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California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

2017

Animal rights

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Philosophy

Xenotransplantation, Subsistence Hunting And The Pursuit Of Health: Lessons For Animal Rights-Based Vegan Advocacy, Nathan M. Nobis Oct 2017

Xenotransplantation, Subsistence Hunting And The Pursuit Of Health: Lessons For Animal Rights-Based Vegan Advocacy, Nathan M. Nobis

Between the Species

I argue that, contrary to what Tom Regan suggests, his rights view implies that subsistence hunting is wrong, that is, killing animals for food is wrong even when they are the only available food source, since doing so violates animal rights. We can see that subsistence hunting is wrong on the rights view by seeing why animal experimentation, specifically xenotransplanation, is wrong on the rights view: if it’s wrong to kill an animal to take organs to save a human life, it’s wrong to kill an animal to eat that animal to save a human life or improve …


Nozick’S Libertarian Critique Of Regan, Josh Milburn Oct 2017

Nozick’S Libertarian Critique Of Regan, Josh Milburn

Between the Species

Robert Nozick’s oft-quoted review of Tom Regan’s The Case for Animal Rights levels a range of challenges to Regan’s philosophy. Many commentators have focussed on Nozick’s putative defence of speciesism, but this has led to them overlooking other aspects of the critique. In this paper, I draw attention to two. First is Nozick’s criticism of Regan’s political theory, which is best understood relative to Nozick’s libertarianism. Nozick’s challenge invites the possibility of a libertarian account of animal rights – which is not as oxymoronic as it may first sound. Second is Nozick’s criticism of Regan’s axiological theory, which is best …


Harming (Respectfully) Some To Benefit Others: Animal Rights And The Moral Imperative Of Trap-Neuter-Release Programs, Cheryl E. Abbate Sep 2017

Harming (Respectfully) Some To Benefit Others: Animal Rights And The Moral Imperative Of Trap-Neuter-Release Programs, Cheryl E. Abbate

Between the Species

Because spaying/neutering animals involves the harming of some animals in order to prevent harm to others, some ethicists, like David Boonin, argue that the philosophy of animal rights is committed to the view that spaying/neutering animals violates the respect principle and that Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programs are thus impermissible. In response, I demonstrate that the philosophy of animal rights holds that, under certain conditions, it is justified, and sometimes even obligatory, to cause harm to some animals (human or nonhuman) in order to prevent greater harm to others. As I will argue, causing lesser harm to some animals in …


Animal Rights And Incredulous Stares, Bob Fischer Jul 2017

Animal Rights And Incredulous Stares, Bob Fischer

Between the Species

I propose an analogy between the thesis that animals have rights and David Lewis's commitment to modal realism. I argue that just as Lewis received incredulous stares that seem to justify rejecting his metaphysical hypothesis, so the thesis that animals have rights can be reasonably rejected. I consider the prospect challenging the considered beliefs on which that rejection depends, and ultimately offer a pessimistic conclusion.


Reflections On Tom Regan And The Animal Rights Movement That Once Was, Gary L. Francione Jul 2017

Reflections On Tom Regan And The Animal Rights Movement That Once Was, Gary L. Francione

Between the Species

No abstract provided.


We Are All Noah: Tom Regan's Olive Branch To Religious Animal Ethics, Matthew C. Halteman Feb 2017

We Are All Noah: Tom Regan's Olive Branch To Religious Animal Ethics, Matthew C. Halteman

Between the Species

For the past thirty years, Tom Regan has bucked the trend among secular animal rights philosophers and spoken patiently and persistently to the best angels of religious ethics in a stream of publications that enjoins religious scholars, clergy, and lay people alike to rediscover the resources within their traditions for articulating and living out an animal ethics that is more consistent with their professed values of love, mercy, and justice. My aim in this article is to showcase some of the wealth of insight offered in this important but under-utilized archive of Regan’s work to those of us, religious or …