. Racists violate the principle of equality by giving greater weight to the interests of members of their own race when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of another race.
Sexists violate the principle of equality by favoring the interests of their own sex. Similarly, speciesists allow the interests of their own species to override the greater interests of members of other species. The pattern is identical in each case. Most human beings are speciesists. Even if we were to prevent the infliction of suffering on animals only when it is quite certain that the interests of humans will not be affected to anything like the extent that animals are affected, we would be forced to make radical changes in our treatment of animals that would involve our diet, the farming methods peter singer animal liberation essay use, experimental procedures in many fields of science, our approach to wildlife and to hunting, trapping and the wearing of furs, and areas of entertainment like circuses, rodeos, and zoos.
As a result, a vast amount of suffering would be avoided. To order a copy of Animal Liberation for yourself or friends, please visit shop. By submitting this form, you are agreeing to our collection, storage, use, and disclosure of your personal info in accordance with our privacy policy as well as to receiving e-mails from us. Stay up to date on the latest vegan trends and get breaking animal rights news delivered straight to your inbox! We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?
Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind. Text STOP to end, HELP for more info. Programs Students Opposing Speciesism SOS PETA Kids Join the Action Team TeachKind PETA Prime Support PETA Monthly Giving Shop Your Legacy For Animals PETA Vanguard Society Memorial Gifts Membership Services More Ways to Support PETA Report Cruelty to Animals. About Our Story Our Views Victories Milestones Volunteer Work at PETA Intern FAQ Contact Us PETA Global. Get PETA Updates. E-Mail Address. Sign me up for the following e-mail:. Current peter singer animal liberation essay You will continue to receive e-mail unless you explicitly opt out by clicking here. Follow Us PETA Facebook PETA Twitter Instagram PETA Instagram PETA Pinterest PETA YouTube PETA SMS Sign-Up PETA TikTok.
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, time: 25:07What Is Animal Liberation? Philosopher Peter Singer’s Groundbreaking Work Turns 40 | PETA
8/10/ · Singer’s book called “Animal Liberation” became scandalous because its author pointed out something that has been clear for a long time, but had no definition or name. Peter Singer is a utilitarian philosopher. Peter Singer’s “Animal Liberation” offers a fascinating view on how humans perceive themselves in comparison to animals. The article examines the Animals can be a man's best friend; however, they can also be ones worst enemy after passing certain boundaries. Peter Singer who wrote Animal Liberation gave valid points in my opinion
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