1 animal rights helena pereira de melo helena.melo@fd.unl.pt may 2013

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Helena Pereira de MeloHelena.melo@fd.unl.pt

May 2013

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a) A laboratory rabbit

b) A pet rabbitc) A meat rabbitd) A wild rabbit

Easter - bunny

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•Regeneration – remarkable fertility indispensable for a prey animal•Their paws are removed as part of fertility charms

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•Food•Companion•Entertainment (circus, sports)•Medical experiments•Clothing•Symbolic

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•PAIN•DISTRESS•SUFFERING•CONFINEMENT•LONELINESS•TRADE•LOST OF HABITATS

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a) Right to life

b) Right to liberty

c) Respect of animal dignity

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A.Human beings are superior to nonhuman animals and occupy a privileged place in the moral order

B.All species deserve equal moral consideration

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1. Only human beings deserve moral consideration

2. All human beings deserve equal moral consideration

3. All nonhuman animals lack moral standing

4. There is nothing we can do to them that will wrong them

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Criterion of moral consideration:

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1. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274)2. Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)3. René Descartes (1596 – 1650)

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“Divine providence makes provision for the intellectual creature for its own sake, but for other creatures for the sake of the intellectual creature”

(Differences between Rational and Other Creatures)

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•Only rational moral agents are “members of the kingdom of ends” and so animals have no moral standing•Animals are not “ends in themselves” but “means to an end, and that end is man”•We have no duties regarding them

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We should be kind to animals and abstain from cruelty to them because “he who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealing with men” while “tender feelings towards dumb animals develop human feelings towards mankind”

(Duties in Regard to Animals)

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All non-human animals are incapable of using language – they are mindless machines, mere automata devoid of thought and reason (Animals are Machines)

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In order to have rights a being has to be an autonomous moral agent with the capacity to fulfill reciprocal obligations.Animals do not have rights.

(The Animal Rights Debate, 2001)

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Do animals really lack rationality?

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“Answer me, machinist, has nature arranged all the means of feeling in this animal, so that it may not feel? Has it nerves in order to be impassible? Do not suppose this impertinent contradiction in nature”(“A Reply to Descartes”)

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“there is no fundamental difference between man and the higher animals in their mental faculties”There is a continuum of mental capacities among animal species

(“Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals”)

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“The impressive linguistic accomplishments of various gorillas, chimpanzees, and parrots…”

(Language Acquisition in Nonhuman Primates)

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The chimpanzee and human genomes are more than 98% identical, but there are a few short DNA sequences that have changed significantly in humans since the 2 species diverged about 5 million years ago

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• the soul is immortal and after death it transmigrates into other animated bodies• all animated beings are kindred, and belong to one great family•men shall not eat animals

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•The eating of flesh “makes us spiritually coarse and gross by reason of satiety and surfeit”•Animals deserve moral consideration because they are sentient, intelligent creatures

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“justice lies in restraint and harmlessness towards everything that does not harm”

“since justice consists in not injuring any thing, it must be extended as far as to every animated nature”

(On Abstinence from Killing Animals)

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“The relevant question is not, Can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But, Can they suffer”?

(A Utilitarian View)

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•There is no morally relevant difference between humans and animals•“Universal compassion for every living thing” is the only genuine moral motive

(On the Basis of Morality)

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SPECISM = RACISM

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“The complete denial by human animals of ethical relations to the rest of the animal world is a phenomenon not differing either in character or cause from the denial of ethical relations by a tribe, people or race of human beings to the rest of the human world… The human being who extends his moral sentiments to all the members of his own species, but denies to all other species the justice he accords to his own, is making the same ethical mess of it as the savage”

(Universal Kinship)

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PETER SINGER

TOM REGAN

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All animals are equal = all animals deserve to have their interests considered equally with the interests of other animals, regardless of their race, gender or species

(“Animal Liberation”, 2002)

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Only sentient beings are worthy of moral consideration

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1. We give equal consideration to the interests of all beings

2. We act in ways that maximize the satisfaction of interests of all affected by our conduct

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Rabbits do not have tear ducts and cannot flush out substances that are put in their eyes

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“Giving animals equal consideration requires that we give their pleasures and pain equal weight with humans pleasures and pains when carrying out utilitarian considerations”

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“Since eating plant-based foods can satisfy our interest in nutritious meals without requiring animals to suffer in factory farms, utilitarianism requires us to eat plants instead of animals”

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Non-human animals “who have an individual experimental welfare” may have moral rights

(Animal Rights and Human Obligations, 1989)

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Source: fundamental moral valuesRights to non-interferenceRight not to be killed, not to be tortured,

to bodily integrity

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Rejects the utility-maximization principle because it sanctions sacrificing individuals for the

greater good

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“Aunt Bea has inherent value, i.e., value in herself, which is independent of her usefulness to us. Even if killing Aunt Bea and using her wealth to build a children’s hospital would maximize utility, it would be wrong to kill her, because it would fail to respect her inherent right as an individual.”

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Many animals are also experiencing subjects of a life, have inherent value and moral rights in the same sense and with the same strength that humans do.All who have inherent value have it equally, regardless of their sex, race, religion, species, intellectual capacity, sexual preference…

(Defending Animal Rights, 2001)

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A new liberation movement is needed to combat speciesism – this arbitrary prejudice in favor of our kind and the forms of animal exploitation that flow from it.

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Which animals deserve legal consideration?

How much legal consideration do they deserve?

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“All animals have equal rights to exist within the context of biological equilibrium. This equality of rights does not overshadow the diversity of species and of individuals.”

(art. 1)

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1. Life (crime against life)2. Not to be subjected to bad

treatments or cruel acts3. To live and to reproduce in

freedom (wild animals)4. To proper sustenance and

care (pets)

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Protocol on Protection and Welfare of Animals

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DESIRING to ensure improved protection and respect for the welfare of animals as sentient beings,

HAVE AGREED UPON the following provision,

In formulating and implementing the Community's agriculture, transport, internal market and research policies, the Community and the Member States shall pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals, while respecting the legislative or administrative provisions and customs of the Member States relating in particular to religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage.

There are 1000 bullfighting events in Spain each year, in which 5000 bulls die.

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1. Intra-community trade

2. Imports3. Animal disease

control4. Animal nutrition5. Animal welfare

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1. European Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes (1976)

2. European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter (1979)

3. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (1979)

4. European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes (1986)

5. European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals (1987)

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“1 Nobody shall cause a pet animal unnecessary pain, suffering or distress.2. Nobody shall abandon a pet animal.”(art. 3)

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Sont meubles par leur nature les animaux et les corps qui peuvent se transporter d'un lieu à un autre, soit qu'ils se meuvent par eux-mêmes, soit qu'ils ne puissent changer de place que par l'effet d'une force étrangère.

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“Tratando-se de aluguer de animais,as despesas de alimentação destes correm sempre, na falta de estipulação em contrário, por conta do locatário.”

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“It is only when nations recognize animals and provide them certain constitutional guarantees that we can expect a more enlightened and equitable code of conduct towards other living beings.”

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