Deep ethology, animal rights, and the great ape/animal project: Resisting speciesism and expanding the community of equals [Book Review]

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 10 (3):269-296 (1997)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this essay I argue that the evolutionary and comparative study of nonhuman animal (hereafter animal) cognition in a wide range of taxa by cognitive ethologists can readily inform discussions about animal protection and animal rights. However, while it is clear that there is a link between animal cognitive abilities and animal pain and suffering, I agree with Jeremy Bentham who claimed long ago the real question does not deal with whether individuals can think or reason but rather with whether or not individuals can suffer. One of my major goals will be to make the case that the time has come to expand. The Great Ape Project (GAP) to The Great Ape/Animal Project (GA/AP) and to take seriously the moral status and rights of all animals by presupposing that all individuals should be admitted into the Community of Equals. I also argue that individuals count and that it is essential to avoid being speciesist cognitivists; it really doesn't matter whether ‘dogs ape’ or whether ‘apes dog’ when taking into account the worlds of different individual animals. Narrow-minded primatocentrism and speciesism must be resisted in our studies of animal cognition and animal protection and rights. Line-drawing into ‘lower’ and ‘higher’ species is a misleading speciesist practice that should be vigorously resisted because not only is line-drawing bad biology but also because it can have disastrous consequences for how animals are viewed and treated. Speciesist line-drawing also ignores within species individual differences

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Animal rights: Autonomy and redundancy. [REVIEW]David Sztybel - 2001 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 14 (3):259-273.
The Origin of Speciesism.Hugh Lafollette & Niall Shanks - 1996 - Philosophy 71 (275):41-.
Popular media and animals.Claire Molloy - 2011 - New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Animal rights: what everyone needs to know.Paul Waldau - 2011 - New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
Animal rights: moral theory and practice.Mark Rowlands - 2009 - New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
199 (#91,718)

6 months
4 (#315,466)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

What is speciesism?Oscar Horta - 2010 - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 23 (3):243-266.
Defining speciesism.Oscar Horta & Frauke Albersmeier - 2020 - Philosophy Compass 15 (11):1-9.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Brute experience.Peter Carruthers - 1989 - Journal of Philosophy 86 (May):258-269.
Cognitive ethology: Slayers, skeptics, and proponents.Marc Bekoff & Colin Allen - 1997 - In R. Mitchell, Nicholas S. Thompson & H. L. Miles (eds.), Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals. Suny Press. pp. 313--334.
Experimenting on animals: A reconsideration.Dale Jamieson - 1985 - Between the Species 1 (3):4.

View all 18 references / Add more references