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On Dolphins as a Gateway to Animal Rights

Animal Person

I did tweet about " Scientists Say Dolphins Should Be Treated As 'Non-human Persons' " yesterday, as I think this is a Gray Matter for a lot of people and might be interesting to explore. Would you actually actively campaign against rights for some species? You could be for or against animal rights and believe the gateway theory.

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Moral Vegetarianism, Part 9 of 13

Animal Ethics

For an explanation of this feature, click on “Moral Vegetarianism” at the bottom of this post. Consequently, the killing of some animals for food, if done painlessly, is not morally objectionable. According to Benn, only moral agents have rights. It is clear that few animals, if any, are moral agents in this sense.

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John Rodman on Dolphinic Wisdom

Animal Ethics

Thus Socrates turned his back on the great speculations about the nature of the universe and focused his whole attention on "the good for man" Twenty centuries later men lament that they pursue loneliness, and that their morals and politics lag dangerously behind their natural science. True Irrationality. Transcendence.

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The Emotional Lives of Animals

4 The Love Of Animals

Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles; and bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate. Is this moral? Animal Rescues: Feeling Compassion for Those in Need.

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Steven M. Wise on Legal Rights for Animals

Animal Ethics

Properly interpreted, the common law is meant to be flexible, adaptable to changes in public morality, and sensitive to new scientific discoveries. An animal’s species is irrelevant to his or her entitlement to liberty rights; any who possesses practical autonomy has what is sufficient for basic rights as a matter of liberty.

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Moral Vegetarianism, Part 3 of 13

Animal Ethics

For an explanation of this feature, click on “Moral Vegetarianism” at the bottom of this post. Most moral vegetarians list fish and fowl as animals one should not eat. The ability to feel pain is not an obviously plausible way of morally distinguishing microorganisms from other organisms. What Meat Should Not Be Eaten?

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