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J. J. C. Smart on the Moral Status of Animals

Animal Ethics

I assumed that Hume was right in thinking that ultimately morality depends on how we feel about things. It is a merit of utilitarianism, with its stress on happiness and unhappiness, that lower animals must be considered along with human beings, so that they are not debarred from full or direct consideration because they are not "rational."

Morals 40
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The Dove Who Came In From the Cold

10,000 Birds

But in the end, being dead doesn’t protect an animal from mortality. It is driven by love for animals, but relies on their deaths to exist. It contains Andean Condors and Labrador Ducks , dinosaurs and mammoths, one of only two life-size models of a blue whale in the terrestrial world. Taxidermy is a bizarre art.

Elephants 156
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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. Among its chief values are liberty and equality.

Rights 40