The Case for Animal Rights

Front Cover
University of California Press, Sep 17, 2004 - Nature - 425 pages
"Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Bentham, Mill: all thought seriously about the role of animals in our lives. But not until Tom Regan published The Case for Animal Rights did the world possess a theory of the rights of animals. When philosophy students come to this issue hundreds of years from now, they will read the greats in light of the arguments presented here."—Gary L. Comstock, editor of Life Science Ethics

"Tom Regan's now classic Case For Animal Rights blends careful argument with intense moral concern. For two decades, where Regan has been taken seriously, animals have been better off and people have become better persons. This new edition is a welcome sign of this influence continuing."—Holmes Rolston, III, University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University

"A bold and nuanced analysis of the inherent value and moral standing of nonhuman animals. It may also be the most consistent and unyielding defense of animal rights."—Tom L. Beauchamp, Georgetown University

"The most powerful and plausible consideration of the issues and defense of animal rights yet to be produced (or likely to be)."—Richard Wasserstrom

"By far the best work on the subject, and will continue to be the definitive work for years to come . . . .[It is] destined to become a 'modern classic' in the field of ethics, alongside Rawls’s A Theory of Justice and Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia."—Alastair S. Gunn, coauthor of Hold Paramount

Praise for the first edition:

"Unquestionably the best work yet to appear in its field, surpassing even Peter Singer's famous Animal Liberation in originality, thoroughness, and rigor."—Choice

"The Case for Animal Rights is beyond question the most important philosophical contribution to animal rights and is a major work in moral philosophy."—Animal Law Review

"The most powerful and plausible consideration of the issues and defense of animal rights yet to be produced (or likely to be)."—Richard Wasserstrom, author of Philosophy and Social Issues (1980)
 

Contents

Preface to the 2004 Edition
xi
Preface to the First Edition
li
Acknowledgments
lvii
ETHICAL THINKING AND THEORY
121
INDIRECT DUTY VIEWS
150
DIRECT DUTY VIEWS
195
5 Utilitarianism and Speciesism
226
JUSTICE AND EQUALITY
232
4 Inherent Value and Reverence for Life
241
THE RIGHTS VIEW
266
IMPLICATIONS OF THE RIGHTS VIEW
330
Epilogue
399
Index
419
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

Tom Regan is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at North Carolina State University and is the author (with Carl Cohen) of The Animal Rights Debate (2001) and Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights (2004).

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