If you have the right to not be enslaved, (which is a lousy
construction, I would prefer to use the right to
liberty), you have the responsibility to respect and defend your
neighbors right to liberty as well. That right and
responsibility pairing is easy to understand and if you fail to do so I
feel sorry for your neighbors.
I'm not even going to begin on the truly fuzzy logic that assumes animal
rights.
Bob W wrote:
First, rights do not entail responsibilities. A right is a right. For
example, you have a right not to be enslaved. This right comes with no
strings attached whatsoever. If you disagree with this, perhaps you could
tell me what responsibilities you might neglect that would justify your
enslavement.
Second, I suspect you have not really examined the question of animal
rights. The phrase itself is unfortunately rather misleading. The standard
argument in favour of animal rights makes it quite clear that the rights in
question are not the same as those accorded to people, such as the right to
vote. The crucial thing is the right to equal consideration. If you accept
that animals have interests and moral status (and perhaps you don't accept
this), then this argument claims that you should give equal moral weight to
the comparable interests of animals and people unless there is a relevant
difference between them that justifies unequal consideration.
The Australian philosopher Peter Singer expressed this in his book "Animal
Liberation". There is a summary of the argument here:
http://www.utilitarian.org/texts/alm.html.
It is dated 1985, so the examples are out of date, but the argument still
holds. It is worth reading the essay all the way through. For a more
detailed examination, read the book.
--
Cheers,
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: P. J. Alling [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 10 December 2005 19:19
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Update: The fur fellow's feet
People who advocate animal rights don't understand that
rights also entail responsibilities. Animals can't be held
responsible for their actions so they cannot have rights,
it's a two edged sword, unless you wish to completely
redefine what rights are.
--
When you're worried or in doubt,
Run in circles, (scream and shout).
