The Moral Rights of Animals

Edited by Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Lynn Comstock - Contributions by Tom Regan; Jeremy Garrett; Mylan Engel Jr.; Nathan Nobis; Anne Baril; Aaron Simmons; Molly Gardner; Evelyn Pluhar; Alastair Norcross; Gary Lynn Comstock; Ramona Ilea; Scott D. Wilson; Robert Bass; Jason Hanna and Jeff McMahan

Edited by Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Lynn Comstock, this book employs different ethical lenses, including classical deontology, libertarianism, commonsense morality, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and the capabilities approach, to explore the philosophical basis for the strong animal rights view, which holds that animals have moral rights equal in strength to the rights of humans, while also addressing what are undoubtedly the most serious challenges to the strong animal rights stance, including the challenges posed by rights nihilism, the “kind” argument against animal rights, the problem of predation, and the comparative value of lives. In addition, contributors explore the practical import of animal rights both from a social policy standpoint and from the standpoint of personal ethical decisions concerning what to eat and whether to hunt animals.

Unlike other volumes on animal rights, which focus primarily on the legal rights of animals, and unlike other anthologies on animal ethics, which tend to cover a wide variety of topics but only devote a few articles to each topic, this volume focuses exclusively on the question of whether animals have moral rights and the practical import of such rights. The Moral Rights of Animals will be an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of animal ethics, applied ethics, ethical theory, and human-animal studies, as well as animal rights advocates and policy makers interested in improving the treatment of animals.

Lexington Books

Pages: 326 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-3190-0 • Hardback • March 2016 • $150.00 • (£115.00)

978-1-4985-3192-4 • Paperback • March 2018 • $60.99 • (£47.00)

978-1-4985-3191-7 • eBook • March 2016 • $57.50 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy / General

The Moral Rights of Animals

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Edited by Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Lynn Comstock, this book employs different ethical lenses, including classical deontology, libertarianism, commonsense morality, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and the capabilities approach, to explore the philosophical basis for the strong animal rights view, which holds that animals have moral rights equal in strength to the rights of humans, while also addressing what are undoubtedly the most serious challenges to the strong animal rights stance, including the challenges posed by rights nihilism, the “kind” argument against animal rights, the problem of predation, and the comparative value of lives. In addition, contributors explore the practical import of animal rights both from a social policy standpoint and from the standpoint of personal ethical decisions concerning what to eat and whether to hunt animals.

Unlike other volumes on animal rights, which focus primarily on the legal rights of animals, and unlike other anthologies on animal ethics, which tend to cover a wide variety of topics but only devote a few articles to each topic, this volume focuses exclusively on the question of whether animals have moral rights and the practical import of such rights. The Moral Rights of Animals will be an indispensable resource for scholars, teachers, and students in the fields of animal ethics, applied ethics, ethical theory, and human-animal studies, as well as animal rights advocates and policy makers interested in improving the treatment of animals.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 326 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-3190-0 • Hardback • March 2016 • $150.00 • (£115.00)

978-1-4985-3192-4 • Paperback • March 2018 • $60.99 • (£47.00)

978-1-4985-3191-7 • eBook • March 2016 • $57.50 • (£44.00)

Subjects: Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Philosophy / General

Author

Mylan Engel Jr. is professor of philosophy at Northern Illinois University.

Gary Comstock is professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Comstock
Introduction: The Moral Rights of Animals and Why They Matter
Mylan Engel Jr.
The Moral Rights of Animals: Overview of the Book
Mylan Engel Jr. and Gary Comstock
PART I: THEORETICAL PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS
1. The Case for Animal Rights
Tom Regan
2. Animal Rights for Libertarians
Jeremy Garrett
3. Do Animals Have Rights, and Does It Matter if They Don’t?
Mylan Engel Jr.
4. Regan on ‘Kind’ Arguments against Animal Rights and for Human Rights
Nathan Nobis
5. Equality, Flourishing, and the Problem of Predation
Anne Baril
PART II. ANIMAL RIGHTS AND THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF LIVES
6. Do All Subjects-of-a-Life Have an Equal Right to Life? The Challenge of the Comparative Value of Life
Aaron Simmons
7. The Interspecies Killing Problem
Molly Gardner
8. Respecting Rights-Holders
Evelyn Pluhar
9. Subjects of a Life, the Argument from Risk, and the Significance of Self-Consciousness
Alastair Norcross
10. La Mettrie’s Objection: Humans Act like Animals
Gary Comstock
PART III. ANIMAL RIGHTS IN PRACTICE
11. Rights and Capabilities: Tom Regan and Martha Nussbaum on Animals
Ramona Ilea
12. Vegetarianism in the Balance Scott Wilson
13. The Benefit of Regan’s Doubt: Moral Caution and the Ethics of Eating
Robert Bass
14. A Moral License to Kill? Animal Rights and Hunting
Jason Hanna
EPILOGUE: Regan Appreciation
Jeff McMahan

Reviews

The attitudes of philosophers on our obligations to other animals and the view that other animals possess certain moral rights have shifted considerably in the last 40 years and a great deal of credit for this shift is owed to Tom Regan's The Case for Animal Rights and subsequent work. This excellent anthology grew out of a 2011 workshop held in Regan's honor and is dedicated to him. It features fourteen essays all of which intersect with Regan's views in some way. The authors largely defend the view that other animals have moral rights and those who don't hold that we have significant obligations to other animals. The essays succeed at exploring, critiquing, and expanding upon Regan's work in a way that is both rigorous and detailed, while accessible to those new to Regan or the animal rights literature…. Overall, this anthology makes an excellent companion to the work of Regan, and contains a great collection of readings on current debates in the area of animal rights. It would work quite well in a class on animal ethics, and the material is suitable and accessible for undergraduates of all levels.
— Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

This volume deserves a wide audience. . . for those who believe that philosophical work lacks practical significance, but who are open to being convinced otherwise, I heartily recommend these thoughtful essays spawned by the work and life of a most intellectually honest and compassionate man.
— Between the Species

The fifteen authors of these essays honor Tom Regan with their appreciation of his ground-breaking ideas about animal rights, but also by advancing the debate about the moral status of animals in all sorts of surprising new directions. Consistently well-written, rigorous, and engaging, these essays represent the state-of-the-art in animal ethics.
— Jean Kazez, author of Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals

This is an important collection that will prove to be a useful resource to both animal ethics scholars and students, who will enjoy the clarity and accessibility of many chapters.
— Essays in Philosophy

The fifteen authors of these essays honor Tom Regan with their appreciation of his ground-breaking ideas about animal rights, but also by advancing the debate about the moral status of animals in all sorts of surprising new directions. Consistently well-written, rigorous, and engaging, these essays represent the state-of-the-art in animal ethics.
— Jean Kazez, author of Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals