Overview

Animal rights is the philosophy that non-human animals have moral status and are entitled to certain fundamental rights, such as the right to life and freedom from suffering. It challenges the traditional view that animals exist solely for human use.

Core Idea

The core idea is that animals are “subjects-of-a-life” with their own interests, desires, and ability to suffer. Therefore, treating them as mere property or resources is unjust.

Formal Definition

Animal rights theories (like Regan’s) argue that animals have inherent value and thus have rights that cannot be overridden by utility. This contrasts with animal welfare views, which allow using animals but require humane treatment.

Intuition

  • The Dog vs. The Pig: Most people would be horrified if someone ate a dog, but they eat pigs (which are just as smart) daily. Animal rights advocates argue this is “speciesism”—an arbitrary discrimination based on species.
  • Sentience: If a being can feel pain, that pain matters, regardless of whether they can write a symphony or do algebra.

Examples

  • Factory Farming: The primary target of animal rights activism, due to the immense scale of suffering involved.
  • Animal Testing: Using animals for cosmetics or medical research is seen as a violation of their rights (using them as means to an end).
  • Veganism: The lifestyle practice of avoiding animal products, often grounded in animal rights ethics.

Common Misconceptions

  • Misconception: Animals should have the same rights as humans (like voting).
    • Correction: They should have equal consideration for relevant interests (e.g., the interest in not suffering), not identical civil rights.
  • Misconception: It’s just sentimentalism.
    • Correction: It is based on rigorous philosophical arguments about consistency and the nature of moral status.
  • Speciesism: Discrimination against beings based on their species membership (coined by Richard Ryder, popularized by Peter Singer).
  • Sentience: The capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively (the baseline for moral consideration).
  • Abolitionism: The view that we should end all animal use, not just improve conditions.

Applications

  • Law: Efforts to grant “legal personhood” to great apes or elephants.
  • Diet: The global shift towards plant-based diets.

Criticism and Limitations

  • Predation: If animals have rights, do we have a duty to stop lions from eating zebras? (Most say no, but it’s a tricky philosophical point).
  • Marginal Cases: Arguments often rely on comparing animals to humans with severe cognitive disabilities (“marginal cases”), which some find offensive.

Further Reading

  • Animal Liberation by Peter Singer (Utilitarian approach)
  • The Case for Animal Rights by Tom Regan (Deontological approach)
  • Zoopolis by Donaldson and Kymlicka