In a recent very interesting Facebook discussion, Tim Gier wrote (in part, and perhaps it is unfair to extract this out - but I'm gonna anyway!), “I don’t accept that the property status of other animals necessarily entails harm towards them.” 

[I began to write a response to Tim’s observation for the FB discussion - but then realised that I was writing a blog entry, so that is why I have decided to post it here instead. In addition, I have not written a blog entry for a while,…

What is a counterfactual and why should you care? Suppose that I say, “If only Thomas Jefferson had championed the cause of the abolition of slavery then slavery in America would have been abolished when the United States was founded.” That’s a counterfactual. It poses a solution to a problem (or a cause for some effect) that runs counter to the facts as we know them. Why should you care? Because, staying with the example, it the counterfactual was true, then supposedly we would know…

Some people, such as David Sztybel and representatives of the National Animal Interest Alliance, argue that there are several versions on animal welfarism. In this blog, I tend to talk about two types, which I have called traditional (or conventional or orthodox)…

A recent New York Times oped was brought to my attention by a long standing friend and colleague. She situated it within the context of the debate surrounding the …

A scene from Shakespeare’s 1602 play wot I just wrote.[1]

An inn in Scotland.

Donald: Angus!

Angus: Donald! Have ye had y’tea?

Donald: I have!

Angus: Good news my man, good news. Now did ye hear the latest scandal?

Donald: Tell me more, I don’t think I have.

Angus: Well you know…

Animal Rights Philosopher Tom Regan Addresses a New Generation

 Animal Rights Zone (ARZone) is pleased to present the following wide-ranging interview with preeminent animal rights philosopher Tom Regan. In response to eleven questions from the members of ARZone, Professor Regan explains his ground-breaking rights-based theory of animal…

In the ongoing debate between those who promote the abolitionist approach and those who promote the welfarist approach, some of the welfarists

claim that they support veganism so there is, in reality, little

difference between the two approaches on the matter…

In The Longest Journey Begins with a Single Step: Promoting Animal Rights by Promoting Reform (http://www.satyamag.com/sept06/singer-friedrich.html), Peter Singer and PETA's Bruce Friedrich claim that an "odd" controversy has developed in "recent years" about whether animal advocates ought to pursue animal welfare as a means to achieve animal rights. This controversy is…

Unfortunately, there are people who identify themselves as animal advocates who claim that the solution to the problem of animal exploitation is violence.

Some of these people have actually engaged in acts of violence against institutional exploiters. Others incite acts of violence by calling on people to use “intimidation”…

Introduction



A single issue campaign (herein referred to as “SIC”…

Animal Rights Enters The Mainstream

By Nick Pendergrast

After decades of animal welfare campaigns and very little real change, the

movement to end animal use completely is gathering speed, writes Nick

Pendergrast

The title of this article may confuse some people. You may…

Abolitionism versus New Welfarism: A Contrast in Theory and Practice