Animal rights is the principle that some, or all, animals have the right to their own lives and that their most fundamental desires—such as the need to prevent suffering—should be given the same consideration as similar human interests. That is, certain animal species have the right to be regarded as individuals with their own interests and needs rather than as impersonal property.
Animal rights activists argue that assigning moral meaning and fundamental security solely based on species membership—a concept known as speciesism after Richard D. Ryder coined the word in 1970—is a bias as irrational as any other. Animals can no longer be considered property or used as food, clothes, test subjects, entertainment, or beasts of burden, according to them. Animal rights are advocated by a number of religious traditions around the world, including Jainism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and Animism.
Parallel to the controversy over moral rights, animal law is increasingly being taught in law schools in North America, and many legal theorists, including Steven M. Wise and Gary L. Francione, advocate the extension of fundamental legal rights and personhood to non-human animals. Hominids are the most commonly used species in claims for personhood. Some animal-rights researchers support it because it would crack the species barrier, while others condemn it because it bases moral meaning on mental complexity rather than just sentience. As of November 2019, 29 countries had passed laws prohibiting hominoid experimentation; Argentina has been granting basic human rights to a captive orangutan since 2014.
Outside of the primate order, most animal-rights debates focus on the status of rodents (compare charismatic megafauna). Other species (considered less sentient) have received less attention; insects have received little attention (outside of Jainism), and animal-like bacteria have received very little attention (despite their vast numbers).
Animal rights opponents contend that nonhuman animals are unable to form a social contract and thus are unable to hold rights, a position summed up by philosopher Roger Scruton (1944-2020), who writes that only humans have responsibilities, and thus therefore humans have rights. Another theory, aligned with the utilitarian tradition, maintains that animals can be used as commodities as long as no needless suffering occurs; animals may have moral standing, but they are inferior in status to humans, and any interests they may have may be overridden, but what constitutes “required” suffering or a valid sacrificing of interests varies greatly.
Certain forms of animal-rights activism, such as the Animal Liberation Front’s destruction of fur farms and animal laboratories, have drawn criticism, even from within the animal-rights movement itself, and prompted the United States Congress to respond with the enactment of laws, such as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, allowing the prosecution of such activity as terrorism.
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