Animal Liberation
Also known as Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals, Animal Liberation Now
Peter Singer's 1975 argument against speciesism, the founding text of the animal liberation movement.
At a glance
Key ideas
Suffering, not rights, Speciesism, Intelligence is no line …
See all 5Criticism
Richard Posner, Roger Scruton, Martha Nussbaum
See all 3Connections
Peter Singer and Yuval Noah Harari
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Singer argues that animals' interests count because they can suffer, and that the idea of rights is not needed for this.
- He argues against speciesism, discrimination on the grounds of species, which he compares to discrimination by skin colour.
- Intelligence, he argues, gives no basis for giving animals less consideration.
- He concludes that people should eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, and condemns vivisection except where the benefit outweighs the harm.
Why it matters
- It is widely considered the founding philosophical statement of the animal liberation movement; Ingrid Newkirk wrote that it "forever changed the conversation".
Key facts
- Author
- Peter Singer1
- Published
- 19751
- Speciesism
- Popularised the term, coined by Richard D. Ryder1
- Revised edition
- Animal Liberation Now, 23 May 2023, with a foreword by Yuval Noah Harari; two-thirds new material1
- Origin
- A 1970 lunch with Richard Keshen, a fellow Oxford graduate student who did not eat meat1
Key ideas
-
Suffering, not rights1
Following Jeremy Bentham, animals' interests count because they can suffer.
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Speciesism1
Giving less consideration to a being because of its species is like discrimination by skin colour.
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Intelligence is no line1
Some humans have no more mental capacity than some animals, so intelligence cannot justify the difference.
-
Diet1
The most practical answer is a vegetarian or vegan diet.
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Vivisection1
Condemned except where the benefit outweighs the harm done to the animals.
Criticism
-
Richard Posner1
Argued its ethics would value a healthy pig above a profoundly disabled child.
-
Roger Scruton1
Said it contains little philosophical argument and ignores the distinction between persons and animals.
-
Martha Nussbaum1
Argued the capability approach is a better foundation for justice than utilitarianism.
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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