Singer's "Equality for Animals"

Paper Summary:

This paper critically reviews contemporary Australian utilitarian philosopher Peter Singer's piece, a chapter from Practical Ethics entitled "Quality for Animals," outlining his main arguments and offering criticism of them.

From the Paper:

"In his controversial utilitarian work, Practical Ethics, modern Australian philosopher, Peter Singer, includes a chapter entitled "Equality for Animals. Singer has throughout the book so far argued for a sort of utilitarianism, based on the original theories of founders of this ethical philosophy such as Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, a utilitarianism that hopes for ethical, equal, and fair treatment of all humankind, all people, however diverse, who might walk our planet and interact in our society. Yet, in this chapter, Singer extends his hopes for equality and ethical treatment beyond the human realm; he argues that all members of the animal kingdom, not just our species Homo sapiens, deserve to be treated equally. Likening what he has dubbed speciesism to the dread occurrence of racism, Singer makes an overall simple argument against this speciesism which humans seem to have, augmenting with many and complex sub-arguments."

More papers on Singer's "Equality for Animals":

• Book Review # 113607 : "A Defense for Animal Liberation (Peter Singer)"
• Essay # 137334 : "Analyzing Utilitarian Principles in the Theories of Singer and Reagan for Animal Rights"

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