Spokesmen for Animals – Richard Ryder, Peter Singer, and Tom Regan

Abstract

The 1970s marked the emergence of views on animals that had a lasting effect on the course of animal advocacy. Clinical psychologist Richard D. Ryder performed animal experiments but quit the system and joined the animal advocates. Describing a moral standpoint that is akin to racism, he coined the term ‘speciesism.’ Both racists and speciesists try to justify the mistreatment of others based solely on their taxonomic position (race or species): they treat individuals who are not in the preferred taxonomic group as not belonging to the moral sphere. Australian philosopher Peter Singer is probably the world’s most influential living philosopher. In his book ‘Animal Liberation,’ Singer argues that if we accept the principle of equality among humans, we cannot consistently reject that the same principle applies to non-human animals as well. Deontologist philosopher Tom Regan stated that many animals are inherently valuable, that is, they have rights and we have direct duties to them. Thus, to treat animals merely as means is morally not acceptable.