The Heiress and the Anarchists

Gordon Fitch gcf at panix.com
Wed Mar 1 06:20:11 PST 2000


Yoshie Furuhashi:
> Peter, I'd have to say I'm not in favor of the idea of "animal rights."

The expression is maybe unfortunate because of the ambiguities in the word _rights_. However, the notion that non-human yet sentient beings deserve ethical and political consideration has become rather widespread and has developed a modest body of theory, whereas the position that they do not, wherever I have encountered it, has always appealed either to utility or convention -- in other words, it lacks philosophy. I'd be glad to speak as tediously as necessary for the former, if someone really wants me to -- I see animal rights or animal liberation as a natural extension of anarchism.

Gordon



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