Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2012

Because animals are sentient (i.e., can experience pleasure and pain) and because they not only have but can act on their preferences, any view that holds that pleasures or pains, or preference-satisfactions or frustrations matter morally is bound to seem attractive to those in search of the moral basis for the animal rights movement.

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles Animal Rights Movement Factory Farm Factory Farming 40

Animal Person

MAY 11, 2009

Yesterday's " Do Small Victories Affect Big Picture in Animal Rights Debate? Both, of course, were seen as victories, but the article's author, Richard Foot, asks: Do such successes mean the animal rights movement is winning its long, controversial campaigns to gain the same legal protections for animals as those ascribed to humans?

Foie Gras 100

Foie Gras Seals Protest Protesting 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 16, 2011

Hal Herzog’s “ Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat ” (Harper 2011), though fascinating, is ultimately depressing for vegans and animal rights activists. Over at Animal Rights and AntiOppression , we’ve been discussing tactics and sharing our thoughts and experiences about what works and doesn’t work when it comes to advocacy.

Vegan 100

Vegan Morals Animal Rights Advocacy 100

Animal Person

MARCH 29, 2009

There is no philosophical continuum, but there is a psychological continuum, as evidenced by everyone at the workshop taking steps back or forward, denoting their increase in animal use (including no meat to meat, or backsliding, like I did a decade ago), or their decrease (such as when vegetarians go vegan).

Psychology 100

Psychology Campaign Animal Rights Movement Suffering 100

Animal Person

MAY 25, 2010

I've decided that 20 lessons is a good number to stop at, and today I'll discuss what are probably the two most controversial ones, about the animal rights movement. The Appeal of Cliques The first six Lessons Learned from 4 Years of Animal Person and numbers 7-10 hinted about cliques, but only the negative aspects.

Animal Rights Movement 100

Animal Rights Movement Vegan Lifestyle Animal Rights 100

Animal Ethics

MARCH 23, 2009

There are intractable practical differences between environmental ethics and the animal liberation movement. Very different moral obligations follow in respect, most importantly, to domestic animals, the principal beneficiaries of the humane ethic.

Ethics 40

Ethics Animal Liberation Animal Rights Movement Morals 40

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 20, 2007

The sleight of hand that gave us the “selfish” gene gives us the rights of baboons. By abusing evolutionary biology in this way, we are able to read back the sophisticated conduct of people into the animal behavior that prefigures it. It is not that they do no wrong, but that “right” and “wrong” here make no sense.

Animal 40

Animal Morals Apes Emotional 40