Defending Animal Rights

Defending Animal Rights by Regan, Tom. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780252026119.

Along with Peter Singer, Tom Regan (philosophy, North Carolina State U.) is co-premier of animal rights philosophy, a reputation established with The Case for Animal Rights (1985). This volume of shorter pieces reflects Regans thinking over the past decade. Besides chapters on the meaning and repercussions of animal rights and animal liberation, two chapters address being an employee of an organization that experiments or uses animals (Regans employer, he says, yearly kills thousands of animals). Two other chapters compare animal rights to, on the one hand, the causes for gay and lesbian rights, and on the other, the rights of African/American slaves. Regans central thesis can be summed up as anti-utilitarian and Kantian, and is opposed to those (like Singer) wanting animal liberation without necessarily advocating rights. Regan argues that because non-human animals are similar to humans (both, for example, believe, remember, intend, and experience fear, anger, and loneliness), the two groups have a "basic moral right to respectful treatment." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)