Moral Concern, Moral Impulse, and Logical Argument in Animal Rights Advocacy
Anyone who has ever done animal advocacy has had the experience of explaining rationally why animal exploitation can’t be morally justified, only to have the person with whom they are talking say something like, “Yes, that’s interesting but I just don’t think that it’s wrong to eat animal products,” or “I think you’re being perfectly […]
Garbage as Property
A sign on the side of a dump truck in Los Angeles: It is not enough to be unashamed that we have the level of poverty that we do; we criminalize the efforts of the poor to survive by asserting property rights over garbage. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. It is […]
Some Thoughts for Mother’s Day 2012
There is no better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than by putting an end to your support of the exploitation of nonhuman mothers represented by milk, cheese, and other dairy products. A cow raised for her milk is forcefully impregnated yearly, and her babies are taken away within a few days. She is either pregnant […]
Truthout.org: Thinking About Mitt Romney and Seamus, Michael Vick and Dog Fighting, and Eating Animals
My essay, Thinking About Mitt Romney and Seamus, Michael Vick and Dog Fighting, and Eating Animals, was published on Truthout.org. You can read it here. The World is Vegan! If you want it. Gary L. Francione Professor, Rutgers University ©2012 Gary L. Francione
New Atheism, Moral Realism, and Animal Rights: Some Preliminary Reflections
Certain secularists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens, often referred to as “New Atheists,” are the latest to tell us that we should look to rationality and science to figure out what to think about important moral issues. These New Atheists generally reject the notion that there can be independent […]
Replacing One Cage With Another
In 2007, Peter Singer, as part of a campaign to promote cage-free eggs, praised the Europeans for supposedly phasing out battery cages: “Battery cages are being phased out in Europe – why are we lagging behind?” As I noted at the time, Singer’s connecting the European effort with cage-free egg farming was misleading: [A]lthough the […]
The Paradigm Shift Requires Clarity About the Moral Baseline: Veganism
If we are ever going to see a paradigm shift, we have to be clear about how we want the present paradigm to shift. We must be clear that veganism is the unequivocal baseline of anything that deserves to be called an “animal rights” movement. If “animal rights” means anything, it means that we cannot […]
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: Right About British Rose Veal
British celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, promotes “happy” British Rose Veal. He’s not alone. Large animal welfare groups, such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Compassion in World Farming, ever eager to make the public feel better about continuing to exploit animals, are also promoting “happy” veal. Fearnley-Whittingstall says: “To […]
Animal Rights, Animal Welfare, and the Slavery Analogy
Many vegans become irritated with non-vegans who claim to care morally about animals but who continue to consume them. The former will often invoke an analogy to human slavery. It goes like this: we all agree that the use of humans exclusively as resources—the condition known as human slavery—is morally abhorrent. Similarly, if people think […]
Celebrate Peace This Holiday Season
I often hear from people that they feel overwhelmed by the poverty and violence of modern life. We are certainly living in difficult and challenging times. But that does not mean that we cannot make a difference. We can. Here are three suggestions to help you to celebrate peace this holiday season: First, don’t consume. […]
Debate on Animal Rights with Libertarian Philosopher Tibor Machan
On Thursday, January 12, 2012, the Rutgers Federalist Society is sponsoring a debate between me and libertarian philosopher Tibor Machan. Machan holds the R. C. Hoiles Chair of Business Ethics and Free Enterprise at the Argyros School of Business & Economics at Chapman University in Orange, California. He is a research fellow at the Hoover […]
Killing Animals and Making Animals Suffer
The basis of the animal welfare movement, stretching from its inception in the 19th century until the present day, is that animal use is itself acceptable because animals do not have an interest in continuing to live. According to welfarists, nonhuman animals are not self-aware and cognitively sophisticated in the way that humans are. This […]
Got Faith (in Animal Welfare)?
I reject animal welfare reform and single-issue campaigns because they are not only inconsistent with the claims of justice that we should be making if we really believe that animal exploitation is wrong, but because these approaches cannot work as a practical matter. Animals are property and it costs money to protect their interests; therefore, […]
A Note on Humanlike Intelligence and Moral Value
We frequently see news stories reporting that scientists have determined that nonhuman animals have certain cognitive characteristics that we associate with human intelligence. The implication of this is that if nonhuman animals have humanlike intelligence, then they have greater moral value; the “smarter” they are, in human terms, the more morally valuable they are. This […]
The HSUS-United Egg Producer Agreement: Two Reactions
On July 7, 2011, the Humane Society of the United States and United Egg Producers announced that they would “work together to seek a federal law that would require larger cages and other improved conditions for the nation’s 280 million laying hens.” The proposed legislation, if passed, will be phased in over the next 18 […]
Animal Care and Control: The Sad Failure of New York City’s Municipal Shelter System
Dear Colleagues: Animal Care and Control of New York City, which has operated New York’s municipal animal shelter system since 1995, is an institution plagued with problems. There are shocking allegations of animal abuse and neglect, including a recent report that ACC killed eight puppies who would have been taken and placed by rescue groups. […]
New Interview from the Documentary Project, “I’m Vegan”
Dear Colleagues: In March of 2009, Eric Prescott of the Boston Vegan Association stopped by and spoke with me for about 2 hours. Eric quite skillfully edited the interview to about 20 minutes and he just made it available. Also featured is my rescued friend, Katie Jane! ********** If you are not vegan, go vegan. […]
The Abolitionist Approach in a Nutshell
Dear Colleagues: As long as we think the issue is the treatment of animals, we will seek to make that treatment more “humane.” But because animals are property, that goal is unreachable as a practical matter. The treatment of animals will always constitute torture under the most “humane” circumstances. And the “treatment” (or welfarist) approach […]
Upcoming Debate: Abolition vs. Regulation
Dear Colleagues: This Sunday, April 17, I will debate Professor Robert Garner on Animals Today Radio. Robert and I will talk about abolition vs. regulation, the distinction between use and treatment, the moral value of animal life, the property status of animals, veganism and other topics that we discuss in our book, The Animal Rights […]
What Michael Vick Taught Us
What follows is an edited version of the text of my presentation at Hobart and William Smith Colleges on March 31, 2011 as the 2011 Foster P. Boswell Distinguished Lecturer in Philosophy: WHAT MICHAEL VICK TAUGHT US Remember Michael Vick? Do you remember all the commotion about Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and his involvement […]