The Case For Animal Rights

THE argument for animal rights, a classic since its appearance in 1983, from the moral philosophical point of view. With a new preface.

This third volume of articles dealing with advances in animal welfare science and philosophy covers a wide variety of topics. Major areas of discussion include the ethics and use of animals in biomedical research, farm animal behavior and welfare, and wildlife conservation. Three articles dealing with aspects of equine behavior and welfare cover new ground for this companion species. An in-depth study of the destruction of Latin America's tropical rain forests links the need for conservation and wildlife protection with the devastating impact of the international beef (hamburger) industry, and also highlights serious welfare problems in the husbandry of cattle in the tropics. Papers from a recent symposium at Moorhead State University, Animals and Humans: Ethical Perspectives have been included in this volume. Many of these are "benchmark" papers presenting the most up-to-date and documented evidence in support of animal welfare and rights. Articles oppos ing these position papers are included since they were part of the symposium, and because they provide the reader with a deeper understanding of the arguments given in support of various forms of animal exploitation. While there is no intent to endorse these views by publishing them, it should be acknowledged that without an open and scholarly exchange of opposing of constructive exchange and conflict resolution will views, the possibility remain remote.

He puts the issue of animal rights in historical context, drawing parallels between animal rights activism and other social movements, including the anti-slavery movement in the nineteenth century and the gay-lesbian struggle today. He also outlines the challenges to animal rights posed by deep ecology and ecofeminism to using animals for human purposes and addresses the ethical dilemma of the animal rights advocate whose employer uses animals for research."--BOOK JACKET.

More than just a book about animal rights, this work is about equality, liberty, freedom, and justice expressed within a scientific, religious, legal and philosophical framework.

This shocking expose dispels the negative image of animal rights advocates portrayed by the media, unmasks the fraudulent rhetoric of human treatment favored by animal exploiters, and explain why exisiting laws function to legitimize institutional cruelty.

THE argument for animal rights, a classic since its appearance in 1983, from the moral philosophical point of view.

Do all animals have rights? Is it morally wrong to use mice or dogs in medical research, or rabbits and cows as food? How ought we resolve conflicts between the interests of humans and those of other animals? Philosophical inquiry is essential in addressing such questions; the answers given must have enormous practical importance. Here for the first time in the same volume, the animal rights debate is argued deeply and fully by the two most articulate and influential philosophers representing the opposing camps. Each makes his case in turn to the opposing case. The arguments meet head on: Are we humans morally justified in using animals as we do? A vexed and enduring controversy here receives its deepest and most eloquent exposition.

Edited by Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Lynn Comstock, this book employs different ethical lenses, including classical deontology, libertarianism, commonsense morality, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and the capabilities approach, to explore the philosophical basis for the strong animal rights view, which holds that animals have moral rights equal in strength to the rights of humans, while also addressing what are undoubtedly the most serious challenges to the strong animal rights stance, including the challenges posed by rights nihilism, the “kind” argument against animal rights, the problem of predation, and the comparative value of lives. In addition, contributors explore the practical import of animal rights both from a social policy standpoint and from the standpoint of personal ethical decisions concerning what to eat and whether to hunt animals. Unlike other volumes on animal rights, which focus primarily on the legal rights of animals, and unlike other anthologies on animal ethics, which tend to cover a wide variety of topics but only devote a few articles to each topic, this volume focuses exclusively on the question of whether animals have moral rights and the practical import of such rights. The Moral Rights of Animals will be an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of animal ethics, applied ethics, ethical theory, and human-animal studies, as well as animal rights advocates and policy makers interested in improving the treatment of animals.